November 2, 1876. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GiRDENER. 



377 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



Month 



Day 

 of 



Week. 



NOVEMBER 2—8, 1876. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clook 

 before 

 Son. 



Day 



01 



Year. 



2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 8 



Ta 



F 



S 



Boh 



M 



To 



W 



Liverpool Chrysanthemum Show. Ksempfer died, 

 Inner Temple Chrysanthemum Show. [ 1716. 



21 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



Royal Horticultural Society — Fruit and Floral Com- 

 [ mittee 11 a.m. 



Day. 



51.4 

 53.5 

 521 

 52.9 

 52.4 

 62.1 

 62.0 



Night. 

 37.8 

 85.9 

 36.6 

 37.2 

 36 9 

 86.7 

 34.3 



Mean. 

 45.8 

 44 7 



44 3 



45 

 44.7 

 44 4 

 43.1 



h. m. 



6 68 



7 

 7 2 

 7 4 

 7 5 

 7 7 

 7 9 



h. m. 

 4 £9 

 4 27 

 4 25 

 4 24 

 4 22 

 4 20 

 4 19 



h. m. 



4 16 



4 46 



5 30 



6 33 



7 53 

 9 22 



10 50 



h. m. 

 7 44 

 9 13 



10 38 



11 50 

 0a41 

 1 17 

 1 40 



Days. 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 2L 

 < 



m. s. 

 16 20 

 16 20 

 16 19 

 16 17 

 16 14 

 16 10 

 16 6 



307 

 808 

 800 

 310 

 811 

 812 

 313 



From observations taken near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 52 8 1 ; and its night temperature 

 36.4^. 



ABOUT FIGS. 



ID you ever see a Fig blossom?" asked 

 a gentleman well learned in theological, 

 archaeological, and most other logical 

 matters. " Oh, yes," I replied, " thousands." 

 As he was evidently interested in the sub- 

 ject and failed to find the Fig blossom him- 

 self, I supplied him with specimens and 

 such scanty information as I was in pos- 

 session of. He said that he had looked in 

 vain iu Miller's " Gardeners' Dictionary " 

 and various other works for particulars and explanations 

 on the subject. I hinted that it might not be understood 

 in Miller's time. " It was understood long before Miller's 

 time," said he, "for the subject is mentioned in the 

 Bible, and some opponents of the sacred book say that 

 the prophet was wrong, as the Fig does not blossom at 

 all ; but," continued he, " it seems the prophet was 

 right." 



I have nev.er gone very deeply into the subject, although 

 it is intensely interesting ; but to those of your readers 

 who would like to explore for themselves and discover 

 the hidden beauties of the Fig, I will give a few hints 

 which may serve to put them on the right track. I do 

 not know the number of blossoms an average- sized Fig 

 tree bears to within a few thousands, but if anyone will 

 take the trouble to count the number of seeds a ripe Fig 

 contains he will arrive at a tolerably correct idea of the 

 quantity of blossoms necessary to produce a perfect fruit, 

 and the multiplication table will furnish the rest. 



The fruits which will ripen on outdoor Fig trees in this 

 country next year are already visible in the axil between 

 the leaf and the stem of this season's growth, and those 

 which do not grow larger than a Radish seed this autumn 

 will, if the wood is sufficiently ripe, in all probability pro- 

 duce perfect fruits next August or September. Those 

 which are larger than a Radish seed will not survive the 

 winter unless they eujoy a sufficiently high temperature 

 to keep them growing — probably an average of 65° ; and 

 the same may be said of those formed on wood which is 

 not thoroughly ripened, in which case the wood will be 

 killed as well as the embryo fruit ; but fruit of the size 

 of a Radish seed situated on wood which is well ripened 

 is at least as hardy as the fruit buds on an Apple tree. 



The only difficulty about outdoor Fig-culture is to have 

 the wood ripe ; this difficulty overcome all the rest is of 

 the simplest nature possible, and I hope to see this fruit 

 more extensively grown. 



My situation is not an enviable one for fruit-culture, 

 the soil being very heavy, with a cold clay subsoil ; never- 

 theless, for several years now I have been able to rely 

 on a crop of Figs, although I cannot always rely on one 

 of Apples and Pears. 



There are many situations where Figs grow naturally 

 without any special culture ; the most likely places I 

 believe are those on chalk or gravel ; but where the sub- 

 soil is heavy and the atmosphere damp special culture is 

 necessary. The special culture which answers here is 



No. 8M.— Vol. XXXI.. New Series. 



annual root-prurjing and summer thinning of shoots. At 

 the end of September a trench is dug out about a yard 

 from the wall, the roots are all shortened-back with a 

 knife, and the trench is refilled with soil as poor and 

 open as is possible to obtain. This prevents the roots, 

 and ultimately the shoots, growing too grossly and par- 

 tially aerates the soil which contains the principal roots. 



The pruning of the branches merely consists of cutting 

 those clean out which are not required, leaving the rest 

 at full length. This is principally done as soon as the 

 fruit is all, or nearly all, gathered, when the trees have 

 finished their season's growth, but still retain their leaves. 

 Should the growth, however, become too crowded it may 

 be partially thinned at any time during summer, but 

 never in winter or spring, as the wounds do not heal so 

 quickly when the plants are destitute of foliage. But I 

 had forgotten about the blossom. 



I have said the embryo fruit is already formed for next 

 year ; the embryo blossom may be formed too for aught 

 I know, but at any rate it cannot be discerned with the 

 naked eye. Next spring, probably about the end of May, 

 when the fruit is about the size of a small Bean cut one 

 of the small fruit lengthwise through the centre, and the 

 blossoms yet unexpanded may be seen very clearly by 

 hundreds, each one mounted on a separate peduncle of 

 considerable length. Well, if these are the blossoms how 

 is fertilisation to take place where not a breath of air 

 can reach ? Examine the end of the fruit farthest from 

 the stalk and a hollow will be seen, but at present it is 

 securely covered by small imbricated leaf-like organs, 

 which protect the tender parts till such time as they 

 become perfectly formed, when the door is opened and 

 air is freely admitted to the centre of the fruit. This, I 

 believe, is for the purpose of fertilisation, which takes 

 place when the fruit is grown, perhaps, to a third of its 

 size. The young organs are then extremely tender, and 

 if, from the weather being unfavourable or the organs 

 themselves being imperfect, fertilisation does not take 

 place, the fruit grows to a certain size, when it, as well 

 as the perfect fruits, cease to swell perceptibly for a time 

 (this, in the case of the perfect fruits, is when they are 

 forming the seeds), and then, instead of starting afresh, 

 turns yellow and falls off. 



The structure of the Fig at the time the blossom is 

 coming to perfection is exceedingly beautiful, even when 

 viewed through a common magnifying glass. A micro- 

 scope would probably reveal beauties which I do not 

 dream of. 



The best proved sort for general outdoor culture is 

 Brown Turkey; but I believe White Marseilles will do 

 very well. — Willlui Taylor. 



CULTURE OF THE TULIP. 

 We seldom read anything now in the gardening papers 

 on the Tulip, but depend upon it this neglect is only for 

 a season ; the time is not far distant when the Tulip will 

 be held in higher estimation than it is now. It is not- 

 many years ago when the late Mr. Groom of Walworth 



No. 1466.— Von. LVL, Old Sbreis. 



