FIG. 155 



In 1818 it ripened in August, and a second time in, No- 

 vember. We have not met with this variety of the fig in 

 any other garden in this country, which is not only the 

 most rare, but the most exquisite in flavour, and quite a 

 sweetmeat as to richness. The birds, particularly the white- 

 throat, seek this fruit so greedily, that it is with difficulty 

 preserved from them. These trees are regular bearers, 

 and occasionally ripen the second crop. They are 

 never pruned, nor do they receive dressing of any de- 

 scription. Mr. Knight, the president of the Horticul- 

 tural Society, observes, that there cannot be a more de- 

 fective manner of cultivating the fig-tree than that which 

 is generally practised by gardeners, of training them 

 against walls, with their branches perpendicularly upwards; 

 the wood, by this means, becomes too luxuriant to pro- 

 duce fruit. Where figs are trained to a wall, and pruning 

 cannot be avoided, the autumn is the proper season, and 

 it is better to cut the incumbering branches quite off, 

 than to shorten them, as the fruit is always produced at 

 the ends of the shoots. Those who protect their trees by 

 glass shutters, or reeds made into pannels, may generally 

 calculate on two crops in the year ; and it has been lately 

 proved, that by merely tying an old newspaper lightly 

 over the branch, the fruit has been perfectly secured 

 against the frost ; but as standard trees are found much 

 more productive than those trained against a wall, we 

 should recommend them to be table-trained ; that is, to 

 keep the branches tied to stakes about two feet from the 

 ground : they will then form a star from the trunk, and 

 in winter the extremities of the branches may be untied 

 and fastened to the bottom of the stakes, where they may 

 be easily covered with straw or peashaum, &c. which may 

 be confined down by spurs of wood, or slips of willow : 

 it is advisable to put straw or some dry litter between the 

 branches and the earth, to prevent the fruit from being 



