FIG 



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FIG 



ture pursued, shifting them when ne- 

 cessary. Those who plant on the open 

 walls, should do so in the middle of 

 March ; and if the plants are from pots, 

 the roots must be uncoiled and spread 

 nicely out. Many persons who have esta- 

 blished trees, merely take suckers away 

 from them ; such only need fastening 

 in the soil, and, it may be, a slight 

 shading when they begin to grow. 



Soil. The fig will thrive in almost 

 any ordinary garden soil, but is said to 

 prefer a chalky loam. When planted 

 against walls out-of-doors, care must 

 be taken not to make the soil rich, for 

 invincible grossness would be the con- 

 sequence. A plain "maiden" soil is 

 quite good enough for general pur- 

 poses. 



Culture in Growing Period. Out-door 

 culture consists in an early disbudding 

 of all superfluous shoots ; this is per- 

 formed when the young shoots are 

 about three inches long, reserving all 

 those which are short-jointed and com- 

 pact-looking. Care must be taken to 

 reserve shoots for blank places. This 

 disbudding is generally performed at 

 twice or thrice during the season ; for 

 waste and watery-looking spray will 

 continue to spring up until August, 

 especially in moist summers, and when 

 the plants are gross. Such disbudding 

 should be carried out until almost 

 every leaf of the future year's bearing- 

 wood obtains a free exposure to sun- 

 shine, say by the middle of August. 

 About the end of this month it is 

 accounted good practice to pinch the 

 ends of all growing shoots, or rather 

 to squeeze them with the thumb and 

 finger. Nothing more is needed as 

 summer culture, except a timely train- 

 ing of all reserved shoots, in order to 

 obtain all the sunlight possible. 



Culture in Rest Period. This merely 

 consists in protection from frost, and 

 in pruning. Towards the beginning 

 of December, some protection ought 

 to be given, as mats, straw, fern fronds, 

 or spruce boughs. Before closing 

 them, or, indeed, at the end of Octo- 

 ber, every fig which has become as 

 large as a horse-bean, should be pulled 

 away, for such rob the trees, and are 

 sure to perish. The trees must be un- 



covered again in the end of February, 

 if matted, otherwise, such -materials as 

 fern or straw may remain on a little 

 longer ; the spruce until pruning time. 

 The latter operation should not be per- 

 formed until the young buds are begin- 

 ning to swell, when wood of a proper 

 character may be distinguished readily 

 from that which is useless. All the 

 latter must be cut away, unless re- 

 quired for blank spaces ; but if summer 

 disbudding has been properly perform- 

 ed, there will be little for the pruner to 

 do. After this, they must be duly 

 trained. 



Forcing. Some build houses for the 

 fig, but most prefer growing them in 

 tubs or large pots. The general princi- 

 ples of forcing them so closely resemble 

 those for the vine, that it will be needless 

 to go into details. As to general tem- 

 perature, although they will bear much 

 heat, yet most cultivators agree that 

 one intermediate, between the peach- 

 house and the forcing vinery, is the 

 most congenial. It requires, however, 

 a little more excitement to bring the 

 fig into leaf than the peach. Under 

 good house culture, it will produce two 

 satisfactory crops in one year. A first 

 crop may be obtained as early as 

 May, and after a couple of months or so, 

 the second will commence ripening; the 

 latter being those on the wood of the 

 current season. The first crop, or the 

 embryo fruit of the previous year, are 

 very apt to fall prematurely, and much 

 care is necessary. Kegular waterings 

 the moment they are dry, and an avoid- 

 ance of atmospheric extremes, are the 

 best preventives. Most good culti- 

 vators make a point of pinching the 

 ends of the young shoots when about 

 six or eight eyes or buds in length ; 

 this soon causes the fruit to form in 

 the axils of the leaves. Frequent 

 syringings should be practised in the 

 growing season ; and when at rest they 

 should never be subjected to a lower 

 temperature than 40. Under all cir- 

 cumstances, the fig delights in a soil 

 somewhat moist : a neglect of watering 

 when necessary, even for a day, may 

 cause them to cast their fruit. 



Fruit. Its use is almost entirely 

 confined to the ripe state, as dessert ; 



