Mardi 21, 1872. ] JOUENAIi OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



POT-CULTUKE OF FIGS. 



HE Fig is now rather extensively grown 

 both out of doors and under glass, but it is 

 very seldom that suitable accommodation 

 is afforded for its cultui-e. WTien a house 

 is exclusively devoted to this frait, and a 

 judicious selection of sorts has been made, 

 with proper attention the result is a con- 

 tinuous succession of fruit of the most 

 luscious description. 



^\'hether giown in pots or planted out in 

 a prepared border the Fig is easily cultivated. One of 

 the best Fig houses of which I have any knowledge is 

 that at Sion House, Isleworth. It is a lean-to, and, as 

 far as I can recollect, 60 feet long by 18 feet wide, and 

 of proportionate height. The Figs are j)lanted close to 

 the fi-ont wall, and trained to wires fixed horizontally 

 across the rafters, another set of plants being trained to 

 the back wall. Of coiu'se the trees which had the full 

 benefit of the hght and heat produced abundant crops 

 of fine fiiiit, but I also noticed that those planted on the 

 back wall, although veiy much shaded, succeeded remark- 

 ably well. I am ■miting now of what I saw there some 

 years ago. 



Of all fi-uits I think the Fig is the best adapted for pot- 

 culture, and tliis is the method usually employed, at 

 least ia gardens of somewhat limited extent. Ten or 

 twelve years ago my duty in a large commercial estabhsh- 

 ment was the charge of the house in which the Fig trees 

 were cultivated in pots. The house was built on the 

 ridge-and-fiuTow principle, with glass sides and ends, the 

 brickwork being caiTied up only about a foot or 18 inches 

 above the gi'ound-hne. The young plants were propa- 

 gated and grown for some time in another stmctiu-e, as 

 that referred to was not provided with a heating apparatus. 

 The house was kept rather close by day, and shut-up 

 early in the afternoon. Under these cii-cumstances the 

 trees gi-ew rapidly, and though quite young produced 

 excellent fmit. In my present situation I have no house 

 exclusively devoted to Figs, but I obtain a tolerably good 

 and continuous supply fi-om the pot trees, which are 

 placed in early and late vineries, against the back walls 

 of Cucumber and Pine houses, or in any other-convenient 

 place. Tolerably good fruit may sometimes be obtained 

 fi'om under the shade of Vines, but it is not to be com- 

 pared with that fi'om trees more fully exposed to hght 

 and ail'. 



The Fig is easily propagated either from single eyes or 

 cuttings. The compost should be sandy loam, with a 

 little leaf mould added, and a single eye or cutting should 

 be inserted in the centre of a 60-sized pot. To facihtate 

 the emission of roots, the pots should be plunged in a 

 bottom heat of 85° or 90". The night temperatm-e of the 

 house should be 55*. Under such circumstances the pots 

 will soon be filled with roots, and the buds will start into 

 active growth. One centre shoot only should be trained 

 up until the plant is a foot high, when it ought to be 

 stopped. Indeed, for whatever purpose the tree is in- 



Ko. 673.— Vol. XXIL, New .Seeies. 



tended, whether as a pot tree or for planting-out, there 

 ought to be a clear stem of at least a foot high. 'WTien the 

 small pots are full of roots, and the young Fig trees are 

 gi'owing fi-eely, these ought to be shifted into pots a size 

 larger ; the Fig tree grows vei-y rapidly, and requires a 

 liberal shift. The compost wliich I have found most 

 suitable is turfy loam and pulverised bones. If the loam 

 is poor, an eighth part of decayed maniu'e should be 

 added. An over-rich compost is not desnable, as it causes 

 the production of gi'oss sappy wood, which is an evil to 

 be avoided in the case of the Fig, as well as of aU other 

 fruit-beai-ing trees. 



Om- plants were started into gi'owth in a night tempe- 

 ratui'e of 55° ; but after signs of growth are apparent the 

 heat should be gi'adually increased, and if the object is 

 to obtain large plants in the shortest possible time the 

 night temperatui'e may be from 65° to 70° after the plants 

 are well estabhshed. 



To obtain compact handsome specimens, the young 

 shoots must be pinched at every tliird leaf. Some of the 

 varieties natiu-aUy form compact bushes, such are Col di 

 Signora Blanca, Panachee, and Brown Tm'key. Others, 

 as YeUow Ischia, have more of a long-jointed upright 

 habit ; to improve the appearance of such sorts a few 

 sticks may be inserted in the pot, and the shoots care- 

 fully trained to them, but avoid giving the plant an iin- 

 natui'al appearance by bending or twisting the shoots. 

 I have obtained excellent fruit in the autimm fi'om trees 

 struck from eyes or cuttings the pre^-ious spilng. The 

 secret of success consists in repotting the plants when 

 they require it, and at all times carefuUy attending to 

 their wants. WeU-managed plants may be thoroughly 

 established in 1'2-inch pots in eight months from the time 

 of putting in the cuttings. I have gi'own such plants in 

 the Pine house without the aid of any bottom heat, except 

 that obtained fi'om the plants being placed on a stage 

 with the hot-water pipes fixed underneath. It is, I think, 

 a considerable advantage to have the pots standing over 

 hot-water pipes. If there is no stage to place them upon, 

 two bricks placed imderneath the pots will raise them 

 sufficiently above the pipes. 



I shift the trees once a-year in autumn. The Fig 

 endiu'es its roots being reduced better than any other 

 fruit tree. When the trees have been potted into the 

 largest-sized pot, reduce the ball of earth sufficiently to 

 allow of 1 inch or 1| inch of compost being placed all 

 round the sides. This wUl not prevent the tree fi'om 

 bearing fi'eely the following season. I prefer repotting 

 to top-dressing, as I find the trees do not succeed so well 

 when only the sm-face soil is removed ; the difficulty then 

 is to know what is the state of the roots as regards moisture. 



If it is intended to force the ti-ees very early, say about 

 the 1st of January, much care is requisite to prevent the 

 first crop of fi-uit fi-om dropping off. They should be 

 started -svith a night temperature of 4.5°; tliis should be 

 gi-aduaUy increased after the buds show signs of bursting 

 their encasements. The trees sliould be syringed night 

 and morning, the roofs kept in a healthy, moist mediiun, 

 and the desu-ed result will be obtained. 



No. 1225.— Vol.. XLTn., Old Series. 



