
WE GIVE 35 HOURS SERVICE... WEATHER PERMITTING 

GROWING FIGS 
For many years people thought that figs 
could not be grown this far north. We are mis- 
taken about many things. I have a loquat tree on 
my place several years old and some strawberry 
Guavas. These are thought to be tropical plants, 
and this all goes to show that it pays to try some 
of these new plants. But I started out to tell 
you about figs. I have been growing figs so long 
I can hardly remember when I planted the first 
plant. I do remember that an Uncle many years 
ago moved from Southern Georgia and brought 
along some plants of the Celeste fig. This grew 
into a large tree and bore small blue figs. But it 
had a drawback. If a hard winter came and killed 
the limbs on the tree it would take it two years 
to recover and bear more figs. I saw a fig ad- 
vertised called the Magnolia, and bought a few 
plants. These were planted on the side of a clay 
hill and came into bearing promptly. It proved 
a very profitable crop for, in some way, the 
growing of figs had never been promoted in this_ 
country and my Magnolia fig plants made on an 
average two gallons per plant and I sold the fresh 
figs for fifty cents per gallon. However, I found 
the Magnolia fig had a drawback. Some years 
when we had cotton flies the fly ruined all the 
last ripening fruit. But if the cotton fly is not 
present the plants will bear from July until frost. 
I also tried the Green Ischia, the Hirtu Japan, 
the Brunswick; and at last, found the now famous 
Harrison fig. It was found in Tarrant county and 
I was delighted with it, for a single plant had a 
bushel of figs and the trees were vigorous and no 
insect bothered them very much. I got a lot of 
the cuttings and now have about five hundred 
of the plants in bearing on my place and they 
have paid me every year notwithstanding some 
bad drouths. 
Figs need to be planted on just reasonably 
good soil. If the land gets too rich, like a chicken 
yard, the plants will grow very fast and rank and 
forget to bear. This is especially true of the 
Harrison. And right here let me say the Harrison 
has been renamed a dozen times or more. Some | 
call it Ramsey, some Texas Everbearing and so 
on. Since I found it several large orchards have 
been planted. If it happens to get cold and kill 
the plants it pays to cut them back to the ground 
and let them come again. If the soil is right these 
young plants will begin to put on figs by the time 
they are a foot high. If they insist on just growing 
you have your soil too rich. But after a year or 
two they will begin to adapt themselves to this 
rich soil. If the plants do not get killed from cold 
for a year or two they get hardier and stand 
more cold and these old plants will often be 
covered with ripe figs by June and continue to 
bear until frest. If you have the candle flies 
some of them will be ruined if they are not gath- 
ered promptly when ripe enough to preserve. 
They can be preserved in that case by the time 
they are well colored. The plants should be set 
any time during the winter and should be planted 
about fifteen feet apart or about two hundred 
plants per acre. If you have a terrace you will 
find they hold the land and do extra well on a 
terrace. I plant them on a terrace half-way between 
‘my apple trees. In that. way, you soon begin to 
realize from an orchard. The best fertilizer for 
them is acid phosphate or wood ashes. But do not 
put the ashes too close to the plants. Three or 
four feet from them. Figs make about the best 
preserves of all fruits and all you have to do 
is to sell a few in a town or let people know 
you have them. We formerly sold them in gallon 
measures but now we sell in half-gallon tills at 
35 cents per till. We found that people do not 
complain at this price. Of course, after a family 
has made all the fig preserves it wants that family 
is supplied, but you will soon find by taking 
them along with vegetables you can sell nearly 
every family in a town. Or if you run a roadside 
stand it will pay to have a few dozen trees. You 
can always sell the fruit. They will grow as far 
north as Oklahoma and all over the southern part 
of Arkansas. They often do well on valley land. 
Since if one crop is killed by frost another starts 
at once they are practically sure to bear. The 
reason I advise acid phosphate as a fertilizer for 
them is because it seems to hasten the ripening 
period. 
But no matter how many figs you pick from 
a tree there will be plenty of green figs in the 
fall when frost comes. When I had more time 
than I do now I would bend these plants over 
and cover with straw or any litter to keep the figs 
still on the trees from freezing. As soon as this 
litter is removed in the spring the green figs will 
begin to ripen and you can in that way have figs 
ripe with blackberries. But, of course, that is a 
lot of trouble. Around the eaves of a house is a 
good place for figs and if you live in town you 
can have a dozen trees in odd corners. In some 
peculiar way, they seem to do nearly as well on 
the north side of the house as the south side. If 
you can have a plant near a well or drain they 
will bear an enormous crop. Remember, it is 
easy to get the ground too rich for the Harrison 
fig. The Magnolia will stand more fertilizer and 
make fruit as big as peaches. Figs are the oldest 
of all fruits and likely as healthful as any other. 

FITZGERALD NURSERY 
- STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS 
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