CHAP. VI.

FIGS,

SECT. I.- Fruit blue or black.

1. BLACK GENOA. Miller, No. 2.

Fruit long, swelling pretty large at the apex, where it is rather obtuse: the lower part is very slender next the stalk. Skin of a dark purple colour, almost black, covered with a purple bloom. Pulp bright red and highly flavoured.

Ripe in August.

2. BLACK ISCHIA. Miller, No. 5.

Fruit middle-sized, round, a little flattened at the apex. Skin almost black when ripe. Pulp deep red, and very highly flavoured.

Ripe in August.

This is a very productive fig; but the birds are great devourers of it, if the fruit is not protected.

3. BLACK ITALIAN. Forsyth, Ed. 7. No. 9. Fruit small and round.

Pulp very delicious. An abundant bearer in pots. Mr. Forsyth, from whom this is taken, says he has gathered from one plant, in a twenty-four pot, two dozen figs at one gathering.

4. LARGE Blue.

Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 11.

Common Blue or Purple. Miller, No. 10.

Large Purple. Nurs. Catalogues.

Fruit large, oblong. Skin purple, or dark brown, covered with a thick blue bloom. Pulp deep red, of a very good flavour.

Ripe in August.

This is a very hardy sort, and a most excellent bearer.

5. SMALL BLUE. Hort. Soc. Cat. 12.

Little Blue. Hanbury.

Fruit below the middle size, with a short footstalk. Skin blue, thin. Pulp red, of very good flavour. Ripe in August.

6. BOURDEAUX. Duhamel, t. 2. f. 2. Figue-Poire. Ib. Vol. i. p. 213.

Violette de Bourdeaux. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 70. Fruit pretty long, of a pyramidal figure, rounded at the apex, and a little pinched in towards the stalk, about three inches long, and two inches in diameter. Skin brownish red, becoming deep violet when fully matured, slightly mottled with a few greenish specks. Pulp deep red or purple, succulent and sweet.

This is cultivated throughout France, and produces two crops annually, both of which in a warm season are good, although not possessing very high flavour.

7. BROWN TURKEY. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 64. Brown Italian. Forsyth, Ed. 7. No. 9.

Fruit small and round. Pulp very delicious.

This and the Black Italian are mentioned by Mr. Forsyth, as being cultivated by him in pots, and each possessing equal merit.

8. BRUNSWICK. Pom. Mag. t. 48.

Madonna. Miller, 9.

Hanover. Of some Gardens, according to the Pom. Mag.

Fruit very large, obovate, fleshy, with an oblique apex. Eye rather depressed. Stalk short and thick. Skin pale green on the shaded side, with a tinge of yellow; next the sun, dull brownish red, sprinkled with small pale brown specks. Flesh pinkish in the interior,

nearly white next the skin, but chiefly semi-transparent reddish brown, extremely rich, sweet, and high-flavoured. Ripe the beginning and middle of August.

This is one of the most useful of the hardy figs. In a south-eastern corner, trained against a wall, it ripens by the middle of August, in even unfavourable seasons. In an ordinary summer, in the neighbourhood of London, it begins to mature by the beginning of that month. It is, perhaps, the largest purple fig we have, and the most useful variety that can be selected for a small garden.

9. CHESTNUT. Miller, No. 1.

Chestnut-coloured Ischia. Ib.
Brown Ischia.

Ib.

Fruit of a large size, globular. Eye pretty large, and pinched in at the stalk. Skin of a brown or chestnut colour. Pulp purple, sweet and high flavoured. Seeds large.

This sort often bursts open when it ripens, which is generally in the beginning or middle of August. It will also ripen well frequently on an open standard, when planted on a warm soil; and if planted against a hot wall two crops may be obtained annually.

10. LONG BROWN NAPLES. Miller, 11. Long Naples. Hanbury.

Fruit long, somewhat compressed at the

apex.

Stalk

pretty long. Skin dark brown when fully ripe. Pulp

inclining to red, and well flavoured.

Seeds large,

Ripe in September.

11. MALTA. Miller, 4.

Small Brown, of some Gardens.

Fruit small, much compressed at the apex, and very much pinched in towards the stalk. Skin pale brown. Pulp the same colour as the skin, very sweet and well flavoured.

Ripe towards the end of August.

If this sort is permitted to hang upon the tree till the fruit is shrivelled it becomes a fine sweetmeat.

12. MINION. Hitt, p. 306.

Fruit small. Skin brown. Pulp high flavoured. Hitt says the tree is always low, and will bear without the assistance of a wall.

13. MURREY. Miller, No. 7.

Round Naples. Hanbury.

Fruit pretty large, of a globular figure.

Skin light

brown, with some faint marks of dirty white. Pulp nearly of the same colour as the skin, and of a good flavour. Seeds large.

Ripe the latter end of August.

14. PREGUSSATA.

Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 57.

Fruit large, oblate. Stalk short and thick. Skin, where shaded, purplish brown; where exposed, of a very dark brown, sprinkled with pale spots. Pulp deep red, remarkably sweet and rich. Seeds unusually small. Ripe from August to October.

This very beautiful and most excellent fig was sent to this country, a few years ago, by Dr. Skey, from the Ionian Isles.

15. PURPLE GENOA. Hanbury.

Fruit large, long. Skin dark purple, when perfectly ripe. Pulp extremely sweet and luscious.

16. SMALL BROWN ISCHIA. Miller, No. 13.

Fruit small, of a pyramidal figure, with a very short foot-stalk. Skin light brown.

purple, of a very high flavour.

Ripe late in September.

Pulp
Pulp inclining to

The leaves of this tree are less divided than any of the

other sorts.

17. VIOLETTE.

Figue Violette.

Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 67.

Duhamel, No. 3. t. 2. f. 1.

Fruit small, shortly turbinate, and flattened at the apex, one inch and three quarters or two inches in diameter, and nearly the same in height. Skin deep violet. Pulp near the skin white; the interior enveloping the seeds deeply tinged with red.

The Violet Fig, like the Angélique, is cultivated in the neighbourhood of Paris, and produces two crops annually the autumnal one is the most productive; and in a warm season the fruit is excellent.

SECT. III. - Fruit yellow, white, or green.

18. ANGÉLIQUE. Duhamel, Vol. i. No. 2. Coucourelle Blanche. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 1. Mélitte. Ib.

Fruit rather small, somewhat pyramidal, about two inches long, and one inch and three quarters in diameter. Skin yellow, mottled with greenish white specks. Pulp white, having the interior which envelopes the seeds tinged with red.

This sort is somewhat like the Marseilles, but longer, and, like that, in the neighbourhood of Paris, produces two crops annually: the first is usually thin, but the second very abundant; and in a fine season the fruit is excellent.

19. GENTILE. Miller, No. 14. Forsyth, Ed. 3. No. 15.

Fruit middle-sized, of a globular figure. Skin yellow, when fully ripe. Pulp yellow, with large seeds. Its flavour is very good, but it ripens late, and the trees are seldom good bearers, so that it is not much grown in this country.

20. GREEN ISCHIA.

Miller, No. 8.

Green Ischia. Forsyth, Ed. 3. No. 9.

Fruit oblong, somewhat globular at the apex. Skin