ciiAi". VII VILLA GARDENING 353 



Winter Prunixg. — Just before the house is closed for forcing-, 

 or about tlie beginning of the new year, the winter i)runiiig sliould 

 be done. This should be directed chiefly to the removal of naked 

 old branches whose space can be more profitably filled with young 

 wood. No directions for this work can be given except by some 

 one on the spot; but in tlie pruning of old neglected Fig trees 

 the kuife may be used freely, with advantage, to oijen up the tree 

 and make room for young wood, for on that alone will the fruit 

 appear. In training the tree tlie main branches should be laid iu 

 their full length first, and afterwards the side shoots should be so 

 arranged iu the open sjjaces as to furnish the trellis with bearing 

 wood. In order to seciu'e well-balanced trees, the whole of the 

 branches should be unloosed from the trellis every year ; and 

 after the trees are pruned, before training begins, all the wood 

 should be washed with Gishurst compound, from 4 to 6 ounces 

 to the gallon of water, using a brush for the thick branches 

 and a sponge for the smaller ones. All the paint of the wood- 

 work inside the house should be washed with warm water in 

 which some soft soap has been dissolved, and all walls lime- 

 washed. When a tree drops its fruit there is always a cause, 

 which should be sought for and discovered. Checks and chills 

 will sometimes force the fruit to drop when young, and too much 

 moisture in the atmosphere will, by preventing the proper fertilisa- 

 tion of the fruit, lead to its falling wdien half growai. Removing 

 a terminal bud of a shoot at the winter pruning has been found of 

 advantage, by throwing back the strength into that part of the 

 branch bearing the fruit. It is, in fact, stopping by anticipation 

 the progress of the tree, in order that the fruit may benefit from 

 the concentration of the tree's force upon its fruit rather than on 

 the manufacture of new wood. Of course the new wood comes 

 later on. It is an expedient which may be adopted in certain 

 cases, but with trees in good condition, having healthy roots near 

 the surface of the border, it is scarcely needed. 



Insects. — So far as I am aware, in this country the Fig has 

 no disease peculiar to it, for the habit of dropping its fruit pre- 

 maturely, which some varieties have, may be traced to local causes. 

 The insects which chiefly attack the Fig are the scale. Coccus 

 caricte, and Coccus fici ; but unless much neglected, there is no 

 difficulty in getting rid of them by dressing in winter with a strong 

 solution of Gishurst compound, mixing enough clay with it to 

 give the consistency of paint, and painting all the branches, 

 especially filling up all the cracks and crevices. The red spider 

 is sometimes troublesome, and the syringe should be plied vigor- 

 ously twice a day except when the fruits are all in blossom and 



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