August 11, 189?. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
110 
thin out the drills, and transplant the seedlings 1 foot apart each 
way, taking care to leave in the seed drills plants 9 inches to 1 foot 
apart for a first supply for cutting. The transplanted Lettuce 
will supply useful salads later on. I have generally planted 
Lettuce from the seed beds on different aspects—viz., a south and 
a west border, and by due attention to keeping the soil open and 
the ground clean have generally succeeded in maintaining a 
successional supply. Where cold frames can be had it is a good 
plan to fill them with plants from the late sowing. 
I have found Stanstead Park for a Cabbage Lettuce and Hicks’ 
Hardy for a Cos variety everything to be desired as to hardiness. 
With proper care they have never failed me, enduring the hardest 
and most severe winters. The above are good old varieties, and 
can be thoroughly depended upon if the seed is obtained true. All 
the Year Round, Hammersmith, and Black-seeded Bath Cos are also 
good varieties for hardiness. I have penned these lines mainly for 
amateurs, who often take a great deal of trouble to get a supply of 
serviceable Lettuces and Endive (which requires the same treatment 
except as to being blanched), but who too often fail in their 
attempt. Dry fern is useful to protect the Lettuce from very 
hard frost and east winds. 
Now that we have such beautiful and quick turning in Lettuces 
as Early Paris Market, Golden Gem, and Perfect Gem, which can 
be had so quickly, it is hardly worth while taking the trouble to 
plant out for spring use. If seed of the above is sown during the 
winter in a warm house in boxes or pans, and the seedlings thinned 
out and transplanted into other boxes at regular intervals, a good 
supply can be provided. Shelves near the glass or by the side of 
the walks are good places to stand the boxes in the houses. 
Should anyone not have the convenience of glass for a spring 
supply, Stanstead Park and Hicks’ Hardy will not fail them in the 
spring if properly attended to. No doubt other gardeners can 
mention other sorts they have proved to be hardy. By so doing 
they will confer a benefit on the community.— John Chinnery. 
NOTES ON FORGED FIGS. 
The earliest forced trees will soon be cleared of their second 
crop—indeed, the very early varieties are cleared of the fruit, and 
would perfect, if allowed, a third crop with little trouble. This 
they must not be permitted to do, for it is not only a severe tax on 
their energies, but renders them practically useless for producing a 
full first crop next year. All the fruit, therefore, that shows after 
that reserved for the second crop should be rubbed off, and this 
will cause other Fig buds to develope at the same joint, but not 
become conspicuous until the close of the season, and these, with 
those formed near the points of the shoots, form the first-crop 
Figs another season, and are very much the most important crop. 
When the fruit is all gathered the main point is to secure the 
proper maturation of the growths, and if due attention has been 
given to stopping and thinning the shoots little will now be 
required, except attention to ventilation and watering. The 
syringe must be laid aside, except for the purpose of giving an 
occasional forcible washing to cleanse the trees of dust and red 
spider, and if scale is troublesome remove it with a brush moistened 
in a solution of softsoap, 3 ozs. to a gallon of water. The growths 
must not be stopped, but they should be thinned where crowded. 
Future crops depend entirely upon the ripening of the wood, 
therefore maintain a circulation of dry warm air until the leaves 
die naturally. 
If the trees have roots extending beyond the pots into the 
plunging material or fermenting bed they should be cut off a few 
inches of the pots, using a sharp spade. This will check any 
tendency to continued growth, and cause the points of the shoots 
to concentrate the energies on the formation of embryonic Figs at 
the axils of the leaves. That is what is wanted—thoroughly ripened 
wood well studded with Fig buds scarcely discernible. Trees not 
having the roots much outside the pots, and not growing, but 
having the wood well ripened, may be placed outdoors in a sunny 
sheltered situation. They must not become so dry at the roots as 
to prejudicially affect the foliage, then the open air influence will 
do much to invigorate them and harden the wood. Under no 
circumstances, however, must they be put out whilst the growth is 
immature, for in that case they must be continued under glass, and 
every care taken by full exposure to light, a free circulation of air, 
and no more water at the roots than sufficient to keep the foliage 
healthy to secure the complete maturity of the wood. 
