414 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICUIiXUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Juo s, 1866. 



parts become naked these gi%e place to a new and yonng shoot, 

 -which in its turn is fcned in the eame manner. By tliis 

 system there is no difliculty in keeping the tree fiiruished 

 with young wood, without wliich 

 there can he no crop, the difficulty 

 being rather in the opposite di- 

 rection — viz., that of keeping the 

 SQckers from crowding the base 

 of the tree. This kind of tree is 

 represented in fin. 3. 



It is rarely tliat we see standard 

 Fig trees against wiills. These, 

 however, are most productive, for 

 the mode of training seems to 

 check the flow of the sap, and to concentrate it more fully on 

 the fruit. Stardards are desirable when a high wall is to be 

 covered, as will be obvious from «';. 4. The troe.s are prepared 

 in the same manner as those on one-foot-stems, only they are 

 allowed to grow with a straight stem to a height of 6 feet, and 

 are then stopped, and three shoots are allowed to grow upon 

 the side branches, aftur stopping, instead of two, as in the 

 former case. 



Pig. 3. 



which will canse th^ production of one at least, if not two, 

 shoots, which are the midsummer shoots, as they are called, 

 and upon these the crops that ripen are borne. 



As the I'igs are produced on wood of the previonn year, and 

 this never bears fruit again, young wood must bo laid in so 

 as to keep up a succession of it in all parts of the tree ; and 

 when any part becomes naked or deficient of bearing wood, 

 that part should be cut out, and young wood brought op 

 or down to fill the space. The best time to cut out the old 

 wood is in spring, and when it can be done remove an old 

 branch to the stem. After this the knife should not be nsed 

 for a twelvemonth, in the interval merely disbudding so as to 

 have the growing shoots 1 foot apart, and stopping the shoots 

 with the finger and thumb. 



PiioTECTioN. — In our climate the Fig is not hardy, though it 

 will survive in the majority of seasons ; yet the fruit of the size 

 of Cob nuts mostly perish, or are so injured as to fall in spring, 

 if the trees are unprotected during winter, and in very severe 

 winters the trees are often severely injured. In 18G0, Fig 

 trees in many places south of London were killed to the ground 

 by the severe frost of December 'i.^th. It is not safe to trust 

 them without protection north of London, and even there the 



Fig. 4. 



Firj. 4 shows the trees three years trained, by which it will 

 be seen that a shoot is encouraged in the second year between 

 the stem of the tree and the point at which the first stopping 

 has taken place, and others between the several years' growth 

 all along the main branches, and also upon the secondary ones, 

 by which means the tree is kept furnished with bearing wood 

 from the stem to the extremities of the branches. 



Pnrs-iSG. — Figs upon walls produce their fruit upon the 

 wood of the previous year. The spring shoots produce fruit 

 which for tlie most part attains a good size, especially when 

 such shoots are not stopped, but it never ripens, at least I am 

 not aware of their ripening the second crop in England. If 

 the spring shoots be not stopped they will grow a foot or more 

 in length, and show no fruit ; but after the first growth the 

 second begins, and is remarkable for the stoutness of the wood 

 and closeness of the joints, at every one of which, in the axils of 

 the leaves, a little Fig will show itself. These short close- 

 jointed growths afford the fruit that ripens in the followinR 

 year. Without stopping it is rare that the shoots show fruit 

 till they are a foot long, and then it is at their extremities 

 only. This is the popular system of growing Figs, which wastes 

 a foot space to secure from 8 to 6 inches of bearing wood, and 

 is a most prolific source of naked branches. 



Now, as the spring shoots are of no use for bearing, and 

 waste the energies of the tree, their preservation is only essen- 

 tial as a means of obtaining wood to fruit in the following year. 

 When the spring shoots have made five leaves pinch out the 

 point at the fifth leaf. This will cause fruit to form in the 

 axils of the le&ves, and new, short, spur-like shoots to issue at 

 the same time. These will show fruit by autumn, or it will 

 be sufficiently formed in embryo to come in spring, and ripen 

 in the autumn, ■whUst the fruit upon the spring shoots will 

 attain a full size, but will not ripen, owing to a deficiency of 

 heat. The spring shoots, Ihereforc, as they produce a crop 

 which does not ripen, should be kept in as little room as pos- 

 sible, and may safely be reduced to three joints, though when 

 the tree is very vigorous it is better to stop at the fifth leaf. 



trees must be protected, otherwise the largest of the young 

 fruit will fall in spring or wither upon the trees, and the pro- 

 spect of obtaining ripe Fig.'? larly in August will be destroyed. 

 There is little prospect of obtaining a crop of Figs unless the 

 trees are protected, for if the young Figs are fairly visible in 

 autumn when the leaves are shed, and of the size of peas np 

 to that of hazel nuts, they will not on an average of seasons 

 ripen until the end of September, and very often not at all. 



When the leaves have fallen a dry day should be chosen, 

 and the trees, having their branches loosened from the wall 

 and tied together, should be covered up for the winter. Some 

 remove all fruit larger than a hazel nut, entertaining the 

 opinion that if left it never ripens, which though generally 

 correct sometimes does not hold good, for I have gathered what 

 were large green Figs in the previous autumn ripe and very 

 large early in August, whilst those of the size of a hazel nnt 

 or less were not ripe until the third week in August, or first 

 fortnight in September. Had all the large Figs been removed 

 the crop would not have been so early, nor would ripe Figs 

 from the same tree have been produced for so long by weeks. 

 In what way these large Figs can injnre or rob the other Figs 

 when the trees are at rest is to me inexplicable ; and if they 

 are so injured as not to swell in spring, they certainly do not 

 rob those left of support, as it has been asserted they do. I 

 think the removal of green Figs in autumn injurious to the 

 tree rather than beneficial, for it cannot be effected without 

 force, and Nature can do it herself in spring without any one 

 i knowing that the fruit had not ripened oil. 



Leaving, however, these matters of mere opinion and re- 

 suming — the trees being loosened from the wail and bronght 

 into as little compass as possible without breaking them, place 

 H inches of drv- straw between the wall and the shoots, from 

 the bottom to the top, fasteniuR the shoots against the straw 

 as the work proceeds. This will keep the straw up. Let the 

 straw a\so extend beyond the spread of the branches, and 

 cover these with G inches of straight straw, fasttning it with 

 tarred string. A tbatchor will do this so that wet cannot 



