278 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 3, 1865. 



CULTIVATION 



The dimensions of a Fig-house need not be large ; 30 feet by 

 18 feet will mostly be ample pro^^sion for tlie growth of Figs 

 for a large family. In form it may be either a lean-to, span, or 

 half-span. Beneath are end sections of these forms of Fig- 

 bouses. 



Fill. 1 is an ordinary lean-to Fig-house, with a narrow border 

 in front for dwarf plants ; a centre pit or bed affording room 



OF THE FIG. 



grown under glass. Not only the sides, back, front, and centre 

 should be made use of, but the ends also ; but if the house is 

 covered with Vines, and trees are in the central pit, then it 

 would be better if the ends were not occupied with Fig trees, for 

 the light transmitted through the ends is of vast importance 

 to the trees beneath the A'ines. Our house, whatever form it 

 may be of, is for the growth of Figs, and would be best kejit 



Fig. 1. 



for bush trees, and a border at back for trees trained to a trellis 

 against the back wall. 



Fi(j. 2 is a span-roofed Fig-house with two narrow borders 

 along each side, and a central one, occupied with a row of 

 standards on three- 

 feet stems, and a 

 row of dwarfs on 

 foot stems on each 

 side of the stand- 

 ards. The outside 

 borders are for 

 bushes. 



Fig. 3 is a half- 

 span - roofed Fig- 

 house, little differ- 

 ing from those re- 

 presented in fps. 1 

 and 2, there being 

 a border in front 

 for dwarfs either in 

 pots or planted out, 

 a bed in the centre 

 for a line of dwarf 

 and st.indard trees, 

 and a narrow border 

 at back for trees to 

 be trained to a 

 trellis against the 

 back wall. 



In all the houses 

 the borders are nar- 

 row, and well drained. The front and back borders are 2 feet 

 wide, and about 3 feet deep, and the central ones fi feet in 

 width, and of similar depth to the side borders. Beyond con- 

 fining the roots, the arrangements of ordinary houses will 

 answer for the growth of Figs. Probably no place answers so 

 well as the ends of these houses, the trees being planted m 

 shallow borders, and the shoots trained to a trellis 6 inches 

 from the glass. The Figs on these trellises are the best of those 



to that iiurpose only; the Figs will then be more plentiful, 

 and finer, to say nothing of their flavour, which is the reverse 

 of high when thej- are grown under a roof covered with Vines- 

 If Vines are tolerated they should be not less than 4 feet apart, 



and better .it 6 feet. 

 In cultivating the 

 Fig in houses ex- 

 clusively devoted to 

 this fruit, it is de- 

 sirable to have the 

 borders narrow, for 

 when these are wide 

 and shallow, the 

 roots from being 

 near the surface 

 are very subject to 

 external influences, 

 such as vicissitudes 

 of heat, or of dry- 

 ness, and moisture, 

 any of which act 

 prejudicially ; and 

 the trees grow so 

 luxuriantly in wide 

 borders as to fruit 

 very little, produc- 

 ing long - jointed 

 wood and very large 

 leaves. WTien the 

 borders are wide, 

 and formed of rich 

 compost, it would be advisible to have the trees in pots, stand- 

 ing the pots on the beds or borders, and allowing the trees to 

 root through, for were they planted out in the wide borders 

 they would probably grow amazingly for a year or two before 

 they fruited to any extent, and would require much pruning 

 in after-years to keep them within boiuids. 



Borders 2 feet, and not exceeding 3 feet in width, are suffi- 

 cient for trees as bushes, and standards with heads not ex- 