Trees that ripened a first crop in June will now have the second 
crop advanced for ripening, and to insure fine fruit should be 
liberally supplied with water or liquid manure if carrying a heavy 
crop and the trees are weakly, but the manurial applications must 
not be of such a nature as to cause continued growth in the trees, 
for it is important to have the wood well ripened, so as to secure a 
full first crop another year, and over luxuriant trees should be 
marked for lifting. A mulching of short material will do much to 
accelerate the finishing of the crop by keeping the soil regularly 
moist, also by encouraging roots and a full supply of nourishment. 
When the fruit commences to ripen water must be withheld front 
it, therefore strive to have the foliage free from red spider by 
forcible syringing, so as to expel it where it has obtained a footing. 
Afford a free circulation of air, and in cold wet weather a gentle 
warmth in the hot-water pipes is necessary to maintain a warm 
rather dry atmosphere, without which Figs can hardlv be had in 
perfection. 
The fruit in late houses from which one crop only is taken 
will be advanced for ripening, therefore spare no pains to have the 
foliage free from red spider, syringing forcibly. Feeble squirts 
neither break up the webs nor expel the mites. They are worse 
than useless, and constant bedewings do more harm than good. 
One thorough washing is worth any number of dampings from an 
insecticidal point of view. Afford due supplies of water or liquid 
manure to the roots. A light mulching of lumpy manure assists 
the perfecting of the current crop and the formation of Fig buds 
for another season. The fruits that are now green and part 
swelled only are of no use for another year, as late house Fig trees 
only mature the first crop, therefore these incipient second crop 
Figs should be removed, and then other buds will form by the side 
of where they have been, and a splendid crop of fruit be had the 
following season. This is too little attended to in Fig culture; 
trees are burdened with a second crop that can never ripen, and the 
only crop that could is often rendered practically nil through the 
exhaustion of the wood on premature fruit. A second crop can be 
had by starting the trees earlier—say in February, and then they 
will ripen a first crop in late June or early in July, and afford a 
second crop at the end of summer, often as late as November, 
Negro Largo being a grand fruit late in the season. The finest 
fruit is the first crop, though often the scantiest, but good fruit of 
both may be had by judicious and timely thinning. White 
Marseilles and Brown Turkey are perhaps the best all-round first 
and second crop Figs. For a late supply Col de Signora Bianco, 
Nebian, and Agen should be grown, as they are unsurpassed in 
quality, but in most seasons they require fire heat to ripen the 
fruit. Avoid wetting the fruit after it commences ripening, and 
keep the growths rather thin alike for the benefit of the fruit and 
for the thorough solidification of the wood for future crops. Stop 
side shoots at the fifth leaf, but do not encourage too many of 
these spur-growths, for they are liable to crowd the trees, and it is 
important that all the growths, especially their points, and late in 
the season be fully exposed to light. 
Young trees in pots from this spring cuttings and intended for 
fruiting in the second or third year of their growth should be 
trained with a clear stem, not allowing any suckers on any account. 
Take out the point of the shoot when a few inches high for 
dwarfs, but for standards they must be trained with a single stem 
until the height required is attained and then be stopped. Pinch 
off the tops of strong shoots to form the foundation of a symme - 
trical head after side growths are originated, and rub them off to 
the height of stem required.—G. A. 
IMPATIENS. 
These beautiful flowering plants are extremely useful for 
furnishing the stove and greenhouse, also for purposes of general 
decoration ; and considering their comparatively easy culture one 
might expect to see them grown on a much more extensive scale 
than is usually the case in private establishments. Another im¬ 
portant point in their favour, provided proper attention is bestowed 
upon them, is their freedom of flowering, as they can be had in 
beauty all the year round. The stove and greenhouse varieties 
may be propagated from cuttings at almost any season of the year. 
Care should be taken to select strong healthy shoots, as they root 
more readily and form useful plants much more quickly than do 
weakly cuttings. They are best inserted singly in small pots and 
placed in a close propagating frame, where they must be shaded 
from the sun. When rooted they should be somewhat restricted 
at the roots by only allowing very moderate shifts. Useful decora¬ 
tive plants may be grown in 6 or 8 inch pots, and they usually 
succeed better in these than in larger sizes. A sound rich porous 
soil suits them admirably. 
Impatiens Sultani is without doubt one of the most useful of 
the family. It is of a neat compact habit, and almost a perpetual 
bloomer. Small plants with their brilliant scarlet flowers are 
most effective for decorative purposes, especially for the dinner 
table and drawing-rooms. It is quite at home in a stove tempera¬ 
ture, and also does very well in the greenhouse during the summer 
months. Impatiens flaccida alba, although not so neat in habit as 
