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JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ July 11, lees. 



aud destitute of bearing wood, for Figs never bear on spurs. 

 Disbud during the growing season instead of permitting a 

 shoot to grow in order to cut it out, aud use the nails of the 

 fiuger and thumb for piuchiug out the points of the shoots. 



The most suitable soil is hazel or yellow loam, from turf 

 3 inches thick, cut up roughly, and one year old. To this it is 

 hardly possible to add anything that would improve it, unless 

 the loam is very strong, when the addition of sand would be 

 good, an lif light, strong loam aud weU-rotted manure would be 

 an improvement. Drain the pots effectually. No plant will 

 do well in a badly-drained soil, neither will the Fig. 



Fig trees may be fruited in six or seven-inch pots, and 

 though the fruit is small it is much superior in flavour to that 

 produced where circumstances are more favourable to growth. 

 Six-iuch pots are only suitable for very small plants, aud at 

 the best afford but a scanty supply of fruit. They will, however, 

 do in the second year for those raised from eyes, when they 

 will give two crops. Deep pots are to be prefen-ed, and the 

 Fig should always be kept imder rather than overpotted. If 

 treated to " plenty of pot-room " the trees acquire an excess of 

 vigour prejudicial to their fruiting with certainty, aud are more 

 apt to cast their fruit than plants which grow but Uttle and are 

 pot-bound. Nine and ten-inch pots are very convenient sizes 

 for trees intended for forcing, eleven and thirteen-inch pots 

 for those intended for gi-owing in vineries and comparatively 

 cool houses. Larger pots may be employed, but they are 

 inconvenient. 



The time of potting ia a matter of some nicety. If the trees 

 are potted in winter, or a short time before forcing or growth 

 commences, most, if not all, the fruit will fall, and, if potted 

 whilst in active growth, in all probabUity a plentiful supply of 

 wood, and the fall of the second crop prematurely will be the | 

 results. It is, indeed, hardly possible to pot theFig mthout 

 losing a part, if not all, of the succeeding crop. One exception 

 is when the pots are plunged in a bed of leaves or other j 

 fermenting materials, so as to get the roots to the sides of the 

 pots before any leaf growth of moment takes place ; aud the 

 other exception is when the trees are potted immediately after i 

 the last crop of fruit has been gathered, and the leaves are 

 assuming their autumn tints, for the fibrous roots are sure to be 

 emitted rapidly in spring, aud the succeeding crop will seldom 

 fall in consequence of the shift. It is a good practice to pot ; 

 Figs seldom, but to top-dress with rich compost, removing the i 

 old every year just when the leaves begin to fall, and to keep ; 

 the pots half plunged in leaves, or standing on a bed into 

 which the trees can root through the holes in the pots. The j 

 roots in this case should be cut off annually at the time of top- 

 dressing. 



In a klition to top-dressing, the trees may be fed with liquid 

 manure, weak applications once or twice a-week being of great 

 service dm-ing the swelling of the fruit. I have occasionally 

 covered the surface of the soil \vith a layer of fresh eowdung 

 about 3 inches thick, so as to form a basin round the stem, 

 and into this the water was poured ; a healthy tree in full 

 growth would require this basin to be filled twice a-day in hot 

 weather, and once daily in duU periods. I may veuture to 

 state that there is not a fruit tree in a pot that will not d|0 

 well with a top-dressing of fresh cowdimg, and the roots come 

 up into it. Among the trees that like it best, the Bananas or 

 Musas are conspicuous ; they will take three di-essings of the 

 fresh dung in a season, and eveiT time the roots will come 

 through begging for more. The Vine, Peach, Nectarine, and 

 all stone fruits, and the Fig, flourish in it. 



As to water, the Fig requires a good supply, but the soil 

 should never be deluged, nor allowed to become dry, or the 

 fruit will fall. It is a nice point neither to under nor overdo 

 the watering of Fig trees ; they should be kept well and 

 regularly sujiplied. The Fig seems to be very impatient of 

 changes, fori have found that a change of the waterer would be 

 sufiicient to cause the fruit to fall. I never could understand 

 this, but such is the fact ; only one person, when it is jn-ac- 

 ticable, should water Figs. Wlieu the fruit is ripening the soil 

 should then be kept rather di-ier, stiU well supplied with water, 

 but when the second crop is ripened off the water should be 

 given sparingly, aud altogether discontinued after the leaves 

 iiave fallen. 



After bearing, the trees may be kept iu any cool house or 

 she:!, aud the cooler the better, if only secure from frost. 

