CULTURE OF FIGS. 
301 
ARTICLE III.—ON THE CULTURE OF FIGS. 
BY MR. WILLIAM GREY, 
Gardener , Scotswood, near Newcastle. 
The Fig is a fruit of great antiquity, as we learn from ancient his¬ 
tory that it was the principal article of food among the inhabitants 
of the Eastern Countries, befoi'e the use of wheat, barley, or any 
other grain was known. The Fig was cultivated with great care up 
to the period at which the Spaniards were suspected of giving poi¬ 
soned figs to their enemies. No doubt an aversion to figs arose at 
that time, and the best mode of their cultivation was lost. 
When I was gardener to Sir Chas. Monck, Bart. Belsay Castle, 
we had a house built expressly for Figs. They were planted out in 
the border, in the same manner as vines. Several were in pots and 
tubs, which were kept in the orange-house, and some on a hot-wall. 
Fig-trees are most fruitful when planted in a strong hazelly cool 
loam. Those planted in a light dry soil generally cast the first crop 
before it is ripe, and shew a second crop on the wood the trees make 
that season.. Trees in the open air, that are subject to casting off the 
first crop, do little good, for if the second crop be ever so plentiful 
the season is too far advanced to allow the tree to make wood, and 
ripen the fruit before the long cold nights set in. 
Fig-trees in pots are most difficult to manage, as they are gene¬ 
rally kept in a vinery, or some forcing-house. The soil in the pot 
being of the same temperature as the house, the tree becomes impa¬ 
tient, and if it sustain the least check for want of water, the fruit will, 
a few days afterwards, drop off. I succeeded best with those I had 
in pots, by putting them in a strong soil inclining to clay, and pres¬ 
sing it hard among the roots as I potted, placing them in that part 
- of the house where they had plenty of air, and watering them plen¬ 
tifully when the fruit was swelling. I have had excellent crops of 
Figs from trees against a hot wall. They were planted in a strong 
hazelly coloured soil. Old Fig-trees are generally most fruitful, as 
their young wood is, for the most part, short-jointed and spur-like, 
which is always fruitful. Young trees generally make long jointed 
luxurious wood, which is not to be depended upon for a crop. After 
the fall of the leaf in autumn, I cover the Fig-trees on the wall with 
fern to protect the wood from injury by the frost. About the end 
of April, I clear away the fern, and nail the branches regularly to 
the wall. In pruning, I cut out any long naked shoots to give place 
for the lower branches. The young wood should never be shortened. 
