CHAPTER XI. 



THE FIG. 



The Fig (Ficus carica L.), as a fruit-producing 

 tree, is of great antiquity, indigenous to a great 

 part of Asia, introduced from there and natural- 

 ised in Italy, from whence it was carried into 

 France and Britain. At what precise time its in- 

 troduction took place is involved in obscurity, for 

 we hear nothing of its culture in England prior 

 to 1562, when Dr Turner wrote his "Herbal:" 

 that it was, however, imported by the Romans 

 along with the vine is more than probable ; and 

 as vineyards are well known to have been 

 established in England as early as 280 a.d., and 

 that the vines were brought from Italy, it is 

 but natural to suppose that the same induce- 

 ment that led to the importation of the vine 

 would lead to that of the fig also ; and this the 

 more especially, as the fig constituted then as 

 large a share of the sustenance of man as the 

 vine did, or at present does. Hart observes 

 "that the religious fraternities of the dark 

 ages spread out from Italy in all directions, 

 carrying with them the knowledge of agriculture 

 and gardening ;" and there is little doubt that 

 they disseminated the fruits of Italy into every 

 country where the climate was favourable for 

 them. That both the vine and the fig dis- 

 appeared for a time from Britain is highly 

 probable. The fig was much cultivated by the 

 Romans, who were possessed of no less than 

 twenty-nine sorts prior to the Christian era, all 

 of which have been described by the naturalist 

 Pliny. The second introduction of the fig 

 appears to have taken place in 1525, when 

 Cardinal Pole brought from Italy those identical 

 fig-trees which still exist in the archbishopric 

 gardens at Lambeth Palace; and Dr Pocock, 

 the Oriental traveller, first brought the fig to 

 Oxford, and planted a tree in 1648 in Oxford 

 college garden, of which tree the following 

 anecdote is told : Dr Kennicott, the celebrated 

 Hebrew scholar and compiler of the Polyglot 

 Bible, was passionately fond of this fruit, and 

 seeing a very fine fig on this tree that he wanted 

 to preserve, wrote on a label " Dr Kennicott's 

 fig,'' which he tied to the fruit. An Oxonian 

 wag, who had observed the transaction, watched 

 the fruit daily, and when ripe gathered it, and 

 exchanged the label for one thus worded, " A fig 

 for Dr Kennicott." 



In the southern parts of England, about 

 Arundel and Tarring, the fig grows as an open 



standard, and there, as in the Isle of Wight, 

 it attains a great size and age, and produces 

 fruit not much inferior to those of Italy. In 

 the midland and northern counties of England, 

 as well as over almost all Scotland, the fig 

 requires the protection of a wall, and even with 

 that there are many parts where it can scarcely 

 exist. The fig is one of our most wholesome 

 fruits, and although, in its natural state, it is by 

 no means popular with persons in general in this 

 country, yet those who have been accustomed 

 to them abroad, or who have acquired a taste 

 for them at home, become passionately fond of 

 them. The fig has a peculiar quality of intener- 

 ating animal fibre. Philips (in " Pomona Bri- 

 tannica," p. 169) relates the circumstance of a 

 gentleman " that hung up a haunch of venison, 

 lately killed, in a fig tree when the leaves were 

 on, at about ten o'clock in the evening, and which 

 was removed before sunrise in the morning, when 

 it was found in a perfect state for cooking, and 

 that in a few hours more it would have been in 

 a state of putrefaction." The fig did not reach 

 the United States till 1790, and, singular enough, 

 they have not produced varieties of this fruit, 

 notwithstanding the great progress made in 

 most others. 



Gerard and Parkinson speak of the fig as if 

 little cultivated in their day. Miller appears to 

 have been the first to collect varieties, as we 

 find by his " Gardeners' Dictionary " that he 

 introduced above a dozen new sorts from Italy. 

 The Catalogue of the Horticultural Society 

 enumerates forty-two sorts, Downing fifteen, 

 the Catalogue of P. Lawson and Son sixteen, 

 Forsyth fifteen, Rogers nine, which, he remarks, 

 are the only ones worth the British grower's 

 attention; while Langley, in "Pomona," says, 

 " The several kinds of figs that are worth our 

 cultivating in England are the White, the Blue, 

 and the Black." Rivers gives twelve, George 

 Lindley,in "Guide to the Orchard," twenty-seven. 



Propagation. — The fig is readily propagated 

 by seed, cuttings, layers, suckers, roots, grafting, 

 occasionally, but rarely, by budding. Seed 

 taken from the ripe fruit of home growth, or 

 from those that are imported, vegetate readily; 

 and by this means plants will be obtained differ- 

 ing little from the tree the seed was taken from. 

 When, however, new or improved varieties are 

 sought for, the process of crossing one variety 



