62 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
or apex having a small opening. This ex¬ 
pands somewhat, as the true flowers open, 
and the seeds mature within this fleshy re¬ 
ceptacle. 
Be it flower or fruit, it is of great value 
to man wherever the climate will permit 
of its growth—one of the most whole¬ 
some and nourishing of the long list of 
fruits given to man, either fresh, canned 
or dried. I believe several kinds could be 
grown profitable in Florida, both for 
home use and for canning and preserving 
I have grown various kinds with more or 
less success for the last twelve or fifteen 
years on high pine land. I find the White 
Marseilles, Brown Turkey, and the Bruns¬ 
wick among the best for home use in 
Florida. By having these three you will 
always have figs in their season; but if 
you have a choice spot of ground, rich and 
moist; not wet, and feel willing to give 
the tree a little extra care, then plant a 
White Adriatic, and it will abundantly 
pay you. for all of your trouble; but it 
must have moisture and plenty of fertiliz¬ 
er in some form. Plenty of good cow-pen 
manure is about, as good as anything 
Then you can supplement this with some 
good commercial fertilizer. 
The fig, like the grape,will grow readily 
from cuttings taken at any time when the 
tree is dormant and has shed its leaves. 
November or December, I have found 
about the best time to clip the cuttings. 
Either plant these at once or bury them 
until the beginning of February, then 
plant in good, rich soil, just leaving one 
or two buds above the ground and keep 
the ground moist until well-rooted—^not 
wet, mind. 
In writing these few lines on figs, I 
have taken it for granted that all of you 
know about them, their culture and use. 
I will just add that all of the kinds I have 
mentioned are good for all home purposes 
or for canning, preserving or drying. I 
have made fine dried figs out of each kind; 
but I prefer the White Adriatic. I have 
had this fig to cure right on the tree. It 
is larger than the others when properly 
grown, and to my way of thinking, much 
better. It is greenish-white in color and 
has a thin, but exceedingly tough skin, 
with a rich crimson sweet pulp, a fine 
flavor, and is especially sweet—well worth 
the extra care you have given it. Every 
home in Elorida should have at least a 
few trees for home use. 
Now a few words on the Kaki or Jap¬ 
anese Persimmon, and I am done. This 
fruit, I think, will in time be of more pro¬ 
fit to Florida commercially speaking than 
either of the others. But in the first place, 
one should give them names, good Eng¬ 
lish names, that all can pronounce without 
giving them the lockjaw. There is much 
in an attractive name. Give a fruit a pret¬ 
ty sounding name, and the battle is about 
half won. This fruit is just in its infancy 
in this country; so that we have much to 
learn as to what varieties to grow and cul¬ 
ture of same. Some say to give thorough 
culture; others tell you just to fertilize and 
let alone. I have known them to do well 
under both culture and non-culture. I 
planted quite a grove of this fruit some 
years ago and gave it clean culture. The 
trees grew nicely, but I sold the grove be¬ 
fore they came into bearing, and now I 
have but a few trees just coming into bear¬ 
ing. These are on high pine land, with 
the usual grayish top-soil, yellowish or 
reddish sub-soil, underlaid with red clay, 
at Lakemont, Polk county, Elorida. 
In some sections of Elorida, particularly 
where I speak of, the Japanese persimmon, 
SO far as I know, has been a shy bearer. I 
have tried a number of years to get the 
Tannenashi to fruit, but to no purpose; 
so finally I dug it up. This is a fine fruit 
