THE FIG. 183 



is ready for the soil ; and, to begin with, it should not 

 be filled in more than 2 inches deep, rather firmly 

 packed, leaving 4 inches for the addition of top-dress- 

 ings when such become necessary. 



VARIETIES OF FIGS. 



In order to keep up a constant succession of ripe figs 

 for a good many months of the year, as shall be treated 

 of, not very many varieties are necessary. Taking into 

 consideration the fruitfulness and good qualities of figs 

 in cultivation, I do not know of any so thoroughly satis- 

 factory as the old and well-known Brown Turkey and 

 White Marseilles (Eaby Castle). These are splendid 

 varieties for both pot-culture and fruiting in borders. 

 Some smaller varieties are extremely fruitful, such as 

 Black Provence, Singleton, White Ischia, and others; but 

 they are small, and not so desirable as those first named. 

 Mr Barron, Garden Superintendent at the Eoyal Horti- 

 cultural Gardens, who has had great opportunities of 

 forming an opinion, and who has excelled in the pot- 

 culture of the fig, in writing regarding keeping up a 

 rich and varied supply from a house devoted to the 

 cultivation of the fig in pots, and where the collection 

 is limited to say fifty plants, gives the following as 

 his selection for keeping up a continuous supply of 

 ripe fruit from June to Christmas. The varieties he 

 puts into groups thus, showing how they will give a 

 supply of fruit in each month : " July — White Mar- 

 seilles, De la Madeleine, Gros Monstrueuse de Lipardi, 

 Brown Turkey. August — White Marseilles, Lee's 

 Perpetual (Brown Turkey), De Lipardi. September — 

 White Ischia, Grosse Violette de Bourdeaux, Black 

 Provence, Grosse Verte, Bourjassotte Grisie, Col de 



