THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



Sept. about thinning Fig wood ; it is rarely practised suffi- 



^"^5 ciently. If a second crop of fruit has formed, and now 



hangs on the trees without any appearance of swelHng, 



it may be removed, for if left it will only fall in the 



spring. 



Grapes. — The Grapes will long have been cleared 

 from early Vines, and the latter will be ripening their 

 wood and maturing their buds. But in later houses 

 the fruit may be hanging ripe. The fruit keeps well 

 on the Vines if the house is cool and the foliage thin. 

 If fruit is not yet ripe, it will be well to put a little heat 

 into the hot-water pipes in dull weather. The borders 

 should be watered if they get dry. 



Gathering Fruit. — Amateurs are often in a difficulty 

 because they do not know what to do with fruit which 

 shows no signs of ripening. Some Apples and Pears 

 are still quite hard and green, while others mellowed 

 long ago. The explanation is that the former are 

 naturally late varieties. They may never ripen on the 

 trees at all, and have to be gathered unripe, but that 

 need not be done for a month or six weeks. It is 

 sufBcient for the present to gather fruit that parts from 

 the tree without hard pressure. It often happens that 

 even in the case of one particular variety some of the 

 fruits are soft before others, so that there need be no 

 general gathering. It is a pleasure to prolong this 

 interesting and pleasant task. Apples like Lord Suffield, 

 Lord Grosvenor, New Hawthornden, Bismarck, Keswick 

 Codlin, Duchess of Oldenburg, Duchess of Gloucester, 

 and Worcester Pearmain may be expected to be ready 

 for gathering soon. Such Pears as Jargonelle, Williams' 

 Bon Chretien, Caillot Rosat, Dr. Jules Guyot, and 

 Souvenir du Congres may be ready also. A test, other 

 than that of the fruit parting from the tree under gentle 

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