He spake also this parable;
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, ‘Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?’  And he answering said unto him, ‘Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:  and if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”
Luke 13:6-9