398 



Pia CULTURE IN THE 



The surface of the hole should he at least a foot below that 

 of the surrounding soil. The rest of the soil is arranged 

 slantwise round the stem of the layer^, so that the rain- 

 water may be easily retained round the roots of the young 

 trees. The trees are planted five or six yards apart, the 

 lines being separated by a space of about four yards, so as 

 to form a kind of quincuncial arrangement. These young 

 plants are left to themselves during the whole of the 

 summer, care being taken to keep them from drought by 

 means of frequent watering and careful covering. During 

 the first half of November, when the first cold days set in 

 and the trees are completely bare of leaves, a dry day is 

 chosen when the ground is not too damp, and the young 

 branch is carefully bent downwards until it reaches the 



bottom of the 

 I^i«-2i3. trench. It is 



then covered up 

 with a layer of 

 earth a foot deep 

 to preserve it 

 from the cold. 

 Wf/JM^i'j^^^^^/^^^^^^^ Towards the end 



Section showing Fig Tree growing on level ground. of February, as 



soon as the 



weather has become mild, the branches are uncovered and 

 the trench is arranged the same as it was before earthing 

 up. The development of the young plant is again allowed 

 to proceed during the summer, after which it is once more 

 earthed up in November. 



The third spring after planting, a fine day is chosen to- 

 wards the middle of March — the young stem is cut at from 

 six to eight inches from the ground so as to favour the pro- 

 duction of a large crop of shoots, which will afterwards form 

 the principal branches of the tree. These shoots are allowed 

 to grow through the summer, and are earthed up in autumn. 

 This process is performed according to the following 

 directions : — dry day is chosen when the soil is in a 

 friable condition, so that it will fill the spaces between the 

 branches without leaving any empty places. The soil used 



