The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1906-07-26
ALARoE FIG TREE.
One at AatamOTOs Makes Shade of 1884
Square Feet-Supports Family.

? L ne II puerto &c S12LamOrOS, pup
: lished at Matamoros, says: We
, have read in a periodical of recent
. date the following;
In all of Occidental Europe,
without doubt the largest fig tree
is one which grows in the garden
OF the Convent of Capuchinos at
Roscof, France.
In order to support the branch
es of this rnonstrous tree it has
been necessary to construct a large
and strong prop. Beneath the
shade of this tree, so supported,
500 persons may easily stand"
The article has suggested the
idea of publishing the facts rela-
tives to another tree of the same
species which grows in Matamoros
and which is ample proof of this
richness Of this aud the adaptable
ity of this soil and the adaptability
of this climate for its cultivation.
The tree is from Berberia, and
this one was bought from a French
traveller who came from Africa in
1882 or 1888, when the stock was
but two feet high. 1t was planted
in the center of a patio" (inner
court) and has received no atten-
ton other than an occasional water
ing from a nearby cistern. It is,
! accordingly, % or "a years old
and its trunk is exactly FIVE feet
ten inches in circumference. From
it four branches thirty-three inches
in circumference rise to an altitude
of seven or eight feet, and from
these other branches spring, max
ing in all a shade covering 1884
square feet.
Invariable two crops are gather
ed yearly, each approximately pro-
ducing 10000 figs of exquisite del
icacy and taste, and each of which
weighs on an average $50 grams,
which are sold by street peddlers
at &c (Mexican money! each.
The members of the family who
possess this prodigious tree, IN
selfish and generous as are all of
this locality, do not reap much
profit from these crops, as they
usually distribute tie delicious fruit
among their friends, and sell only
that which would waste if it were
not SO used, but horticulturist
who might cultivate it, would
derive six or seven hundred dollars
annually from it. That is to say,
this one tree would support an or
binary family, while twenty of the
same kind would supply the needs
of family of opulence.
As we have already said, the
great virtue of this tree is the little
cost for cultivation, as it requires
nothing other than an occasional
watering.
One morning the head of the
house accidentally bruised his face
by coming in contract with hang
ing limb, and in a fit of resentment
broke the offending piece and cast
it to the ground. His wife stuck
this piece at a short distance from
its parent and ordered that it
should be watered when not for
gotten. That was six years ago.
Today the broken limb stands a
worthy representative of its pro-
genitor giving proportionately as
much fruit as the former.
Some of those figs were on the
market at Matamoros this year and
so delicious were they that your
bough all in sight
at ? cents each American money 4
and they were well worth the
price. They were fully as large as
a Pipkiu apple.
In tue coast country figs grow
abundantly where found or plant
ed. At Brownsville and Matamo-
ros, however, their growth and
yield are so marvellous that none
but those who see can believe.
The coming year, two years since