September ; the leaves of this fort are much more di- 
vided than of moft other. 
10. The common blue, or purple Fig is fo well 
known, as to need no defcription. 
n. The long brown Naples Fig. The leaves of 
this tree are deeply divided. The fruit is long, fome- 
what compreffed at the crown. The foot-ftalks are 
pretty long ; the fkin is of a dark brown when fully 
ripe, the flefii inclining to red ; the grains are large, 
and the flefh well favoured. It ripens in September. 
12. The yellow Ifchia Fig. This is a large fruit, 
of a pyramidal form ; the fkin is yellow when ripe, 
and the fiefh is purple and well flavoured, but the 
trees do not produce much fruit here •, they grow 
very luxuriant in branches, the leaves are very large, 
and not much divided. This ripens in September. 
13. The fm all Brown Ifchia Fig. This is a fmall 
pyramidal fruit with a very fhort foot-ffcalk ; the fkin 
is of a light brown, the flefh inclining to purple, of 
a very high flavour; it ripens late in September-, the 
leaves of this tree are lels divided than any of the 
other forts. This is not a good bearer. 
14. The Gentile Fig. This is a middle ftzed globu- 
lar fruit ; the fkin, when ripe, is yellow ; the flefh 
alfo inclines to the fame colour ; the grains are large, 
and the ilefn is well flavoured, but it ripens very late, 
and the trees are bad bearers, fo that it is not propa- 
gated much in England. 
There are feveral other forts which have been lately 
introduced from Italy, but all thofe which I have yet 
tailed, are inferior to thofe above-mentioned ; fome of 
them rarely ripen their fruit, and others are very ill 
bearers, not worth propagating, therefore I have 
omitted the mentioning of them here •, for as thofe 
which are enumerated, continue in fucceffion during 
the feafon forthefe fruits, and being preferable to the 
other* few perfons will care to fill their gardens with 
a greater variety of thefe trees than are of real ufe, 
efpecially as they require good walls, and a very large 
lhare of room. 
The firft, fecond, third, ninth, and tenth forts will 
ripen their fruits on ftandards, where they are in a 
warm fituation ; but the others require the aflillance 
of walls expofed to good afpedls, otherwife their fruit 
will not ripen in England. 
Fig-trees generally thrive in all foils, and in every 
fituation but they produce a greater quantity of fruit 
upon a ItrOng loamy foil, than on dry ground ; for if 
the feafon proves dry in May and June, thofe trees 
which grow upon very warm dry ground, are very fub- 
je£t to call their fruit therefore, whenever this hap- 
pens, fuch trees lliould be well watered and mulched, 
which will prevent the fruit from dropping off; and the 
fruit upon thefe trees are better flavoured, than any of 
thofe which grow upon cold moift land. I have al- 
ways oblerved thofe Fig-trees to bear the greateft quan- 
tity of well-flavoured fruit, which were growing upon 
chalky land, where there has been a foot or more of 
a gentle loamy foil on the top. They alfo love a free 
open air ; for although they will flioot and thrive very 
will in clofe places, yet they feldom produce any 
fruit in fuch fituations,-, and all thofe which are planted 
in fmall gardens in London, will be well furnifhed 
with leaves, but I have never feen any fruit upon 
them which have grown to maturity. 
