Commercial Gardening 



Pruning". Fig trees require but little pruning, beyond cutting out 

 unnecessary growths. As the young shoots bear the fruit near the ex- 

 tremities, as shown in the drawing, the best of these should be retained, 

 and should on no account be pinched or stopped. Each year the shoots 

 should be spaced out when grown on walls so as to allow the light and air 

 to reach the shoots and leaves, and in the course of time an enormous area 

 will be covered by one plant. 



Culture under Glass. Figs may be grown in pots of various sizes, or 

 may be planted out under glass. If grown in pots a good compost is 3 



parts fibrous loam and 1 of 

 well -rotted manure, and old 

 mortar rubble, or a little basic 

 slag. The pots should be well 

 drained, and the soil should 

 be worked in firmly round 

 the roots, the work of potting 

 being done during the resting 

 period. Once growth com- 

 mences attention must be paid 

 to watering, care being taken 

 to give neither too much nor 

 too little. The temperature of 

 the house may vary from 50 

 F. by night to 55 or even 60 

 F. by day, and a few degrees 

 more when growth is in full 

 swing. The plant may be 

 syringed in the mornings and 

 afternoons on all fine days; 

 and the ventilators must be 

 regulated in accordance with 

 outside conditions. Figs in 

 pots may be grown as bushes 

 (fig. 379)or standards (fig. 380). 

 When planted out under glass it is probably more economical to place 

 Figs against a wall, as they will not occupy so much space. In some 

 gardens in Guernsey and other places where Fig trees have been estab- 

 lished for many years, glass houses were simply built over them to secure 

 a couple of crops of fruit each year. The branches spread in all directions 

 from the top of the main stem, and cover a space of from 60 to 100 sq. yd. 

 In Mr. E. H. Ogier's nursery at Duvaux, St. Sampson's, Guernsey, there is 

 a Brown Turkey Fig tree, about sixty years of age, which covers about 

 180 sq. yd. of ground. The shoots are kept up near the light by means of 

 a framework made of battens nailed together at right angles, and leaving 

 spaces about 4 ft. square. Through these the grower can push his body, 

 and attend to tying, pruning, picking the fruits, &c., without damaging the 



Fig. 379. Bush Fig in Pot 



