Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-02-03
THE PIONEERING OF THE FIG.
BY MRS. NEISLER.

To the uneducated eye, the fig is l.
mystery. The fruit seems 10 come
from where tie flowers ought to be,
and there seems lie no flowers before
fruit, as in other plants. In past ages
1t was attributable to something mirac-
ulous; the appearance of anything ont
of the ordinary course of nature, was
taken as occasion to connect these Won
drous appearances with some indI-
vidual whom they wished the world to
venerate and esteem. SO this fig tree
wonder came to be associated with the
fleeing of Mary with the infant Jesus
into Egypt We learn from the Span
iards, that in her flight she sheltered
herself under a fig tree. In recon-
pense for the security afforded her, she
blessed the tree, and bestowed upon it
marvellous power. One of the bless
ings conferred, was producing two
crops year. In order that the tree
might be fertilized, even in those days it
was known that the flower was of two
sizes. The tree put forth, by her COM
mand, one magnificent white flower of
unknown beauty and purity. 1t sent
forth rays of phosphorescent loveli-
ness, This fructifies the whole tree,
and renders any other flower unneces-
sary.
This Towering continues every year
ON one night only-St, Nicholas. 1t
opens for a few minutes at midnight,
and whoever could see or secure this
flower, at the expense of the whole fu-
ture of fig culture, would possess him
self of q charm which would enable
him to procure anything he might
wish in the world. Tue Virgin Mary,
knowing this, caused the tree On the
evening of its Towering to be guarded
by all kinds of horrible thin9s-snakes,
lizards. bIoated toads, bIrls of ill
omen, wild bensts and venomous rep
tiles of every description, SO that no
one has ever been able to get near
enough to see this wonderful and mar
velous flower. The story is firmly be-
lieved by all those Latin races, whose
chance for life is cast in those regions
where the fig tree dwells, and has
always been . sufficient reason to them,
why the fig never had any fower-so
they think. What pity all those
beautiful and interesting stories are
crushed, since science tells us, in spite
of these lovely traditions of ages past,
that the fig tree has flowers as every
bub thC uo"Sic III q lhothc
what we call the fruit. All flowers rest
upon something. The apple, is much
sought and enjoyed by US during the
summer solstice, v Whea we thirst for an
acid. The formation of this fig is
analogous to the apple; the.little globe
we see pushing from the axis of the fig
loaf, and which afterwards becomes the
fruit, is filled with floral parts, just as
We see In the apple, but these parts
never project up the centre, 30 as to be
seen by vulgar eyes. There is small
orifice at the apex through which the
pollen is dSawn, and this is all that is
known Of the formulation of the fig.
The curiosity is rewarded in opening
. flower, by finding it filed with .
pink. apongy substance; each of the
little projections composing it, is seen
to be a small flower by the aid OF .
lens. Thus the mystery of the fig tree
is solved. The fig il little commu.
nifty IN which hundreds of individual
flowers dwell inside the fruit. Woman
Work.