i873-] FIG-CULTURE. 73 



with the stalk. To gather a Tig in perfection, it should be allowed to 

 hang till the juice begins to exude from its eye or apex. Of course if 

 they have to be packed and sent to a distance, they should be gathered 

 a day earlier. 



Second Crop. — As soon as the first crop is all gathered, give every 

 encouragement to the second. The natural heat of the season 

 having increased, the temperature may range a few degrees higher ; 

 syringing be resumed and practised regularly on all fine days ; 

 and more water can be given at the root. The house may be shut up 

 in the afternoon with a temperature of 80° to 85° according to the 

 weather, with a corresponding degree of atmospheric moisture. The 

 Fig is very fond of heat, especially when derived from the sun, and 

 also of a moist atmosphere. 



When the second crop begins to ripen, air liberally, and give just 

 sufficient water to keep the system active and healthy, but no more. 

 As soon as the fruit are all gathered, should there be any signs of 

 red-spider, syringe the foliage vigorously with water in which a little 

 sulphur is mixed. Look over the trees, and remove entirely any 

 growths that seem at all to crowd them ; and when the wood is 

 ripened remove the plants to the open air, plunging them in a place 

 where they can have full sun, and keep them well watered until the 

 leaves drop. 



The routine of forcing trees planted out in borders does not differ 

 in any essential point from the foregoing directions. They of course 

 require less frequent watering at the root than plants in pots. Still, 

 after the trees have thoroughly filled the border with roots and have 

 covered the roof of the house with fruit-bearing wood, they require 

 copious supplies of water and liberal annual top-dressing with rotten 

 manure. When bearing heavy crops, ordinary manure or guano-water 

 should be liberally supplied to them. Fxcept when the fruit are ripen- 

 ing, it is not easy to over- water a limited border filled with one mass 

 of Fig-roots. In the first few years of their growth and forcing, it is, 

 as has already been stated, undesirable to over-feed them. Old Fig- 

 trees that are properly managed sometimes show more fruit than it is 

 advisable to allow them to bear, and it is desirable to tliin them ; for 

 as in the case of most other fruits, a lesser quantity of fine Figs is 

 more satisfactory than a greater number of inferior ones. 



To have the first crop of fruit ripe on planted-out Figs between the 

 time that the first crop is over and the coming in of the second on trees 

 in pots, the time to begin forcing the former must be regulated by the 

 time at which those in pots have been started. If they are started at 

 the new year, the Fig-house proper should be started in about eight or 

 ten weeks after. 



