Sun to dry it;
ihe fico vottato is also better fresh; the fico pezzottolo is often
attacked by grubs, but grows to a large size every two or three years;
the fico pascarello is good up till Christmas; the fico natalino;
lastly, the fico - - , whose name I will not record, though it would
be an admirable illustration of that same anthropomorphic turn of mind.
The santillo and arnese, he added, are the varieties which are cut
into two and laid lengthwise upon each other and so dried (Query: Is not
this the "duplex ficus" of Horace?).
"Of course there are other kinds," he said, "but I don't remember them
just now." When I asked whether he could tell these different fig-trees
apart by the leaves and stems alone and without the fruit, he said that
each kind, even in winter, retained its peculiar "faccia" (face), but
that some varieties are more easy to distinguish than others. I enquired
into the mysteries of caprification, and learned that artificial
ripening by means of a drop of oil is practised with some of them,
chiefly the santillo, vollombola, pascarello and natalino. Then he
gave me an account of the prices for the different qualities and seasons
which would have astonished a grocer.
All of which proves how easy it is to misjudge of folks who, although
they do not know that Paris is the capital of France, yet possess a
training adapted to their present needs.
