394 



JOUf.NAL OF HOETICULTOBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



f NoTombor 18, ISOR. 



iudge, also says — and in every way likely to bo onr beat early 

 Poacli. ExquiBite, from Georgia, is, I think, the finest of 

 Peaches for splendid coloiir and ni'/Uiug vinous juice. This 

 season it reached 12 inches round, being liner than ever, and 

 the largest Peach ever seen here. So much for quality of fruit. 

 A3 to number, it absolutely would have equalled, if spread 

 over a trellis, two and a quarter fruit per equare foot. In an 

 orchard house of 100 feet by 30 this would have been some- 

 thing enormous. My house ij, how,?ver, a lean-to of only 

 l.'i feet in breadth. Thus, if it be not too much to triumph over, 

 many friends and others who have at least twenty times the 

 area of glass that I have, and still hsive hardly one Peach 

 tliid season — and this in eurliuess and lateness of production, 

 iu eiugle specimens and general excellence, and in amonnt of 

 crop — it would be hard to say where each or all these could be 

 Burpassed. Such facts warrant assertion, and prove that cer- 

 tain conditions must not be transgressed if good results are 

 expected. The trees, in fact, were in steady beariug con- 

 dition, had never been 'overcropped, had been much thinned, 

 and this disastrous year did not afiect their general vigour. 



Another point must not be forgotten. The bulk of the crop 

 was borne on cordons, and the potted trees treated as auxiliaiies 

 only. The diagonal cordons ou the back wall gave the earliest 

 and the most fruit. The spiral cordons in the borders fur- 

 nished the latest. Standards, which had been many seasons 

 in pots, and had been closely pruned, had that inward curl of 

 root which takes seasons to develope, and thus grew slowly, 

 and bore well. This makes all the difference when we come 

 to plant-out in borders. Trees planted in a young state, and 

 allowed to develope, must end by defeatiag their pruners. This 

 is the great secret of success in cordon training — from the 

 outset all rampant shoots are kept under and equalised. There 

 is no way of training so easy as this, nor so adapted to econo- 

 mise space under glass. The regularity of form is exactly 

 what we want here. It is not one-half so diiEcult as training a 

 pjramid or bush. 



In speaking of cordons we must not forget that there are 

 some kinds which are most productive. The low lateral bears 

 liue fruit, but not so many as the diagonal. Agaiu, the small, 

 closely-pruned diagonal I have of late abandoned for a form 

 of this shape having longer shoots and more of them. This 

 gives vigour to the tree, and such have the best chance of 

 regular bearing, besides being better able to overcome the attacks 

 of insects. Some of these old trees — the oldest in England — 

 are of good dimensions being thus expanded ; and each alternate 

 cordon being advanced 18 inches from the wall allows freer 

 play to its neighbour. Potted trees will bear well for a time, but 

 will not endure the amount of crop taken from large cordons 

 planted in borders. The difficulty in regularly watering potted 

 trees induced me to treat them as auxiliaries only in respect 

 to profit, as three-quarters of our crop was sent to Covent 

 Garden, the remainder beiug ample for onr own wants. With 

 cordons in the borders, having a supply of water turned on 

 into gutters passing by them, as we do here, there is little risk 

 of neglect. 



There is every prospect of a good crop for nexi season. — 

 T. C. Bii£hact, Guernsey. 



SOME VARIETIES OF FIGS. 



As the season for ordering new trees has now arrived, it 

 may, perhaps, interest some of your readers if I make a few 

 observations on several varieties of Figs which I have cultivated, 

 and the greater part of which were obtained from Mr. Eivcrs. 

 I must premise that the trees are in pots, and iu a moderately- 

 heated orchard house. Varieties which do not bear freely 

 under such treatment, as Brunswick, Castle Kennedy, Figue 

 d'Or, have been consigned eitht-r to the open wall or to the 

 faggot heap. The following is a list of those that fruited in the 

 house this year. They are placed iu the order of their ripen- 

 ing their second or autumnal crop, which, under glass, is the 

 most important one : — 



Early Violet. — August 6th. Very small but higli-flavonred. 

 This I believe to be synonymous with Malta. 



Wliite Marscillts — Augu-t 17th. The first variety tT r in- 

 troduced into England. The sexton of Tariiug informed me, 

 that in the exceptionally warm season of 1868, a standard tree 

 there ripened 150 dozen of the second crop. I have also ripen^ed 

 a second crop in an unhealed boarded orchard house. The 

 fruit is very sweet, but with hardly any flivour. Flesh white. 



