23O THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



of bamboo, and taking infinite pains. The 

 attempts to invent a machine for getting out the 

 fibre cheaply have failed, so far, in this country. 

 So the leaves are cleared off and destroyed, at 

 some expense and great inconvenience, to get 

 ready for the next year's crop. 



FIGS 



The rich, sugary, amber figs that lie packed 

 tightly together in boxes shipped from faraway 

 Smyrna, in Asia Minor, should form a part of 

 every child's Christmas. They are a delicious 

 and wholesome sweet, both food and candy. 

 Americans use them increasingly in desserts and 

 cakes. Tons are imported every year from the 

 warm countries to the east of the Mediterranean 

 Sea — from Turkey in Europe and in Asia. 



Why not grow our own figs? That question 

 has been asked by people who see fig trees growing 

 luxuriantly in various regions of the United States. 

 Anybody who takes the trouble can raise fig trees 

 from seed, and the trees are hardy as far north as 

 Philadelphia. 



They grow thriftily and fruit abundantly in the 

 warm states. One, two, and three crops a year, 

 almost without attention — white figs, black figs, 



