2 22 



HORTICULTURE. 



Garden. 



Cuprifica- 

 tion. 



Mulberry. 



the branches remain green over winter; and in March, 

 , when the days lengthen, the leaves begin to fall oft', 

 thus gradually admitting more and more air to the 

 trees as the season advances. By adopting this me- 

 thod, Mr Smith has never failed to have good crops of 

 figs. At Argenteuil near Paris, the culture of fig-trees 

 is one of the chief employments of the people. The 

 custom there, is to protect the branches by laying them 

 down in the earth, and keeping them covered with 

 soil for the space of two months and a half during win- 

 ter. The principal pruning is there performed in the 

 spring, by rubbing off the superfluous wood-buds, 

 which are pointed, and leaving the young fruit-buds 

 or embryo figs, which are round. Careful gardeners 

 in our own country likewise perform most of their 

 pruning in this neat and easy way. 



146. We must not here entirely pass over the sub- 

 ject of the caprification of figs. By this is meant, in 

 eastern countries, the introducing into the interior of 

 the young fruit a sort of fly or gnat, which seems to 

 act beneficially, not only by probably carrying in pol- 

 len and dispersing it, but by puncturing the pulp, and 

 occasioning a defluxion of nutritious juices. Impreg- 

 nation is thus not only more certainly accomplished, 

 but the ripening of the fruit is greatly promoted. Ca- 

 prification is imitated in France, and also occasionally 

 in England, by inserting straws dipped in olive-oil. 

 It has often been remarked, that the pricking of plums 

 or pears hastens their maturation, and renders the fruit 

 of richer flavour. It has been proposed to hasten the 

 maturation of figs, by cutting out circles of the bark 

 of the tree, from near the base of the bearing branches, 

 thus retarding or interrupting the descending circula- 

 tion of the sap : as in the case of vines above mention- 

 ed, 135, both the outer and inner bark must be re- 

 moved, but great care taken not to injure the albur- 

 num. 



Mulberry. 



147- The Mulberry-tree (Mortis nigra of Linnoeus; 

 class Moncecia, order Tetrandria ; nat. fam. Urticas 

 of Jussieu) is a native of Persia ; but has been cul- 

 tivated in England since the end of the 1 6th century. 

 It is generally trained as a standard or half-standard ; 

 in a few places it appears as an espalier ; and in Scot- 

 land it is often placed against a wall. It flourishes 

 most in a rich and deep mellow soil. In old gardens, 

 frequently one or two large standard mulberry-trees, 

 perhaps a century old, may be observed ; and these, 

 in the autumn, are covered with fine and large fruit. 

 Where it can conveniently be done, grass should be 

 sown below such old trees: notwithstanding care in 

 gathering, the best of the fruit falls from the tree ; and 

 in this way it may be daily collected from the sward, 

 without being injured. On this account, and because 

 of the large size to which the tree ultimately attains, 

 the mulberry is better suited to the lawn than the gar- 

 den. The fruit ripens in September, and must be 

 used soon after it is gathered, not keeping more than 

 two days. 



148. Young trees seldom prove fruitful ; and Pro- 

 fessor Martyn has stated the true reason, to wit, that 

 monoecious trees while young bear male flowers or 

 catkins principally, and of course produce little or no 

 fruit. Mulberry-trees purchased from public nurseries 

 are not likely soon to prove fruitful, being generally 

 layers from small stock plants, or stools, which have 

 never fruited. The true way to procure fruitful plants, 



is to take cuttings, in the spring, from fruit branches 

 of bearing trees, endeavouring to have a part of two 

 years growth to each cutting. These may be about 

 a foot and a half long, and planted about a foot deep, 

 in a sheltered place : if covered with glasses and re- 

 gularly watered, they strike the more certainly. Mr 

 Knight has observed, that by grafting a young mul- 

 berry with a cion from a bearing branch of a full grown 

 tree, a plant is procured which will bear fruit in the 

 course of three years. As mulberry grafts do not take 

 readily in the common mode, approach-grafting ( 70.) 

 is to be preferred. 



The fruit being produced chiefly on the young wood, 

 no pruning is applicable to standard mulberry-trees, 

 farther than removing cross branches which rub on 

 each other. Wall mulberry-trees are of course treated 

 like the peach-tree. 



14.9. A circumstance connected with the welfare 01 

 these trees may here be deserving of notice. The leaves 

 of the black mulberry, not less than those of the white, 

 forming a favourite food of silk- worms, they who amuse 

 themselves with the breeding of these insects, often 

 go to the gardens of their acquaintances, and collect 

 leaves from the mulberry trees, without supposing that 

 they are doing mischief; probably the proprietor of the 

 trees may be as little aware of the evil : but the truth 

 is, that wherever there is a leaf, there is a bud prepar- 

 ing for the next year; and when the leaf is plucked 

 off, the bud perishes. If the successive leaves be with- 

 drawn, it is evident that the tree must soon be exhaust- 

 ed, and unable to put forth buds in the spring. In 

 this way we have seen black mulberry trees of consider- 

 able size destroyed in a very few years. The white 

 mulberry ( Moms alba, L.) is often cultivated in the 

 shrubbery : of the leaves of this, as already noticed, 

 the silk- worm is equally fond : by increasing the num- 

 ber of white mulberry plants, and robbing them only 

 moderately of their leaves, the other kind may be 

 saved. 



Medlar. 



150. The Medlar-tree (Mespilus Germanica, Linn. ; 

 Icosandria Pentagynia ; Rosaceas, Juss.) is a native of 

 the south of Europe, but appears to be naturalized in 

 hedges in England, and is therefore figured in " Eng- 

 lish Botany," t. 1523. The variety now commonly 

 cultivated is called the Large Dutch Medlar, the fruit 

 of which is large, approaching in shape that of an ap- 

 ple. The Nottingham Medlar, or English Medlar, is a 

 smaller fruit, but of a more poignant taste, and by some 

 preferred on that account. 



151. Medlars are propagated by grafting or budding 

 the variety wished for, upon seedling medlar stocks, 

 sometimes on hawthorn stocks. The tree is of middling 

 size ; it is chiefly trained in standards ; in a few places 

 in espaliers. It is managed very much in the manner 

 of the apple-tree, only the tree is kept rather more 

 thin of wood. The flowers appear late in May. The 

 fruit remains on the tree till the end of October, and 

 is afterwards kept in the fruit-room till it mellow, and 

 acquire a buttery softness, or be " rotten ripe," when 

 only it is fit for the table. This may not take place 

 till past mid-winter : if soft medlars be wanted more 

 speedily, their maturation is forwarded by depositing 

 them in moist bran for a few days. 



Two or three medlar trees in the garden are suffi- 

 cient, more being generally planted in the pleasure- 

 grounds. 



