FIGS IN POTS. 
231 
FIGS IN POTS. 
By Mr. James Hudson, V.M.H. 
[Read October 9, 1900.] 
Introductory. — The culture of Figs in pots is not a new idea ; the 
system, however, is well worthy of greater extension. It has much to 
recommend it as contrasted with the planting- out method, more especially 
for early and late forcing. Pot culture is conducive to fertility in a 
marked degree, as compared with trees that have an almost unlimited 
extent of border for root action. True, trees that are confined within 
limited borders are on the whole quite satisfactory ; it takes longer, how- 
ever, to bring a trained tree into a fruiting state than it does a pot-grown 
example. The vigour of Figs, when not restricted, or only partially so, 
at the roots, is well known. By adopting the pot system this is greatly 
modified and altered, so much so in fact as to render some varieties almost 
unrecognisable by their growth. Larger fruits are, as a matter of course, 
produced upon planted-out trees, but I have yet to learn that these are 
always the best. Quantity and quality combined can be obtained from 
those grown in pots, whilst there is not the same probability of an excess 
at any one time and scarcity at another. 
If the culture of Figs in pots be adopted for early and late forcing as 
well as for the main crop, it will be found to answer admirably. By this 
method the glass given up to trained trees upon the roof will be at liberty. 
If the house or houses be lean-tos or three-quarter spans, the back wall 
can be covered with trained trees and the rest of the space devoted to 
trees in pots. The dense shade produced by Figs-next-the-glass pre- 
cludes any profitable use being derived from the rest of the house. That 
Figs can, in general, be successfully grown in pots has been proved at 
Chiswick, where no such results as are now obtained could be secured if 
the space at disposal were given up to trained trees rather than bushes 
as at present. The Chiswick collection of Figs has done more, in my 
opinion, than anything else to popularise the culture of the fruit in this 
country. 
Forcing {Early). — I was induced to adopt the pot culture of Figs in 
order to prolong the season. First, by early forcing, so as to have ripe 
fruits early in March ; and secondly, by retarding the late kinds, in order to 
extend the season of ripening in the autumn and into December. It is 
thus possible to have ripe Figs for nine months in the year, trained or 
planted-out trees taking the mid-season. For first early forcing the best 
variety is without any question, in my experience, the Fig known as 
St. John, which for all practical purposes is identical with Pingo-de-Mel ; 
where the one is grown the other is not required. The value of these 
Figs lies in the certainty with which they carry their first crop, or, in 
other words, the crop upon the wood of the previous year. This is a decided 
advantage and a great point in the gaining of time. On the other hand 
