586 THE POMEGRA NA TE. 



Over fifty so-called varieties have recently been received, and a large 

 collection is grown at the gardens of the Horticultural Society at 

 Chiswick. 



Propagation, Culture, <&c, The fig roots readily from cuttings of the 

 ripened wood, and it may be also budded or grafted, and trained in 

 the nursery like any other fruit tree. Young plants, however, of two 

 or three years' growth are preferable for removal, as the fig is then 

 very abundanty furnished with fibrous roots. It requires a south 

 wall, and a light soil thoroughly drained, to which, however, water of 

 the same temperature as the soil must be abundantly supplied as soon 

 as the first leaves are expanded, when the fruit is setting ; for if the 

 roots are too dry at that time, the fruit will drop off. The fan mode 

 of training is most suitable ; and as the fruit in the open air is pro- 

 duced on the points of last year's shoots, a number of such shoots 

 should be preserved all over the tree. A good plan is to back a half 

 standard against a wall, and allow it to produce a thicket of short- 

 jointed bearing wood. Immense quantities of fruit may be ripened 

 on such trees in warm nooks and corners. (See on this subject what 

 has already been stated on the treatment of the fig under glass.) 

 The ripening of the fig might be accelerated by planting it against 

 a flued wall, and by protecting the wood by fern, spruce branches, 

 or hay-rope netting. In some parts of the south of England the fig is 

 grown on espaliers, and as a standard; and when the winters are 

 mild, it bears abundantly when so treated. It succeeds remarkably 

 well at Tarring and Lancing in a loamy soil on chalk ; and in the 

 gardens of Arundel Castle, in the same county, the standard fig-trees 

 are as large as full-grown apple-trees. Care should be taken in 

 gathering the fruit not to destroy the bloom, nor to crush it by laying 

 one above another. They will keep good only for two or three 



The Pomegranate. 



The pomegranate (Punica Granatum, L.), is a low deciduous tree, 

 in its form and mode of growth not unlike the common hawthorn. 

 It is a native of the south of Europe and other warm countries ; and 

 has been long cultivated in the north of France as a greenhouse tree, 

 in the same manner as the orange, for the beauty of its fruit. Its 

 cultivation is becoming more common in England, some of the dwarf 

 double-flowering varieties making very showy objects in pots. As it 

 is a most ornamental fruit both on the tree and at table, and as it can 

 be brought to maturity against a south wall in situations where the 

 fig will ripen, we would recommend one plant to be tried wherever 



. there is room. Plants of the cultivated pomegranate can be obtained 

 from any nursery. It is propagated by layers and cuttings and by 

 grafting on the common sort. It may be trained in the fan manner, 

 taking care to leave a sufficient number of lateral spurs, on the points 



, of the shoots proceeding from which the blossom is produced. The 

 ripei ng of the fruit might be greatly accelerated by planting the tree 

 against a flued wall, and as the tree is greatly injured by severe 