Early White. — This variety was rather popular iu the last 



century, but is now seldom Been. The fruit much resembles 

 White Marseilles, and is, to my taste, at least its equal. The 

 foliage of the two varieties is quite distinct. 



Faiteliirc. — Tree ill-sbaped. Leaves ill-shaped and often 

 discoloured. Fruit middle-sizjd, yellow, and downy, becoming 

 nearly black. Quality good, but most of the fruit dropped off 

 imperfect. 



Dii Tioi. — Vigorous growth. FiOit white inside, about equal 

 to White Marseilles. 



Dorei- (Nobis of Kivers). — Another vigorous grower, but with 

 small, flattened, yellow fruit. Skin thick. Bipens to a sweet- 

 meat. 



Blach Provence. — Small compact growth, the very model for 

 a pot tree. Fruit small, elongated. When ripening the pro- 

 minent veins first become black, giving the fruit a eingnlar 

 appearance. Unless very highly ripened it has a disagreeable 

 taste, like a Fig leaf. 



Bourja.^soUe Grise. — Fruit of a good size, colour dingy, 

 qnaUty most excellent. Well deserving the commendation 

 bestowed on it in the Gardener.:' Clironiele, December 5th, 1868. 



Bamissotte Grise. — Another excellent fruit, but not quite 

 equal to the former. The foliage ia not healthy, and epots 

 readily. 



White Genoa. — Foliage pale green. Fruit yellow, with pale 

 red flesh. Eye, pretty and pinkish. Quality good, but froit 

 liable to crack. 



While Ischia. — Fruit small, pale, and discoloured. Flesh pale 

 red. Quality bo excellent that one cannot but re^et that this 

 sort must bo grown in heat, and, therefore, that eo few of onr 

 coanlrymen can ever enjoy it. It may be fancy, but the taste 

 seems to me to resemble a delicate Fig and a ripe Mulberry 

 melted into one. It is known to systematic botanists that 

 there is a great affinity between the trees which bear these 

 two fruit. 



Jerusalem or Figue Goutte. — Noble foliage. Fruit green, 

 elongated, pale inside. Eye usually closed with a drop of sugary 

 gum, whence its second name. Sweet, but without much 

 flavour. 



Eonde Noire. — Medium size, dusky. Flesh pale. Quality good. 



Brown Turkey. — This well-known variety requires no de- 

 scription. Fur the open wall it is without rival ; but, strange to 

 say, of all the varieties I cultivate under glass this is the least 

 satisfactnry. Tlie fruit swells, colours ou one aide, but remains 

 green on the other. The flesh does not become juicy, but is 

 solid. The same defect is found both in the first and second 

 crop. Nevertheless, among much rubbish a few fruits ripen 

 to perfection, and I have observed that these excellent Figs are 

 often situated immediately below the joints where the branch 

 has been stopped, and that they ripen before those situated 

 lower down. I have asked advice as to the defect complained 

 of, but have never been able to get a satisfactory reply. One 

 adviser Eupgested that there was something the matter with 

 the roots, but as there were about eight trees of Brown Turkey 

 iu the house, there is no reason to suppose that their roots 

 were in a more unfavourable situation than those of other 

 varieties. I remember, however, having seen in your pages a 

 statement that Figs exposed to bright sunshine ripened pre- 

 maturely and imperfectly. This seems improbable when we 

 consider that in foreign countries Figs flourish most under 

 hot, cloudless skies. Nevertheless, it is supported by the fact, 

 that a dozen Brown Turkey trees which I keep back in spring, 

 and which are brought into the warm house to ripen towards 

 the end of October, when the power of the sun has declined, 

 not only in general ripen their fruit well, but these are much 

 darker in colour than those which ripen earlier. 



(FAl de P(;rJri,r.— September 7ih. Kant short-jointed and 

 sturdy. Fruit reddish brown, but without any peculiar beauty 

 of eye, such as one would expect from the name. Flavour 

 good", reminding one of the White Ischia. Liable to crack, 

 and in consequence of the fruit being sessile on the branch, 

 the lower part ripens with difficulty. The last fruits are the 

 best. 



Gourreau Rouye. — Medium size, reddish brown, good, bat 

 not high fliivourcd. 



Datte. — Green, flesh red. Good. 



Grosse Verlc. — Green. Ficsu dark red, very liable to crack. 

 Last year, by paying great attention to watering, I obtained 

 most excellent fruit. This year I have not been so fortunate. 

 Cue plant which had not quite water enough produced fruit 

 fully swollen, but deficient in flavour. The other must, I 

 suppose, have had a trifle too much, and (he fruit split ; so that 

 it is steering between Scylla and Charybdis. 



