194 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



branches ; what is taken away, must be taken away altogether. 

 There should not be too many branches ; where they come 

 too near, sacrifice the worst, and leave the most vigorous. The 

 fruit which is preserved through the "banter will ripen early 

 in the summer ; that which comes with the spring shoots 

 will ripen, while the midsummer shoots will produce a young 

 crop, which will be on the tree when the leaf faUs. The fig, 

 and especially some of the large-growing kinds, is a rambling 

 grower, and there is no help for it ; we have only to do the 

 best we can with a tree which only likes the knife at the base 

 of a shoot, — that is, it does not fiourish mth shortened 

 branches ; and many who have complained that they get no 

 perfect fruit, may frequently attribute it to pruning. Some- 

 times, however, it is from being too much excited ; the fig is 

 a succulent plant, and where it is in rich soil, it is beyond 

 control. When a branch is shortened, it will be found some- 

 times to die back, or cause every bud to grow ; the best plan 

 is to let it, to a certain extent, have its way ; but where it gets 

 too thick, to cut away some of the weaker branches close to 

 the wood from which it springs, and on no account to cut back 

 a branch, for it is on the ends that our greatest hopes of fruit 

 depend. If you are going to commence fig culture, obtain 

 the most dwarf kinds ; first , because they are the easiest 

 managed ; and next, because, for the space they occupy, they 

 are the most prolific That the fig does best without too 

 much excitement, is proved by the success attending its 

 culture in pots ; for we have had them not two feet high, 

 with a dozen ripe fruit on them, and in twelve-inch pots. To 

 return, however, to the pruning. There is no tree that is 

 more apt to throw up suckers, and if these are not removed 

 very close to the root, the cutting of one down will cause half a 

 dozen to appear, and there will, if the plant be neglected, be 

 a complete thicket round the stem of the tree. Laying on 

 the lower branches as near horizontal as possible, will gene- 

 rally cause every bud along the whole branch to grow ; and 

 the best way to manage these, is to rub ofiT all that are not 

 wanted — perhaps, every alternate bud can be well spared, for 

 the benefit of the remainder. We have seen some of the 

 dwarf kinds grown like bushes, and others like dwarf standards, 

 in a sheltered place, bearing well in their season ; and, if we 

 mistake not, they may be seen now in many old places ; but 

 the same treatment must be observed. One thing should be 



