THE 
HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 
^Iarch \st, 1832. 
PART I.-HORTICULTURE, See. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Article T.— On, the Cultmition and Management of tJie 
Fig. By Mr. William Deas, Gardener to his Grac® 
the Duke of Norfolk, Arimdel-Castle. 
Gentlemen, 
The Fig’ is a low tree, a native of Asia arid Barbary, naturalized 
in Italy and the south of France, but it may be successfully cultivated 
in England, even as a standard or an espalier tree, when it enjoys the 
protection of a wall, or southern exposure. 
The Encyclopaedia of Gardening, says, that the Fig tree in France and 
Italy, grows as large as our apple tree, but in this country it seldom ex¬ 
ceeds two yards high. The Fig forms an important article of culture in 
the Isles and borders of the Mediterranean sea, and especially in Greece, 
Italy, and Spain ; it is also much cultivated for drying, in the south of 
France, and for the table at Argentuil, near Paris. The earliest notice 
we have of its culture in England, is by Turner, in 1562. The first 
trees were brought over from Italy, by Cardinal Pole, in 1525, during 
the reign of Henry VIII., and yet exist in the gardens of the Archbishop 
of Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace. 
The Author of the “ Domestic Gardener’s Manual,” at page 256, says 
the history of the Fig comprises a very extended period of time; by 
some the tree is considered to have been knov/n to the inhabitants of 
the East even i efore the various species of corn. Mention of it is fre¬ 
quently made in the Scriptures: it was highly esteemed by the Jews, 
and by most of the eastern nations, among which, it evidently was re¬ 
garded as an important, if not a primary article of food. It is a curious 
fact, not perhaps generally known, that our word “Sycophant,” which 
Johnson defines “a tale l)earer, a make-bate, a malicious parasite,” and 
Von. 1, No. 9. 3 b 
