124 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Casting of the Fruit. — The casting of the fruit without ripen- 

 ing, which is of very common occurrence, is attributed to the 

 non-setting of the flowers. That it is so may easily be seen by 

 cutting open the fallen fruits and examining them, when it will be 

 observed that the flowers are undeveloped. Many reasons have 

 been assigned as to the cause of this defect. Some ascribe it to 

 a sudden check, to coldness, to dryness at the root, or to the 

 reverse — of too much moisture, &c, &c. — all or any of which 

 conditions may be injurious to the plant, and may tend towards 

 the evil, but are certainly not the true or prima facie cause. It 

 may be noted that some varieties are more liable to cast their 

 fruit than others, and that under all sorts of treatment, whilst 

 others, receiving exactly the same treatment, do not do so. It is 

 generally with plants that seem to be in the best possible health, 

 and it is almost always with the " first crop," and not the 

 4 'second," that failure occurs in this manner. 



C -aerification. — In many parts of Italy, Spain, &c, in order to 

 prevent this " non-setting " feature, recourse is had to what is 

 termed " caprification," which is firmly believed in by those who 

 practise it, but condemned by most modern scientific writers who 

 have studied the subject as an absolutely useless waste of time. 

 The process is simply this : young Figs of the Caprifig (a wild 

 species which is planted in almost every collection) are taken 

 and placed on the shoots of the Fig-trees it is desired to set, and 

 in these Caprifigs a certain insect is said to be generated which, 

 it is alleged, enters the eye of the unripe, and as yet unset, fruit 

 of the cultivated species, thus facilitating the entrance of light 

 and fertilising vapour, thereby enabling the fruit to set and 

 ripen. In some parts of the South of France it is said to be a 

 common practice for men who are termed caprifiguers to prick 

 the eye of the fruit with a straw or quill dipped in olive oil. 

 Brandy also is applied by dropping a * little in at the eye or 

 through a puncture in the skin, which is, moreover, believed to 

 hasten the maturity of the fruit and to improve its flavour. 



Training and Formation of the Plant. — The training and 

 formation of the plant is a very simple matter. The prettiest 

 and most natural form for Figs in pots is that of dwarf standards. 

 These should have a clear stem of from eight to twelve inches, and 

 should on no account be allowed to produce suckers or to become 

 many-stemmed, as such plants do not fruit so well. During the 