 Though the soil iu the pots is usually allowed to remain dry 

 from ihe time of the leaves falling to that of the trees being 

 placed in heat or in the house where they are iutended to 

 ixuii, I an certain that this drying process may be earned to 



extremes. The soil should be dry, no doubt, to a certain 

 extent, but there is a difference between keeping it dry to guard 

 against frost, and so dry as to cause the roots to shrivel. The 

 soil should be so moist as to maintain the roots in a healthy 

 state ; dry, but with a certain amount of moistm-e, though dry 

 to all outward appearance. 



During the seasons of growth (the Fig having two), the 

 foliage should be syringed forcibly on the under side to keep 

 down red spider, its greatest enemy, twice daily from first to 

 last, except when the first crop swells for ripening, when the 

 air must be dry, otherwise the fruit will crack and split before 

 fully ripe, and after the second crop begins to ripen no more 

 syringing will be needed, in fact, syringing should then be 

 discontinued, the atmosphere kept dry, aud well ventilated. 



The Vine is not imlike the Fig iii the treatment which it 

 requires as to temperature, and Fig trees in pots may be 

 successfully grown in vineries, whether forced or not, and wiU 

 succeed in a common greenhouse ; but to secure two crops it is 

 necessary to grow the Fig in a heated structure. Fig trees will 

 also succeed in a slightly shaded position, but when too much 

 in the dark, though they grow well, they fruit but little. 



I shall have occasion to write of temperature, and other 

 matters relating to Fig culture, iu treating of the tree iu Fig- 

 houses, and on garden walls. — G. Abbey. 



GOSSIP ABOUT ROSES. 



Although my recent run through Belgium brought before 

 me many subjects of interest, which I shoidd be glad to intro- 

 duce to the readers of The Journal of Horticdltuhe, yet as 

 we are now in the very height of the Eose season, and so many 

 and so widely distributed are the subjects of the queen of 

 flowers, I cannot do better, I think, than just have a httle 

 quiet loyal chat with them on the matter of our common sove- 

 reign ; and while the " free and independent " all through the 

 couutrj' are discussing the relative merits of blue and orange, 

 pink and purjjle, we can, without the excitement, the cold 

 braudy and water, aud pots of beer, which seem, alas ! inti- 

 mately connected with political strife, decide as to the merits 

 of the candidates for our constituency ; and as it seems to me 

 that the measure of a candidate's suitabiUty is what can be 

 got out of him, so, I think, we have something of the same 

 standard to go by. If we cannot get out of our new Eose en- 

 joyment from its personal appearance (a point in whicli, by- 

 the-by, many woidd-be M.P.'s are singularly defective), plea- 

 sure iu seeing its fine foliage and steady grovi-th, and comfort 

 in its ha\nng a good constitution, we at once say it wo'n't do 

 for us. It may represent other constituencies — it may do for 

 the suburban porch of our friend Tomkins or the wilderness 

 gardens of Sawkins, but it will not do for our more fastidious 

 eye ; so that after all, though we talk very loudly, I am afraid 

 that we are actuated by something of the same spirit as the 

 free and independent electors who have the prospect of a good 

 berth or so for Master Tom or Harry in their minds before 

 they give their votes. 



Any one who goes to Paris in the expectation of seeing first- 

 rate Eoses will be disappointed. I had a good walk through 

 several of their grounds, and I feel confident that neither Margot- 

 tin, Verdier, nor Levesque could put up such boxes of Eoses as 

 we are wont to see at our shows. Nor is it diflicult to see that 

 this must be so. The great heat and dryness of the soil is 

 injurious to good blooming, while the absence of that stimulus 

 that a good prize gives with us makes itself felt. Again : Any 

 one who has tried knows the difficulty of seeing the new Eoses. 

 You are either too soon or too late : so that, although I have 

 gone over at various times in June, yet I have never seen 

 many. I do not say that this is intentional — far from it ; I 

 believe the growers wished to let me see their Eoses ; but as 

 the new varieties are cut up so much for propagation they are 

 always a good deal later than the established plants, and thus 

 until the end of June you woiJd hardly see the new Eoses 

 there ; and at that time all the Lyons Eoses, some of our very 

 best, will have passed. Indeed,. Lacharme told me that the 

 best time to see the Eoses of the South of France is September ; 

 and the mention of his name induces me to notice what per- 

 haps many of your readers may have omitted to see last week, 

 as it was amongst the notices to correspondents — that he has 

 been fortunate enough to obtain a genuine yellow Hybrid Per- 

 petual Eose. I had best give his own description of it : — 

 " C'est un Hybride tres remontant, arbustu vigoureux ; fieurs 

 de la forme la plus parfaite dea centfeuillcs (Centifolia), tres 



