FIG 



HABDY FBUIT GABDEN 



VINE 1097 



FIG. 163. — THB FIG. 



SO as not to be crowded, and to allow the 

 admission of plenty of light and air. Once 

 established Fig 

 trees require little 

 care beyond cutting 

 away unnecessary 

 growths and keep- 

 ing the young 

 shoots pinched back 

 to three or four 

 leaves during the 

 summer months. 

 The main leading 

 growths must not 

 be stopped or 

 shortened at pru- 

 ning time, as the 

 fruits are always 

 produced near the 

 points, as shown 

 in the drawing. 

 If this practice is 

 attended to every 

 year, there will be 

 no need to use the 

 knife, which as a 

 rule does more 

 harm than good to 

 the fruiting proper- 

 ties of the Pig. 

 The yotmg Pigs appear almost with 

 the shoots in spring, and these are the 

 fruits that ripen during the summer if 

 not too much crowded and shaded by the 

 foliage. In the drawing, which was made 

 at Christmas time, / represents the bud 

 which win produce the first fruit ; w the 

 wood-bud from which a new branch will 

 spring, and s the scar left by the fallen 

 leaf. Young fruits are often produced 

 late in the season, as shown in the sketch 

 at a, but as they have no possible chance 

 of ripening out of doors in our climate, 

 they are best removed. 



Established trees are benefited greatly 

 by a good mulching of manure when 

 carrying a heavy crop, but otherwise they 

 require little or no stimulant. 



Propagation. — Pigs are increased by 

 suckers, layers, cuttings, and seeds. 

 Cuttings, however, are usually employed. 

 They consist of a ripened and dormant 

 shoot 6-9 in. long, each one placed in a pot 

 containiag rich sandy loam, and plunged 

 in bottom heat under glass, about January 

 or February. They very soon root and 

 the plants may be grown on in pots for 

 the first year, placing them out of doors 

 during the summer months to thoroughly 



ripen the wood for the next season. In 

 the absence of heat for cuttings, the 

 branches may be layered out of doors 

 during the summer months, and the new 

 plants detached the following March or 

 April at planting time. Boot suckers also 

 may be detached and replanted at this 

 period. 



Varieties. — There are many named 

 varieties of Figs cultivated under glass, 

 but only a few are fit for fruit culture in 

 the open air. Brown TurTcey, with large 

 pear-shaped brownish-purple fruits, is one 

 of the best, and to it may be added BlacTc 

 Ischia, White Marseilles and St. John's. 



THE GRAPE VINE (Vitis 

 vinifeea). — The cultivation of the Grape 

 Vine (the botanical characters of which 

 are described at p. 307 under Vitis) is now 

 so generally associated with greenhouses 

 and hot-water pipes that many imagine 

 that it would be merely waste of time 

 attempting to secure a crop of the 

 wholesome and luscious fruit in the open 

 air in the British Islands. It is of course 

 true to a very great extent that the finest 

 fruits can be obtained from the Grape 

 Vine only when grown under glass ; but 

 notwithstanding this, very respectable 

 Grapes with an excellent flavour can be 

 produced in the milder parts of the 

 United Kingdom, especially during hot 

 and sunny seasons. Indeed in many 

 old gardens Vines may still be seen 

 trained on walls, the sides of houses &c., 

 and where the owner takes an interest 

 in their cultivation a fair amount of 

 palatable fruit is secured in favourable 

 seasons. From the time of the Bomans 

 until about the middle of the eighteenth 

 century the Vine was rather extensively 

 grown in these Islands, especially in the 

 south and west, for the production of 

 wine, and although our climate may have 

 undergone some changes since that 

 period it is probable that the outdoor 

 cultivation of the Vine has diminished 

 from other causes than that of climate. 



The late Marquis of Bute in our own 

 day showed that it is not impossible to 

 grow the Vine in the open air, and that its 

 culture can even be regarded as a com- 

 mercial success. In 1875 he had three 

 acres of Vines planted on his estate at 

 Cardiff Castle, and in 1886 another vine- 

 yard of about 11 acres was started for the 

 production of wine, which goes by the 

 name of ' Castle Cooh.' Some seasons 