Thefe trees are always planted as ftandards in all 
warm countries, but in England they are generally 
planted againft walls, there being but few ftandard 
Fig-trees at prefent in the Englifh gardens; however, 
fince fome of the forts are found to ripen their fruit 
well upon the ftandards, and the crop of Figs is often 
greater upon them, than upon thofe trees againft walls, 
it is worthy of our care, to plant them either in ftan- 
dards or efpaliers ; the latter, I think, will fucceed beft 
inEngland,if they were managed as in Germany, where 
they untie the Fig-trees from the efpalier, and lay 
them down, covering them in winter with ftraw or 
litter, which prevents their fhoots being injured by 
the froft ; knd this covering is taken away gradually 
in. the firing, and not wholly removed until all the 
by which management they 
danger of froft is over, 
generally have a very great crop of Figs ; whereas in 
England, where the trees grow againft warm walls, if 
the fpring proves warm, the young Figs are puflied 
out early, and the cold, which frequently returns in 
April and May, caufes the greateft part of the fruit tb 
drop off ; fo that our crop of Figs is generally more 
uncertain than moll other forts of fruit; : and it fre- 
quently happens, that trees which are planted againft 
north and eaft-afpedled walls, produce a greater 
quantity of fruit in England, than thofe which are 
planted againft fouth and fouth-eaft afpe&s ; which 
muft happen from the latter putting out their fruit fo 
much earlier in the fpring than the former ; and if there 
happen cold frofty nights after the Figs are come out 
(which is frequently the cafe in this country) the for- 
wardeft of the Figs are generally fo injured as to drop 
off from the trees foon after. In Italy, and the other 
warm countries, thisfirft crop of Figs is little regarded, 
being few in number ; for it is the fecond crop of 
Figs which are produced from the flioots of the fame 
year, which is their principal crop, but thefe rarely 
ripen in England ; nor are there above three or four 
forts whichever ripen their fecond crop, let the fummer 
prove ever fo good, therefore it is the firft crop which 
we muft attend to in England ; fo that when thefe trees 
art: growing againft the beft afpefted walls, it will be 
a good method to ioofen them from the wall in au- 
tumn ; and after having divefted the branches of all 
the latter fruit, to lay the branches down from the 
wall, fattening them together in fmall bundles, fo that 
they may be tied to flakes, to keep them from lying 
upon the ground ; the damp whereof, when covered 
in frofty weather, might cauie them to grow mouldy', 
and hereby they will be fecured from being broken by 
the wind. When they are thus managed in autumn, 
if the winter fhould prove very fevere, the branches 
may be eafily covered with Peas-haulm, ftraw, or any 
other light covering, which will guard the tender fruit- 
bearing branches, from the injury of froft; and when 
the weather is mild, the covering muft be removed, 
otherwife the Figs will come out too early; for the in- 
tention of this management is, to keep them as back- 
ward as poflible : then in the fpring, when the Figs 
are beginning to pufh out, the trees may be fattened 
up to the wall again. By this management I have 
feen very great crops of Figs produced in two or three 
places. 
I have alfo feen great crops of Figs in fome particu- 
lar gardens, after very fharp winters, when they have, 
in general, failed in other places, by covering up the 
trees with Reeds made into pannels, and fixed up 
againft the walls. 
p 
In the pruning of Fig-trees, the branches muft never 
be fhortened, becaufe the fruit are all produced at 
the upper part of the fhoots of the former year ; if 
thefe are cut off, there can be no fruit expe&ed, befide 
the branches are very apt to die after the knife ; fo that 
when the branches are too clofe together, the beft way 
is to cut out all the naked branches quite to the bot- 
tom, leaving thofe which are beft furnifhed with lateral 
branches at a proper diftance from each other, which 
fhould not be nearer than a foot ; and when they are 
well furnifhed with lateral branches, if they are laid 
four or five inches farther afunder, it will be better. 
The beft feafon for pruning of Fig-trees is in autumn, 
becaufe at that time the branches are not fo full 
of fap, and will not bleed fo much, as when they 
are pruned in the fpring ; and at this feafon, the 
branches fhould be divefted of all the autumnal Figs, 
and the fooner this is done, when the leaves begin to 
fail off, the better will the young flioots refill the cold 
of the winter. There are fome feafons fo cold and 
moift, that the young flioots of the Fig-trees will not 
harden, but are foft, and full of juice ; when this hap- 
pens, there is little hope of a crop of Figs the fucceed- 
ing year, for the firft froft in autumn will kill the upper 
part of thefe fhoots, for a confiderable length down- 
ward -, whenever this liappens, it is the beft way to 
cut off all the decayed part of the fhoots, which will 
prevent 
