Excerpt from California Fig Industry: With a Chapter on Fig Caprification; Written for the Annual Report of the California State Board of Agriculture for 1891 In Tripoli fig trees grow on the plains as well as on the mountains; the more they are exposed to the sun the better they prosper. They are found in rolling and level land, both of which are adapted to their growth. It is customary in this country to plant fig trees in either white clayey soil or in a blackish soil - the latter not being good for other kinds of trees. In France the fig grows in an almost wild state in many places. On many an old wall small fig trees are to be seen, and on many a road bank they are the trees most frequently to be seen. In country farm yards, innkeepers' gardens, and stable-yards the fig tree is invariably present, and very often as a solitary specimen. It would be difficult to find a garden of any description in southern France without a fig tree. In Italy many varieties are cultivated. Usually the fig is planted in company with other fruit trees - the olive, almond, and others - but fig orchards where figs alone are grown may be found at Lecce and other places, and in such cases the trees must be planted at such a distance apart that when they reach their fullest development they may not come in contact with each other. In many places it is the custom to alternate the fig, almond, and olive, so that each fig tree may be iso lated. The introduction of the fig into Italy antedates authentic history, and is lost in the misty depths of tradition. Pliny refers to a tree which existed long anterior to the founding of Rome, under which the people of that city were wont to assemble to discuss the topics of the day' years thereafter. Tradition claims this tree to have been that under which Remus and Romulus were found, and in commemoration thereof it was preserved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.