34 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
convenient, and command of heat can be had, the 
plants can be rapidly increased in winter from 
single eyes of the mature wood. These are potted 
when rooted, and planted out in nursery rows in 
Spring, making large bushes by Autumn. 
People who have not studied the structure of 
plants commonly suppose that figs have no bloom. 
This is far from being the case, for the (lowers are 
wonderfully numerous. The fruit of the fig, popu- 
larly so called, is simply the floral receptack and 
the whole interior is covered with minute flowers. 
After these flowers have set seed the receptacle 
continues to grow and ripen, forming, with the 
seed carpels within, the edible fruit. 
The best shape to grow fig trees in frosty 
climates is in the form of a spreading bush or 
shrub, branched from the ground. Little pruning 
is needed. The rank, sappy shoots from the 
ground should be kept down after enough limb 
are formed to make the head. The best figs are 
grown on the short-jointed shoots produced on 
the older wood, and the pruning should be mainly 
the shortening back of the branches lightly, after 
the crop has been gathered, to encourage the 
production of these shoots the following year. 
Where the winter temperature seldom falls 
below 18°. or 20°. above Zero figs will need no 
special protection, but will be all the better for 
being planted in a situation sheltered from cold 
winds. In cold climates figs can be easily pro- 
tected in winter if branched from the ground. 
This is done by gathering the branches together in 
four bundles, after the leaves have fallen, and 
bending them flat to the ground in the outline of 
a cross. Fasten the branches down with forked 
pegs, and them cover with earth. Let the earth 
cover be fully six inches thick and in very severe 
climates cover the mound, when winter has fully 
set in, with straw or forest leaves, to prevent too 
severe freezing. The earth cover will be sufficient 
anywhere in North Carolina; anywhere east and 
south of Raleigh no special protection will be 
needed. In the upland region about Raleigh they 
will be safer if bent to the ground and a few pine 
bushes laid over them. There is no good reason 
why, in the coast region at least, the culture of 
the fig for drying might not be profitably pursued. 
At any rate, figs preserved in glass or tin will 
always meet a ready sale, and in the immediate 
vicinity of the larger towns the sale of fresh figs 
could be made profitable to a limited extent. 
With the extension of canning and pr -serving 
factories in various parts of the State, the culture 
of the fig can be extended indefinitely. In the 
careless method of culture now practiced here, 
or rather the no culture at all, the fig bush has 
to fight for existence with the weeds and wild 
growth in fence corners, and no pains being taken 
to protect it in winter, the figs formed in the fall 
of the year are usually destroyed by the winter 
and spring frosts. These fall set figs, if saved 
I over winter, make the finest fruit of the season, 
and ripen in early summer, while almost the only 
figs now known here are the late summer and 
autumn crop, which are much inferior in size 
and quality to the early crop. On the immediate 
coast in the vicinity of salt water the fig flourishes 
and grows to a large size, but anywhere in the 
interior the crop will be better by keeping them 
pruned to bushes of six or seven feet high, and 
giving them whatever protection the situation 
; requires. Our plantation of figs at the North 
! Carolina Experiment Station is not yet developed 
i to such an extent as will enable us to distributed 
long cuttings at present. We shall use all our 
wood the present winter in propagating under 
glass from single eyes, and hope in the spring of 
1891 to have a moderate supply of young plants 
for distribution in the eastern and southern sec- 
tions. Those applying for plants will be required 
to file a written agreement to give them proper 
care, to keep the varieties distinct, and to report 
to the director of the station in regard to the 
quality and productiveness and the comparative 
hardiness of the trees. Applications complying 
with these terms should he sent in during 
February and March, and will be filed as long 
as the supply of plants lasts. , w 
N. 0. Ag. Expt. Bulletin. 
Dr. John Murray on the Origin and 
Character of the Sahara. 
At the last annual meeting of the Scottish 
Meteorological Society Dr. John Murray read a 
paper on the meteorological conditions of desert 
regions, with special reference to the Sahara, the 
