1880 . ] 
BROWN TURKEY FIG.—ORCHARD-HOUSE NOTES. 
145 
BROWN TURKEY FIG. 
[Plate 
LTHOUGH by no means new, this fine 
variety, which is sometimes called 
Lee's Perpetual , is still the best all¬ 
round Fig in cultivation. Like the Black 
Hambro in the Grape department, no sooner is 
a Fig-house or a Fig-wall decided upon, than 
so many places are at once told off for Brown 
Turkey. For forcing wo have nothing to sur¬ 
pass, if we have anything to equal it, as it is 
early, handsome, very prolific, not liable to 
“ drop,” and of first-rate quality; indeed, in 
many forcing places, where a steady supply of 
Figs worth eating must be had, all other kinds 
have given way to it. At this place, my early 
pot trees, now approaching twenty years of age, 
although too large for removal or re-potting, 
never fail to give an abundance of fine fruit 
from the 10th of April until the beginning of 
September, when they are starved into a state 
of rest. The particular tree which produced 
the fruit here depicted has taken possession 
of a rough limestone wall, to which its roots 
cling like those of orchids. Amongst these 
we pack pieces of turfy loam, and feed them 
with liquid manure, and the produce is enor- 
523.] 
mous. My object in supplying the whole 
shoot containing the ripe fruit and a number 
of small ones, was to show the fertile character 
of this excellent variety. 
On the open wall, it is quite as hardy as the 
Brunswick and Ischias ; and being a moderate 
grower, and much richer than the former, good 
gardeners and proprietors who know how to 
appreciate the best, will always make Brown 
Turkey their sheet-anchor. — W. Coleman, 
Eastnor Castle Gardens. 
[To these appreciative remarks from Mr. 
Coleman, to whom we are indebted for the fine 
sample, which Mr. Macfarlane has very faith¬ 
fully rendered in the accompanying figure, 
we add the brief description given in Dr. Hogg’s 
Fruit Manual :—“ Fruit large and pyriform ; 
skin brownish-red, covered with blue bloom; 
flesh red and very luscious. Tree very pro¬ 
lific, hardy, and one of the best for outdoor 
culture as a standard. Bipe in August and 
September.” Like numerous other really good 
things, it rejoices in a long list of synonyms, of 
which that which is now most widely known is 
Lee’s Perpetual.—T. Moore.] 
ORCHARD-HOUSE NOTES. 
X NDER the supposition that I may 
claim my annual sheet in the Florist 
and Pomologist as the medium of 
reporting the season’s doing in the Orchard- 
house, I will detail a change in its management 
which has much increased its general useful¬ 
ness. The late Mr. Rivers’ interesting and 
clever little book, The Orchard-house , intro¬ 
duced the subject of fruit cultivation under 
glass so familiarly, that at once I became his 
disciple; and, without deviation, followed all 
his directions. Still, I failed to realise all his 
promises. Much of the fruit dropped during 
the stoning process, and the produce of the 
standard-trees was deficient in flavour. Last 
summer I had hardly a fruit worth a friend’s 
acceptance. Last spring I saw advertised, 
Pearson on the Orchard-house. Its perusal 
showed a general agreement with Mr. Rivers, 
but a decidedly opposite opinion on one point. 
On the 71st page of The Orchard-house , Mr. 
Rivers advocates such entire freedom of air 
after the 1st of July as to recommend the 
No. 34. imperial series. 
“ nailing back ” of the shutters, that “ the men 
calling themselves gardeners ” may not close 
the house in the afternoon. Till this season 
I have implicitly followed these direc¬ 
tions ; but my patience has been tried, 
and my faith in Orchard-houses weakened, 
by the disappointments just narrated. The 
trees evidently did not like exposure to 
the afternoon draughts, and the very cold, 
early mornings of our capricious summers ; 
the copper-coloured aphis kept appearing 
where the lowest temperature prevailed, and 
red-spider by his destructive presence changed 
everything to that peculiar rust which all fruit¬ 
growers so easily recognise. On turning to 
Pearson, I read :—“ As the temperature in¬ 
creases, syringe at four o’clock, and shut the 
house while warm. Why should you lose the 
advantage of the heat that the house has ac¬ 
quired, by giving air—all night, as recom¬ 
mended by some ?” I must not encroach by 
further transcript, but the book (published at 
171, Fleet Street) argues the point well. I at 
Ji 
