218 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



but it is not to be recommended where the soil 

 is not of a sandy nature, neither is it practicable 

 where the branches proceeding from a single 

 stem are strong. Sometimes the branches of 

 standards are tied together and then thatched 

 with straw, forming a cone, or they may be 

 tied in several bundles, and each covered sepa- 

 rately; but a backing of thatched hurdles on 

 the north side, and a slighter covering of straw- 

 mats on the south, would be preferable. 



For trees trained against walls, branches of 

 Spruce have been found to answer, owing to 

 their leaves dropping off gradually when the 

 weather becomes milder, and when the trees 

 require less protection and more light and air, 

 in spring. If Spruce cannot be had, other 

 similar coverings should be contrived, so that 

 they may also be gradually diminished in spring; 

 for it is a bad plan to keep the whole of the 

 winter covering on till danger of frost is over, 

 and then uncover the trees entirely, and at once. 

 Straw, or better, straw-mats, dried fern, reeds, 

 woollen nets, or canvas may be employed. The 

 straw-mats can be made thin, and applied two- 

 fold in winter, and reduced to one in spring. 

 Against a south wall a boarded covering, or 

 thatched hurdles, projecting 4 feet from below 

 the coping, with a slope to throw off the wet, 

 will generally prove a sufficient protection unless 

 the weather be very severe, in which case the 

 trees should be matted in front, and litter laid 

 round the base of the stem. 



Propagation. — The Fig may be propagated by 

 seeds, layers, and cuttings of the roots, also by 

 tops, suckers, and by grafting. 



Seeds should be sown in pots or pans filled 

 with leaf-mould and sand, plunged in a moder- 

 ate hot-bed. Seedlings may produce good or bad 

 varieties; some sorts are known to be con- 

 siderably hardier than others; and by raising 

 a number of seedlings from different kinds, 

 there is a probability that among them some 

 will be found better suited to this climate 

 than any hitherto imported from warm parts 

 of the world. 



Layers take root readily. In some cases this 

 mode may be employed for obtaining fruiting 

 plants in a shorter period than by any other 

 means. Branches in a bearing state, layered 

 in May, and the rooted layers taken up in 

 October, potted in 12-inch pots, and placed in 

 the forcing-house, have fruited freely in the 

 following spring, that is, within twelve months 

 of the layering. 



Cuttings should be taken from shoots that 

 have not been injured by frost; or branches of 



the best ripened wood, taken off before frosts 

 set in, may be buried in moist sand till early 

 spring, when they can be made into cuttings, 

 planted in pots, and plunged in a hot -bed. 

 They will strike in the natural soil in summer, 

 but in a bottom heap of 70° or 75° the process 

 is rapid, and well-rooted plants are soon ob- 

 tained. Care should be taken to rear them 

 with single stems. 



Good plants can also be reared from suckers, 

 planted either in pots and given the assistance 

 of bottom-heat, or in a warm border, where the 

 soil must be kept moist by watering. 



Cultivation under Glass. 



It is a question whether as much produce 

 cannot be obtained from a wall, with the assist- 

 ance of glass and fire-heat, as is afforded by 

 double the extent of open wall. 



A Avail 60 feet in length may cost, say £30, 

 but if half that extent covered with glass will 

 yield as much produce, then £15 may be saved 

 in wall-building, and applied to lessen the ex- 

 pense of glazing; and taking all things into 

 consideration, we believe that a glazed structure 

 would be the cheaper. The supply of fruit 

 from such would be less precarious than from 

 the open wall, and it can be had from an early 

 till a late period of the season. Convinced of 

 these advantages, Mr. Henry Bailey had a house 

 erected, at Nuneham, over a large Fig-tree 

 on a south wall. The tree was root-pruned in 

 September, and fire was lighted on the 1st of 

 February, a humid atmosphere, with a tem- 

 perature of 55° at night, and from 65° to 75° 

 during the day, being maintained. The roots 

 were supplied with tepid water, and copious 

 syringings were given till the fruit attained the 

 size of a Walnut, when they were discontinued. 

 The tree ripened its first fruit on the 25th of 

 April, continued bearing till August, and had 

 then many dozens to ripen, which, assisted by 

 fire-heat, would afford a supply till November. 



The Fig requires a somewhat higher tem- 

 perature to bring it into leaf than the Grape. 

 It may be commenced at 50° at night, and from 

 60° to 65° in the day. Afterwards the tem- 

 perature may be gradually increased, giving 

 very little air, and affording plenty of atmos- 

 pheric moisture until the fruit commences to 

 ripen. Then less moisture in the atmosphere 

 is advisable, and more air should be admitted 

 to the house to prevent the fruit splitting or 

 rotting through excess of moisture. 



It is desirable that the roots of the plants 



