396 



EIG CULTURE IN THE 



Fig. 211. 



chance if left exposed. So in autumn the sagacious culti- 

 vators throw the branches into four bundles^ make a little 

 trench for each^ and cover as shown by Figs. 214 and 217, 

 with small sloping banks of soil, protecting the crown of the 

 root by means of a little cone of earth, which merges 

 gi'adually into the four little ridges that protect the 



branches. "When the plantation 

 is made on deeply inclined 

 ground a somewhat different 

 system is followed, as is also 

 shown by the figures. 



For the details of the culture 

 we will refer to Du BreuiFs 

 " Culture des Arbres et Arbris- 

 seaux.'^ In the climate of Paris 

 the Fig tree is grown as a low 

 shrub, with free sweeping bran- 

 ches arranged in single lines 

 or planted all together on a piece 

 of ground devoted to the pur- 

 pose, and which for a better 

 name may be called a " figgery.^"* 

 The branches of these tufty 

 trees are not allowed to grow 

 longer than from six to nine feet, 

 so that the tree may be conve- 

 niently buried in the ground 

 during the winter. Those varie- 

 ties which produce rudimentary 

 figs in autumn in abundance 

 are the only ones grown, as 

 the figs of the current year 

 very rarely arrive at maturity. Argenteuil and La Frette 

 are the two most famous localities for the cultivation 

 of the Fig tree in the neighbourhood of Paris. Before 

 the southern railways were constructed, these two villages 

 used to supply the whole of Paris with all the green 

 figs that were seen in the markets. The introduction of 

 the Fig tree into Argenteuil appears to have taken place 



Brancli of Fig Tree bearing tlie 

 Figs formed during the preced- 

 ing year, D ; those formed 

 during the current year, A ; and 

 rudimentary Figs, C. 



t 



