FIG TREE. 
505 
branch of the tree is made to pass through a tin 
funnel, or a wicker basket, filled with earth, into 
which the branch will soon shoot several fibres ; it 
should then be cut asunder below the basket, which 
should afterwards be placed in the earth. When it 
is desired to raise fig trees that will bear fruit the 
next year, the finest branches of an old tree are laid 
in the earth, and one of a moderate size is caused 
to pass through a box, after being stripped of its 
bark for about a finger’s breadth between two knots. 
The part so stripped is then placed about four fin- 
gers’ breadth above the bottom of the box, and co- 
vered with earth. In due time the branch will shoot 
out several roots from the wounded part, after which 
it is separated from the stem by cutting it off below 
the box. 
Duhamel is of opinion that a good sort of fig, 
raised in a congenial soil, and perfectly ripe, is one 
of the best of our eatable fruits. In Languedoc, in 
Provence, in Spain, in Italy, and in the Levant, 
vast quantities of figs are dried in the sun, and form 
a considerable article of traffic. The inhabitants of 
the fig countries eat them in abundance, both fresh 
and in the dried state ; they are indeed said to form 
a great part of the nourishment of the country peo- 
ple on the northern coasts of the Mediterranean, 
and in the isles of the Archipelago. 
Several of the cultivated species, according to 
Duhamel, require only the ordinary attention paid 
to fruit-trees to make them ripen their fruit ; but 
in the Archipelago, and in Malta, there are figs, 
VOL. in. 
x 
