148 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



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quite sure a lot of bananas would not lie undis- 

 turbed very long. We have heard a few persons 

 say they would " as soon " eat them as bananas, 

 and indeed there is a slight banana taste to them 

 which is far from being disagreeable. But while 

 one can almost make a square meal from 

 bananas, two or three papaws will be found 

 quite enough at a time. Though the Papaw 

 will hardly make any sensation as an "addition 

 to our list of fruits," it is however a nice little 

 thing to have, and a tree or two in one's garden 

 will be worth planting. 



Fig Culture. — Mr. Geo. F. Xeedham of 

 Washington, D. C, has given an essay, in which 

 he wonders why fig culture is not more general 

 at the North. They only need a little winter 

 protection. He says : 



"In the Spring, at time of corn planting, 

 throw up one or more ridges eight feet high in 

 the centre. Stake oflf on the top of this, dis- 

 tances ten feet apart. At these stakes dig holes 

 at right angles to the ridges, say two feet long 

 and ten inches wide. Throw the top soil in a 

 pile, and throw the sub-soil away. Replace the 

 soil in holes in the form of a mound one inch 

 below the level in the centre and six inches 

 below at the ends. Then separate the roots 

 into two parts. Set the trees at the centre 

 point, with the roots extending right and left 

 down the mound. Fill up with any good soil 

 and tread down thoroughly. In the Autumn, 

 before danger from severe frost, prepare the 

 trees for winter quarters, by cutting the roots 

 growing lengthwise of the ridges with a sharp 

 spade, not disturbing the original roots that 

 were planted. Lay down the trees, lengthwise 

 of the ridge, pegging down the branches that 

 may need to be, then cover with earth, in this 

 latitude two inches deep. In that of Boston 

 four inches deep. And no matter how old the 

 trees, by this method of planting they are laid 

 to rest very easily. Only with older trees, after 

 the branches are pegged down, it will be best to 

 fill in the interstices with leaves and then cover 

 as before. I think I hear an objection "too 

 much trouble." We do not hesitate to grow 

 other luscious fruits on that account ; and the 

 necessity of winter protection, will be atoned 

 for from considerations before named. It cost 

 about one cent each to protect the trees of my 

 fig orchard this fall. A man and a boy lay- 

 ing down and covering over a hundred per 

 day. In the Spring, at the time before noted 

 remove the earth from the trees and raise 



them to their positions. Thus it will be seen 

 that the care of the trees is not great and the 

 whole operation is quite simple. The unripe 

 figs that were buried with the wood will form 

 the first crop of the next year." 



We sympathize with Mr. Needham. The 

 dread of a little trouble in laying down should 

 be no more bar to fig culture when we have only 

 to dig and house them. Europeans whom we so 

 much envy for their fine figs often have to pro- 



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tect them. We give the annexed figure from 

 De Breul, showing how carefully the branches 

 are bent down, arranged and covered. 



Rare and Good Pemnsylvaxia Apples. — 

 The Berks County Agricultural Society recom- 

 mend the following little known Pennsylvania 

 apples as particular!)^ worthy of attention. 

 York Imperial, a great favorite in Lancaster 

 County; the Phillipi, a fine apple largely 

 grown by Ezra High, Es(j., and the Frau Roth- 

 rock and Champagne, grown by Eberhard 

 Barth. The Phillippi, Frau Rothrock, Cham- 

 pagne, Dumpling, Baer, Heister, Hepler, Yost, 

 Gewiss Good and Ritter's Sweet are varieties of 

 Berks. 



The Tomato Disease. — We learn from an 

 exchange that "in France, for several years 

 past, the Tomato plant has been subject to a 

 disease which ruins in a week the most promis- 

 ing planting. One writer insists that it is owing 

 to the long continued wet weather, but the 

 editor of the Revue Horticole does not accept 

 this as the sole cause. The plants which were 

 the most protected by wall seem to be the first 

 to die, while those in open spaces are less 



