On figs

生青熟紫，味如柿而無核。植之其利有七：一、味甘可口，老人小兒食之有益無害；二、曝乾與柿餅無異，可供籩食；三、立秋至霜降，取次成熟，可為三月之需；四、種樹取效最速，桃李亦需三四年後結實，此果截取大枝扦插，本年即可結實，次年便能成樹；五、葉為醫痔勝藥；六、霜降後，如有未成熟者，可收作糖蜜煎果；七、得土即活，隨地廣植，多貯其實，以備貯歉歲。

[Figs] are green when unripe and purple when ripe. They taste like persimmons but without seeds. Growing them offers seven benefits:

1. [Figs] are sweet and delicious. Eating them brings nothing but benefits to young and old alike.

2. Sun-dried [figs] are not different from dried persimmons and can be served as a snack.

3. Picking [figs] as they ripen from the Beginning of Autumn [early August] to Frost’s Descent [late October] makes a supply lasting for three months.

4. Growing fig trees is extremely efficient. Peach trees or plum trees need three to four years before starting to bear fruit. Figs can be grown from a big cutting, which will bear fruit the same year and become a tree the following year.

5. Fig leaves make an exceptional medicine for haemorrhoids.

6. After Frost’s Descent, the underripe figs, if any, can be harvested for making candied fruits.  

7. [A fig plant] lives once put in the soil. Planting them everywhere and storing plenty of fruits compensates for lean years.

種法：在春分前取三尺長條插土中，澆以糞水，若生葉後，惟澆清水，結果後更不可缺水，常置瓶其側，出以細霤，日夜不絕，實大如甌。

Planting method:

Before the Spring Equinox [late March], take a cutting about one metre long, insert it into the soil, and water it with diluted manure. After leaves appear, just use water. When [the plant] bears fruit, water is even more indispensable. Always keep a bottle next to the plant, leaving a thin stream flowing out day and night. The fruit is as big as a cup.

* From Chen Haozi 陳淏子 (b. 1612), Huajing 花鏡 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1956), 92.