236 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



saiy to say here that this fruit will succeed in the 

 orchard-house, and give at least one crop annually. 

 The hush or pyramidal form is the best, and all the 

 trees should he grown in pots, as they can then he 

 placed close together in the driest part of the house, 

 or in any dry airy shed, where they can he covered 

 up during severe weather in the winter. In the open 

 air in this country it invariably happens that the 

 embryo fruits formed near the points of the shoots 



Tig. 13.— Bush Pot Pear. Fig. 14.— Pyramid Pear. 



get killed by severe frosts ; but when the trees are 

 stowed away, and the pots are well tucked up in dry 

 fern or straw, no ordinary frost will injure them. 



The fruit will commence swelling when the trees 

 are excited in the spring, and give the earliest ripe 

 fruit, while the first spring growths, if pinched at 

 the fourth or fifth leaf, will very often produce a 

 second, or successional crop, in September. Where 

 space is limited, such kinds as the Brown Turkey 

 and White Marseilles, two of the ver}^ best, may in 

 fine seasons be removed to the open air in July 

 to mature the crop of fruit. Figs, it must be 

 borne in mind, require copious sj-ringing to keep 

 them free from spider, and plenty of water at the 

 roots during the season of growth, otherwise the 

 fruit will drop just before it begins to rii^en. Head- 

 room being abundant, a few trees may be grown as 



standards, or they may be trained against back 

 walls, pro\ided they can have an abundance of 

 light and full exposure to the sun. Where these 

 conditions cannot be secured it is useless trying to 

 produce fruit worth eating, as Figs are more partial 

 to heat than any other fruit yet mentioned. 



The insects to which the Fig is most subject are 

 red spider and brown scale, but these rarely do much 

 mischief in a temperate house where watering and 

 syringing are attended to. In hot seasons, favour- 

 able to wasps, some kind of protection is necessary, as 

 these rapacious insects soon make short work of the 

 fruit. To counteract their depredations the ventila- 

 tors may be covered with Hay thorn's hexagon 

 netting, and trees in the open air can be encased in 

 bags placed over them and secured to the stems, an 

 arrangement which wi\l not interfere with the appli- 

 cation of water to the roots. 



The Pear. — In cold and unfavourable localities, 

 where the blossoms are frequently destroyed by spring 

 frosts, or the temperature is too low to bring the 



Fig. 15.— Cordon Pear. 



fruit to perfection, choice varieties of Pears are well 

 worthy of a place under glass. If grown in the 

 mixed orchard-house, the trees should be placed 

 where they can have an abundance of dry air during 

 the time they are in flower, otherwise, being ex- 

 tremely impatient, perfect fertilisation will not take 

 place. 



The annexed Figs. (13, 14, 15) are fair representa- 

 tions of the bush, pyramid, and cordon forms which 

 are most suitable for pot culture. Their management 

 is extremely simple, as trees worked on the Quince 

 stock, properly prepared and set wdth flower-buds, 

 can be obtained from any good nursery at a very 

 cheap rate. These, if potted in October, and wintered 

 and treated as Plums, will give a few fine fruit the 

 first year, and when thoroughly established. Pears 

 equal to those obtained from the Channel Islands 



