FIGS. 



215 



succession, from the base upwards. The earliest 

 formed, those situated on the lower portion of 

 the shoot, acquire a considerable size, but very 



Fig. 1013.— Fig-shoots, 

 a, Fruit-buds too large to winter ; b, fruit-buds of right size to winter. 



rarely attain perfection in this country, as they 

 do in the Levant, and other parts where the 

 climate is more favourable. Here they remain, 

 however, on the shoots after the leaves drop in 

 autumn, but their growth is then of course 

 arrested; the}' begin to shrivel, and in the 

 following spring wither, even although they 

 may have been protected from frost in winter. 

 Such is the fate of all young fruit that may 

 have acquired any considerable degree of de- 

 velopment on shoots of the current season. 

 But towards the extremities of these shoots 

 fruit-buds continue to be formed (fig. 1013), and 

 these, which are about the size of Peas when the 

 season of growth is over, retain their vitality 

 through the winter, growing and ripening the 

 following summer. 



As the fruits which in this climate attain 

 maturity in the open air are produced on the 

 extremities of the shoots, it is evident that the 

 latter must be retained in pruning, and pro- 

 tected from frost. In many cases the shoots 

 grow luxuriantly, their wood being soft and 

 spongy, more especially that towards the ex- 

 tremities. The buds on the youngest and soft- 

 est part of the shoots are not likely to attain 

 great perfection; it would therefore be better if 

 by any means fruit-buds could be induced to 



form lower on the shoot. The only chance of 

 effecting this is to rub off' the buds that natur- 

 ally form there, so as to induce others to push 

 late enough in the season to stand the winter. 

 The time when this should be done cannot be 

 precisely stated, for it will of course depend 

 on the locality, on the season, and on the nature 

 of the variety. 



A Brown Turkey Fig-tree, trained against a 

 wall with a south-west aspect, at Pitmaston, 

 near Worcester, bore fruit, not merely at the 

 extremities of the shoots, as is usually the case 

 out-of-doors, but at intervals all along from 

 their bases upwards. For example, a shoot 40 

 inches in length had eight fruits, of which four 

 were situated respectively at 3, G, 15, and 21 

 inches from its base; the others were borne at 

 somewhat variable intervals on the upper por- 

 tion. The young fruits which formed on the 

 shoots of last summer's growth, now the bear- 

 ing shoots, were all rubbed off in the previous 

 August. When the blossoms of Apples, Pears, 

 Strawberries, Easpberries, &c, are cut off, a 

 second blossoming is induced. The Fig mani- 

 fests the same disposition on its being prevented 

 from nourishing its first-formed fruits. De- 

 prived of its first, it makes an effort to produce 

 a second progeny. 



It has been observed that not a single Fig, 

 that can be seen to be a Fig, fairly protruded 

 from the bud in autumn, will ever become a 



Fig. 1014.— Fruitiug Branch of Fig. 



perfect fruit in the following season. Not one 

 of this description, therefore, should be left for 

 the winter, but as soon as they can be dis- 



