334 THE FLOBIST. 



CULTURE OF THE FIG IN THE OPEN AIR. 

 Though the Fig is a native of warm climates, and, owing to the 

 succulence of its wood, little calculated to endure severe winters, never- 

 theless, when grown on a wall, there is no other fruit tree on which we 

 can yearly depend with so much certainty for a crop of fruit, provided 

 the wood be protected during the winter months. With proper culti- 

 vation the Fig will ripen its fruit in every part of Great Britain. Valued 

 as the fruit is, and to the culture of which so much glass is devoted, it 

 has often been to me a matter of surprise that so little attention has 

 been paid to its cultivation in the open air. It will ripen its fruit in 

 the highest perfection equally well on an east or west aspect as on 

 a south. 



In an angle of the gardens here there is planted a large tree, one half 

 of which is trained on the west wall, and the other half on the south. 

 That part on the west wall bears equally well, and ripens its fruit as 

 early, as that portion of the tree on the south wall. The sort is the 

 White Marseilles, and from this tree I have gathered as many as 240 

 fruit in one season ; and to show that the quality of the fruit was good, 

 I may mention that I got this season three prizes for fruit from this 

 tree. I may also mention that whenever we have any wasps in these 

 gardens the fruit on this tree is a favourite with them. I have also a 

 large tree of the Brown Turkey, which bears and ripens its fruit equally 

 well ; indeed, I am of opinion that most of the varieties would with 

 proper treatment ripen in the open air. 



The following is my treatment of these trees. As soon as the leaves 

 are off the trees, which is generally, according to the season, the end of 

 October or beginning of November, I prune them if they require it, but 

 if properly attended to during summer they will require little or no 

 pruning at this time. I then take oif the ends of every shoot, and to 

 this I attach the utmost importance. I then nail all the shoots in their 

 proper places, and thatch the whole of the trees with straw ; but 

 if they were in a situation where the appearance of the straw during 

 winter was objectionable, I would loosen all the branches from the wall, 

 collect them into one or two bundles, and then cover them with straw 

 or any other material which would be sufficient to protect the wood. I 

 leave the straw over the trees until the end of April or beginning of 

 May, until all danger from frost is over. I then take it off, and the 

 trees being previously trained nothing further at that time is required. 

 If the shoots have been properly attended to the previous season, in the 

 course of a few wef:ks the embryo Figs will be observed to grow larger, 

 and in Yorkshire they begin to ripen about the middle of August, 

 and then continue for about six weeks. But during the summer 

 months great attention must be paid to thinning the young shoots— 

 rather err in having them too thin, to having them overcrowded with 

 shoots. 



When kept thin, the wood \vill in general be short-jointed, and well 

 ripened. The young shoots must not on any account be nailed to the 

 wall during summer, because, if nailed in, the embryo Figs would 

 become too largely developed before winter, and most of them would 



