JULY. 
141 
By the middle of April, it will be found necessary to thin out the plants by 
transplanting every other one carefully to another frame, which leaves ample 
space for the remainder to grow into capital plants for bedding purposes. 
I must do my plan the justice of saying that my present stock of Aurea 
floribunda, under the treatment I have described, is for robustness and symmetry 
second to none that I have seen in this locality. 
A. D. Maybush. 
CASTLE KENNEDY FIG. 
The Castle Kennedy Fig, of which the annexed figure is a faithful repre¬ 
sentation, has existed at Castle Kennedy, in Scotland, for upwards of a century, 
but how it came there, or what was its origin, are matters on which we have no 
reliable information. It is supposed that at some early period a former pro¬ 
prietor received it from the continent, but whether this was so, or whether it is 
a chance seedling, is not known, but there can be no doubt that it is quite 
distinct from any other variety in cultivation in this country. The great 
distinguishing feature of this Fig is its remarkable earliness. It ripens more 
than a fortnight before 
the White Marseilles, 
which is the only 
early variety worth 
cultivating, and as a 
forcing Fig it also 
surpasses every other 
for the rapidity with 
which it can be 
brought forward. The 
fruit from which our 
present engraving was 
taken, and which was 
forwarded to us by 
Mr. Fowler the skilful 
gardener to the Earl 
of Stair, at Castle 
Kennedy, was taken 
from a tree which was 
begun to be forced on 
the 20 th of February 
last, and the fruit was 
ready for use in May. 
The fruit is of the 
largest size, turbinate 
or somewhat obovate. 
The skin is of a pale 
dingy brown on the 
half nearest the eye, 
and of a greenish yel¬ 
low on the half to¬ 
wards the stalk, and 
the brown part is 
mottled with ashy grey specks. The flesh when fully ripe is of a dull opaline 
colour with the slightest tinge of red towards the eye, very melting, and of 
good flavour. 
