NOTICE OF A VISIT TO PITMASTON. 231 



tolerably thin, and trained some upright, the generality nearly 

 SO. There was nothing remarkable in its pruning and training, 

 and therefore I would wish particularly to direct attention to the 

 removal of the young figs which form on the shoots of the cur- 

 rent summer's growth previously to tlie month of August. The 

 utility of this operation has been frequently questioned. At the 

 same time there can be no doubt as to the advanced young figs 

 perishing before the ensuing summer, for they invariably com- 

 mence doing so at the fall of the leaf — those only surviving which 

 are formed later, and are consequently but little developed. The 

 latter remain enclosed in the bud, al)out the size of marrow 

 peas, retain their vegetating powers, and wait till the returning 

 flow of sap in spring enables them to proceed to maturity. Yet 

 these are badly situated, almost at the very extremity of the 

 shoot, and consequently on the softest and most immature wood. 

 The reverse of this every one will acknowledge to be a desidera- 

 tum ; and to attain it the only rational mode appears to be the 

 removal of all those early-formed fruits which are too forward 

 to stand the winter, and yet, in our climate, too backward for 

 attaining maturity before cold weather set in. When the blos- 

 soms of apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries, &c., are cut off, 

 a second blossoming is induced. The fig manifests the same dis- 

 position on its being prevented from nourishing its first-formed 

 fruits. Deprived of its first, it makes an effort to produce a 

 second progeny. The particular period of the season when the 

 shoots require to be stripped of their first formation must be de- 

 termined by experience, for it is connected with variable circum- 

 stances of soil, climate, and situation. As above stated, the 

 operation was performed io August on the tree at Pitmaston ; 

 and tlie results justify the conclusion that it. was done at the 

 proper time as regards the condition of that tree. 



Apricot trees, trained against walls, are particularly liable to 

 have their stems injured from exposure to the direct rays of the 

 sun. In the angle formed by the border and wall, the heat is 

 often of greater intensity than can be safely borne by the stems 

 of trees, even although these trees have been derived from species 

 naturally growing in hotter climates than this, and where of 

 course the sun's rays are more perpendicular ; but it must be 

 recollected that in their natural condition the top forms an 

 umbrella to screen the stems. A seedling apricot tree was in 

 danger from the stem being scorched, and in order to save it 

 Mr. Williams had it surrounded with several courses of bricks 

 about a foot from the stem. The caviiy was then filled with soil 

 close to the stem. Tlie tree is now thriving. It produces a 

 small fruit somewhat like the Musch-Musch, but considered 

 superior to it. The parent tree was raised from a stone brought 



