430 On the Management of the Fig Tree in the 



Scotland, in treating on this secondary crop of Figs, ex- 

 presses himself as follows : " at the end of October, or be- 

 ginning of November, the young shoots should be cleared of 

 all untimely half-ripened fruit ; but all young fruit of the 

 size of small beans or peas must not be touched, for if they 

 survive the severity of the winter, they will be the first ri- 

 pened fruit next season/' Mr. Smith did well to state the 

 case hypothetically, for I will venture to say that not a single 

 Fig, that can be seen to be a Fig, fairly protruded from the 

 bud in the autumn, will ever become a perfect and mature 

 fruit in the following season. Not one of this description 

 therefore should be left. 



Although I differ from Mr. Smith in this particular, as 

 likewise with respect to the most proper time of pruning the 

 Fig tree, yet I account his management on the whole very 

 judicious, and particularly approve of his winter covering of 

 branches of Spruce Fir, where any thing of this sort is found 

 to be requisite. But I do not conceive covering to be abso- 

 lutely necessary. Mats, small branches of ever-greens, dried 

 Fern, &c. stuck in behind the branches, generally do more 

 harm than good ; since they are likely to be dislodged by 

 the winds and storms of the winter, and then will leave the 

 young shoots unprotected in the sharp months of March and 

 April, after they have been nursed by them through perhaps 

 the mildest part of the winter, and thus rendered more ten- 

 der than they would otherwise have been. Mr. Smith's 

 method obviates this objection, but large Spruce Fir bran- 

 ches it is not in every one's power easily to obtain. 



I train my Fig trees horizontally, and delay pruning them 

 till late in the spring, when I can plainly distinguish between 



