inch of the two years wood at their base; the tops being left entire. These cuttings are to be set 6 or 8 inches deep, in a bed of good soil, in rows 2 feet apart; and, if they be planted in autumn, it will be requisite to protect the tops from the severity of the winter, with any kind of loose, long litter.
Fig-trees require a free exposure to the rays of the sun, at the side of an espalier: they ought to be frequently watered; and, according to Bechstein, wood-ashes are for them a more proper manure than dung. Towards the winter of our colder climate, the root of the fig-tree ought to be somewhat loosened, and the trunk bent down in the form of a bow, and covered with straw, to protect it from the severity of the frost.
There is a mode of increasing and ripening the fruit of the domestic fig-tree, by means of insects: it is practised in the Levant, and known by the name of caprification. The principal of those insects appears to be the cynips psenes that deposits its eggs in the figs; from these arise small worms which, when covered with the pollen or flower-dust, migrate from the male flowers, take shelter in the female ones, and thus effect fructification. In consequence of this natural process, the figs not only ripen more speedily, but also become much larger; so that a fig-tree which formerly produced about 25lb. of ripe fruit, now yields nearly 300lb.—Later experience has proved that caprification may be successfully imitated in gardens, by wounding the buds of the figs with a straw or feather dipped in sweet oil.—Bechstein advises a drop of olive oil to be introduced into the calyx of the figs when half ripe, and to repeat this unction every four or five days; as it will remarkably promote the growth and maturing of the fruit.—Plums and pears also, when wounded by insects, have been observed to ripen at a more early period, and the pulp about the wounded part to acquire a more delicious flavour.
The principal varieties of the common fig are, the brown, or chesnut coloured Ischia fig; the murrey, or brown Naples fig; the common blue or purple fig; and lastly, the Turkey fig, which is in the greatest estimation, and is imported in considerable quantities into this country.
Figs contain a large portion of mucilage, and a small quantity of oil. They are grateful to the stomach, and more easy of digestion than any other sweet fruit; they abound with saccharine matter, and are very nutritious, though they are apt to occasion flatulency, when eaten without bread, or other mealy substances.—A decoction of figs affords excellent gargles to cleanse the throat and mouth: this fruit also forms an ingredient in lenitive electuaries, and pectoral draughts; it is likewise applied externally to soften, digest, and promote maturation. When in an unripe state, figs, as well as the whole tree, yield an acrid, milky liquor, which, if taken as a medicine, proves both purgative and emetic; but externally affords a mild caustic: hence it is frequently employed for the removal of warts. This juice has also been substituted for sympathetic ink; as the characters written with it, do not appear visible till they are exposed to a fire.
In dyeing, a decoction of the
