270 GARDENING. 



These are, the Long While, the Yellow or Angelica, 

 and the Violet, cultivated near Paris ; and the Black 

 Ischia, and Slack and White Genoa, which ripen in 

 England. 



All the varieties of the fig are propagated by 

 seeds,* suckers, buds, scions,f and layers ; nor is its 

 propagation by crossing unknown to the horticultu- 

 rist ; but this can only be effected by planting two 

 varieties near to each other, as no means have yet 

 been discovered for extracting the male organ of 

 the fig without destroying the female. Of these 

 different modes, however, those by cuttings and lay- 

 ers are most frequently employed and best recom- 

 mended. In the first case, select in the autumn 

 eight or ten inches of young wood, with one or two 

 of old attached to it, from the shortest jointed and 

 most fruitful boughs ; bury these during the winter 

 in a bed of sand ; and in the spring, plant them in 

 a border of fresh and warm loam, against the south- 

 ern or eastern side of a ten-foot wall.J Layering 

 here does not differ from the process of the same 

 name employed in other cases : shoots of two or 

 three years are laid down in the spring, and a single 

 summer will be sufficient for the formation of roots ; 

 after which, sever the young plant from the old, and 

 set it out as directed for cuttings. 



In hot climates, as in the case of the peach, the 

 standard is the form most approved ; but in climates 

 like ours, the stellate fan is that which offers the 

 strongest assurance of success. $ It is produced by 

 training to a single stem, encouraging lateral shoots, 

 and bringing these down in succession, so as to pre- 

 sent a figure nearly circular, and so low as to give 

 it the benefit of a reflected as well as a direct heat.|| 



* Loudon. t Idem. J Idem. 



" Fan training from two branches is bad, gives only wood 

 and leaves." Idem. Bosc says, " Keep the branches short, 

 low, and spreading." See also Hort. Trans., vol. iii., p. 307. 



|| Knight's method does not materially differ from this. H 



