On the Culture of Fig Trees, in the open air. 



It will be generally found adviseable, to give some shelter 

 to fig trees, during the winter, more particularly so, where 

 this mode of pruning is adopted, because the midsummer 

 shoots, from being produced so much later in the season than 

 those of the spring, remain, at the approach of winter, more 

 soft and tender, and, consequently, less able to bear the 

 immediate action of severe frost. In this respect, much 

 must be left to the care and skill of the gardener, whose 

 precautions must be determined, as well as varied, by the 

 situation, aspect, and local shelter belonging to each parti- 

 cular tree, and by the varying temperature of each particu- 

 lar winter ; it may, however, be laid down as a general rule, 

 that the covering, where used, should be as thin and light, as 

 a due consideration of all the above circumstances will admit, 

 and that it should generally be removed in the day time, and 

 always on the return of moderate weather. In considering 

 this last part of the subject, it will hardly escape observation, 

 that the mode of training here recommended, furnishes of 

 itself, considerable protection against the severity of winter, 

 by keeping the shoots close to the shelter of the wall, at the 

 same time that it materially contributes to the perfection of 

 the fruit, as well as to its more early ripening.* 



* See Supplementary Note. 



