288 
THE FIG. 
prepf./ed and planted is scarcely any at all, except in gathering. 
Some of the farms in Massachusetts yield large crops, partly 
from natural growth, and partly from cultivated plantations. 
The “ New-England Farmer ” states that Mr. Hayden, of Lin- 
coln, Mass., gathered 400 bushels from his farm in 1830. The 
cranberry grows wild in the greatest abundance, on the sandy 
low necks near Barnstable, and an annual cranberry festival is 
made of the gathering of the fruit, which is done by the mass 
of the population, who turn out on the day appointed by the au- 
thorities, and make a general gathering with their cranberry 
rakes, a certain portion of the crop belonging, and being deli 
vered, to the town. 
Capt. Hall, one of the most successful cranberry cultivators 
of that neighbourhood, thus turns his sandy bogs and rush- 
covered land to productive beds of cranberry. After draining 
the land well, and removing all brush, he ploughs the soil where 
it is possible to do so ; but he usually finds it sufficient to cover 
the surface with a heavy top-dressing of beach sand, digging 
holes four feet apart into which he plants sods, or square bunches, 
of the cranberry roots. These soon spread on every side, over- 
powering the rushes, and forming a thick coating to the surface. 
A labourer will gather about thirty bushels of the fruit in a day, 
with a cranberry rake. 
Cranberry culture would be a profitable business in this neigh- 
bourhood, where this fruit is scarce, and, of late years, sells for 
two or three dollars a bushel. 
CHAPTER XV. 
THE FIG. 
Ficus Carica, L„ Arb. Brit. Urticacece, of botanists; Figuier , of the 
French ; Feigeribaum, German ; Fico, Italian ; Higuera, Spanish. 
This celebrated fruit tree, whose history is as ancient as that 
of the world, belongs properly to a warm climate, though it may 
be raised in the open air, in the middle states, with proper care. 
In its native countries, Asia and Africa, near the sea-coast it 
forms a low tree, twenty feet in height, with spreading branch- 
es, and large, deeply lobed, rough leaves. It is completely 
naturalized in the south of Europe, where its cultivation is one 
of the most important occupations of the fruit grower. 
The fruit of the Fig tree is remarkable for making its ap- 
pearance, growing, and ripening, without being preceded by any 
apparent blossom. The latter, however, is concealed in the 
