October i, i88 9 .1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
267 
THE TOMATO. 
The tomato is one of the few plants that will pay 
better on a moderately poor soil. Keep away much 
fertiliser that makes leaves and late fruit, but use 
instead some form of alkali-potash, for instance, which 
acting upon the vegetable matter in the soil will 
generate ammonia enough to form as much foliage as 
is necessary. Sulphate of potash is most advantage- 
ous. The presance of potash in a sulphate form facili- 
tates ripening by favouring the transformation of the 
starch to grape sugar. Depriving the plants of a part 
of their roots or foliage cause them to concentrate 
their vitality on ripening their fruit, and so make it 
earlier. — Mr. E. P. Kirby, before the Boston Market 
Gardeners' Association. — Natal Mercury. 
FIG CULTURE. 
(Extract from " Encyclopedia Americana.") 
Fig-tree (ficus carica) is a native of Asia, Africa 
and the South of Europe, and has been cultivated, 
from remote antiquity, in the countries surrounding 
the Mediterranean whore it forms a principal article 
of food in many places. The stem is from 15 to 25 
feet high, with a trunk sometimes 2 feet in diameter, 
giving out a great number of long, twisted, pliant 
branches, which are greyish and rough when young ; 
the leaves are deciduous of the size of the hand 
having three to five rounded lobes ; the flowers are 
very small, unisexual, contained in great numbers in 
a common receptacle, which is fleshy and connivent 
at the summit, where it is almost closed by a series 
of little teeth ; the male flowers occupy tho superior 
part of this receptacle, and the female, which are the 
most numerous, the bottom, and all the remaining 
part of the cavity ; each ovary becomes a seed ; sur- 
rounded with a pulp, which, together with the re- 
ceptacle, forms the fruit. The fruit is solitary, 
generally of a purplish color, has a soft, sweet, fra- 
grant pulp, and is much esteemed, being constantly 
brought upon the table, during 5 months of the year, 
in the South of Europe. The process of increasing 
and ripening the fruit is an art which requires much 
attention. This as it is practised in the Levant, is 
called " caprification " and is a very interesting process. 
It is thus described by Tournefort, and travellers in 
the East. The operation is rendered necessary by 
the two following facts, viz:— That the cultivated fig 
bears, for the most part, female flowers only, while 
the male flowers are abundant upon the wild fig- 
tree; and secondly that the flower of the fig is 
upon the inside of the .receptacle which constitutes 
the fruit. It is hence found necessary to surround the 
plantations and gardens, containing the figs, with 
branches and limbs bearing male flowers from the wild 
fig tree thus preparing the way for fertilizing the 
female flowers in the garden. And from these wild 
flowers, the fertilizing pollen is borne to the other figs 
upon the wings and legs of small insects, which are 
found to inhabit the fruit of the wild fig. It requires 
therefore a very particular observation and careful 
study of the wild fruit to know the precise time when 
the insects will be ready to take wing, or they might be 
lost. When it is found they are just ready to leave the 
fig, the boughs are placed as above described, and an 
abundant crop is the result. 4 * The fig tree, in its wild 
state, is a low, distorted shrub, bearing fruit destitute 
of any agreeable flavour. Dried figs are easier of 
digestion and more nourishing than the fresh fruit and 
torin a considerable article of commerce. The best 
come from Turkey, Italy, Spain and Provence ; those 
or the Archipelago are inferior in quality. Dried figs, 
with barley bread, are now tho ordinary food of the 
lower classes in Greece and the Archipelago. The an- 
oionts procured a sort of wiue from tigs by a method 
which is still iii use in the Archipelago. Several hun- 
dred varieties are cultivated in Europe, some of which 
are very excellent. In the United States, the fig is 
sparingly cultivated in the environs of Philadelphia, 
but does not succood so well as farther South. There 
Ed 
* We believe that really this process is unnecessary. 
are five principal methods of reproducing this value 
able tree : viz : 1. By seeds, which is but little 
employed, on account of the length of time requisite for 
bearing, and the fruit is not always of as good 
quality ; but it is the only method by which new varie- 
ties can be produced. The figs should be first washed 
in water, and those seeds rejected which float upon the 
surface. 2. The easiest mode is by suckers, which may 
be separated from the roots of the old trees. 3. In the 
month of March or April, branches are passed through 
pots containing earth, which is occasionally watered to 
keep it moist ; roots are produced with facility, and 
branches may be Beperated in the Autumn. 4. A 
method which requires less trouble, and is most in use, is 
the following : In March or April, a bough about 2 
feet long and two years old is selected ; the largest cf 
its branches is reserved for the future stem, and the 
others are extended in the earth and give out roots ; 
care should be taken to cover at least two-thirds of the 
bough with earth, otherwise the terminal shoot is not 
developed. 5. Grafting has been negelected, on account 
of the facility with which the fig may be reproduced by 
these two last methods. When used, a mixture of wax 
and turpentine is employed to prevent the flowing of 
the sap. The tree does not bear transplantation well, 
and consequently this is not often attempted. Almost 
every variety bears fruit twice in the season. 
The species of ficus are shrubs or trees, with al- 
ternate leaves and branches, and having a milky, and 
more or less acrid juice, inhabiting the intertropical 
regions of the globe, a few species excepted, which are 
found in warm climates, though without the tropics. 
More than 100 species are known, the most remarkable 
of which are the following. F. Sycomorus, a large treo 
the fruit of which is eaten in Egypt and the Levant. The 
wood is said to be incorruptible, which would seem to 
be proved, as the cases containing the Egyptain Mum- 
mies are made of this tree. F. Iialica (Indian fig 
or Banian tree,) has been celebrated from antiquity, 
from its letting its branches drop and take root in 
the earth, which, in their turn become trunks, and give 
out other branches, a single tree thus forming a little 
forest. F. Elastica, the juice of which yields Caout- 
chouc or gum elastic, has not been long known, and is 
a native of the mountains of Nepaul. This latter tree 
would probably succeed in the United States and 
make a valuable acquisition. 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
London, August 15th. 
Cinchona. — The periodical auctions held on Tuesday 
were the smallest held for several months, the catalogues 
only consisting of — 
Packages Packages 
Ceylon bark ... 673 of which 605 were sold 
East Indian bark ... 220 „ 220 „ 
South American bark 215 „ 215 „ 
Java bark ... 81 „ 60 „ 
African bark ... 56 ,, 56 „ 
Total ... 1,245 „ 1,156 
At the commencement of the auctions it appeared 
as if the prices paid at the preceding sale would not 
be improved upon, and as a matter of fact a few 
parcels of ordinary Ceylon bark which had been put 
up at the auctions of July 30th were now disposed of at 
unaltered values. But when the better grades of Ceylon 
and the Java and the East Indian barks were reached, 
competition became much brisker, and a decided ad- 
vance on the previous sales' rates were established. 
Thisadvance.was rather irregular, and increased towards 
the close of the auctions, but we may put it at an 
average of from 10 to 15 per cent at least, the unit 
ranging from lgd to, occasionally lfd per lb. Upon 
comparing the catalogues of Tuesday's sales with those 
of the auction of July 30th we find that a few lots 
were ottered, apparently identical with those shown, 
and Dartly sold at the bust auctions, or consisting of 
packages of the same pile, and [presumably the same 
analysis. A comparison between the prices realised on 
those occasions is of a certain value as a guide to tu» 
position of the market: — 
