i8 2 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



third) is produced in the axils of the leaves on the current year's wood. The 

 first crop ripens outdoors in August and September, but the second crop rarely ripens 

 in this country in the open air. Yet the fruits become large and remain on the 

 trees after the leaves fall, simply failing to arrive at maturity through want 

 of heat ; these are often jealously protected under the belief that they will develop 

 in spring and form the first crop of the year, yet they are not worth consideration. A 

 few may, under very favourable conditions, remain on and ripen in June, but this is 

 very seldom. Examples of production are shown in the illustration on the opposite page. 



Pruning. It must be distinctly understood that fig trees only fail to produce 

 fruit from two causes (1) immaturity of the wood, which fails to form fig buds; 

 (2) cutting off the bearing shoots. The first may be due to insufficient heat, shade, 

 crowding, over-luxuriance, or errors in management ; the latter can only happen 

 through lack of knowledge, If we cut back the fruit-bearing shoots (Fig. 58, U, o) to 

 the bars, we destroy the first crop, and, without highly favouring conditions of heat 

 and light, the second crop also, inasmuch as the shoots produced after close pruning 

 are frequently of a soft and unfruitful nature. If a standard or wall tree have its 

 fruit-bearing shoots shortened to the bar, as in W, no fruit can be produced the 

 succeeding season. Shoots, however, corresponding to those in Jf, may be cut back 

 without loss of crop, yet it would have been wiser to pinch the growth of such shoot 

 in the summer, as shown in Y, and transform it into fruitfulness, as represented in 

 Z, thereby saving a year and gaining a crop. The adage, "A pruned fig tree never 

 bears," is to a certain extent true, and severe pruning is followed by a distinct loss 

 of fruit. Yet the knife must at times be used to keep the trees in form and within 

 certain limits. Trees in the open air, also those planted in houses, with or without 

 heat, are generally inclined to vigour of growth. They produce the finest fruit under 

 favourable climatic conditions, the pruning being confined to thinning out exhausted 

 and useless branches, and maintaining a succession of bearing shoots throughout 

 the trees. Those are grown on the extension system, but a portion of the growths 

 are pinched to form spurs (so called), yet only where there is not room for extension. 

 Systematic restriction is only possible when the roots of the trees are under the 

 control of the cultivator, as those in narrow borders or in pots, which if well managed 

 bear abundantly. 



The foregoing points in fig culture must be remembered. Outdoor trees and those 

 grown in unheated houses can only be depended on to produce one crop in a season ; 



