THE FIG 



53 



August and continues to the end of October. During that time from 30 to 100 

 dozen are gathered daily and disposed of in Worthing, Brighton, or London." 



Far better prices are now obtained for figs than was the case some years ago. 

 Whereas then 3d. or ^.d. per lb. would have been considered a fair price, the 

 growers of to-day are content with nothing less than 8d., and more is often 

 realised. This is a curious and so far as I know an unique circumstance. 

 With every other market fruit it will be found that an increased demand has 

 been met with such a largely increased 

 supply that prices have gone down as 

 a result. With the fig, however, the 

 fact apparently is that the demand has 

 of late years considerably increased, but 

 the supply has not done so proportion- 

 ately, and prices therefore, instead of 

 falling, have gone up. 



Cultural Notes. — As an outdoor 

 crop the fig can be successfully grown 

 in many parts of these islands, but its 

 cultivation out-of-doors has not extended 

 for certainly the past half century. 

 Failures in its cultivation, I believe, 

 are due to a want of knowledge as to 

 the locality and position in which it 

 will succeed. That it will succeed 

 admirably even as a standard or an 

 espalier on the coast of our southern 

 counties is beyond a doubt. The fig 

 is pre-eminently a fruit of the coast- 

 line, and it is useless to try and grow An Extension Growth (Stopped), Whether 

 it outside at any great distance inland ceIsional'beInch °^ "" ^""^ °^ ^'"'' 



in consequence of the greater severity 

 of the weather. That there are such 

 positions in many parts of Great Britain 

 besides Sussex goes without saying. I 

 may instance the coast of North Wales, 

 say from Flint to Bangor. I remember 

 also how well the fig was fruited on 



outside walls at Bodorgan, Anglesea ; the position of the garden was less than 

 a quarter of a mile from the seashore. 



Where grown against a wall a position facing south or south-west should be 

 given. Ample drainage must be provided for the border, which should not be 

 more than 2| feet deep, and which at first when the tree is planted should be 

 of limited extent. The soil in which it is planted should not be very rich. It 

 is a wise precaution to build a temporary wall (say 4 feet from the wall against 

 which the tree is planted) as high as the border so as to confine the roots of the 

 tree into this limited space for a . few years in order to check luxuriance of 



{x) point of stopping at the fifth or sixth joint ; 

 (y) new shoot, which must be left intact and 

 trained to continue branch ; (z) short stubby 

 side shoot or lateral, which need not be 

 pinched unless making more than two or 

 three leaves ; if there is not room for them, 

 pinch them off altogether while quite small. 



