September  22.  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
227 
OUTDOOR  FIG  CULTURE. 
According  to  Pliny  the  Fig  was  largely  cultivate'!  by  the  Romans, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  brought  the  Fig  into  Britain, 
cultivating  it  for  the  fruit  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet.  The  variety  grown 
is  considered  to  have  been  Reculver  or  Black  Provence.  But  if  the 
Romans  introduced  the  Fig  into  England  the  probability  is  that  it 
subsequently  disappeared  for  a  time,  as  Cardinal  Pole  is  said  to  have 
brought  several  Fig  trees  from  Italy  in  1525,  and  planted  them  in 
the  Archbishop’s  Palace  gardens  at  Lambeth,  where  they  became 
subjects  of  history. 
In  Britain  the  Fig  tree  is  sometimes  killed  to  the  ground  by  severe 
frosts,  but  becomes  re-established  by  the  p-oduction  of  suckers  from 
the  roots.  In  this  sense  only  can  it  be  termed  hardy  in  this  country, 
for  even  in  some  favoured  localities,  as  regards  soil  and  climatic 
conditions,  the  points  of  the  young  shoots  are  liable  to  be  injured,  and 
sometimes  destroyed,  in  less  severe  winters.  Tn  Sussex,  and  other 
mild  districts  along  the  South  Coast,  however,  the  tree  is  hardy  as  a 
standard,  but  it  does  not  generally  succeed  as  such  further  inland. 
The  most  northerly  situated  trees  I  have  seen  thriving  as  standards 
wero  in  Hertfordshire,  on  gravelly  loam  over  chalk,  and  at  an  elevation 
of  365  to  400  feet  above  sea  level.  The  situation  was  well  sheltered  by 
shrubberies  and  buildings  on  the  east,  north,  and  west  sides,  otherwise 
open,  and  exposed  fully  to  sunlight  and  air.  In  very  severe  winters 
only  were  the  shoots  injured  by  frost,  and  in  most  seasons  the  trees 
produced  full  crops  of  well-ripened  fruit  during  September. 
The  generally  necessary  situation  for  successful  Fig  culture  is  a 
wall  with  a  south-south-east  or  south-west  aspect,  but  even  in  such 
positions  the  shoots  are  liable  to  be  injured  in  severe  winters,  and 
during  very  intense  frosts  killed  to  the  ground  when  unprotected.  In 
localities  as  far  north  as  Redcar  in  Yorkshire,  and  within  the  influence 
of  the  sea,  the  Fig  is  quite  as  hardy  as  in  the  midland  counties,  the 
saline  breezes  from  the  ocean  exercising,  perhaps,  a  hardening  influence 
on  the  growth,  as  well  as  the  climate  being  milder  in  the  winter 
months  than  further  inland.  At  750  feet  above  sea  level,  in  Denbigh¬ 
shire,  North  Wales,  and,  of  course,  many  miles  from  the  Irish  Sea, 
I  have  found  Fig  trees  crop  heavily  year  by  year  on  the  south  walls  of 
buildings,  and  both  where  the  soil  was  a  light  gravelly  loam  over 
gravel  and  a  stiff  strong  loam  incumbent  on  limestone. 
Numerous  other  exceptional  cases  of  successful  outdoor  Fig  culture 
might  be  quoted,  but  sufficient  has  been  given  as  a  prelude  to  the 
many  general  failures  in  cultivating  the  Fig  for  its  fruit  outdoors  in 
Britain.  It  would  be  needless  to  give  quotations,  as  there  are 
certainly  more  barren  than  fruitful  Fig  tre°s  in  evidence  throughout 
the  countrv,  especially  on  garden  walls.  This  cannot  be  referred  to 
defective  climatic  conditions,  as  the  trees  not  only  grow  well  and 
produce  abundance  of  leaves,  but  are  quite  healthy,  and  pass  the 
rigours  of  ordinary  winters  unscathed,  even  where  unprotected.  But, 
as  a  correspondent  says,  “  wood  and  foliage  are  not  all  one  requires  from 
a  Fig  tree.” 
The  Fig  tree  has  handsome  leaves,  and  as  a  bush  or  low  tree,  one 
of  the  noblest  for  a  town  garden.  It  succeeds  in  the  open,  and  under 
favourable  conditions  produces  fruit  abundantly,  either  as  a  bush  or 
standard.  The  conditions  of  success  are  places  where  the  summers 
are  hot,  the  soil  firm,  and  containing  a  large  proportion  of  shattered 
stones,  either  calcareous  or  siliceous,  while  sharp  frosts  are  of  rare 
occurrence.  This  con  hues  the  culture  for  fruit  to  the  situations  already 
named  on  the  South  coast,  and  a  few  places  inland  specially  favoured 
by  Nature  or  made  so  by  Art.  That  there  are  more  of  the  latter  than 
generally  supposed,  the  following  may  be  taken  as  example. 
The  proprietor  of  a  town  garden,  not  very  smoky,  admired  the 
Fig  tree,  Ficus  Carica,  f  >r  its  foliage,  and  said  to  himself  that  the 
profit  would  be  enhanced  if  the  trees  he  saw  in  neighbouring  gardens 
could,  in  similar  examples  in  his,  be  so  provided  for  as  to  be  less  liable 
to  injury  in  severe  winters,  and  in  a  general  run  of  seasons  produce 
useful  fruit.  The  soil  was  naturally  well  drained,  and  the  situation 
hot  and  open  to  the  south.  Nothing  was  done  to  the  land  whatever, 
but  it  was  allowed  to  remain  as  hard  as  it  had  been  made  during 
building  operations,  with  merely  loosening  the  surface.  The  trees  in 
the  neighbouring  gardens  were  noticed  to  make  too  much  wood,  long- 
jointed,  soft,  and  sappy  for  fruit  production,  and  non-resistive  of  frost, 
and  the  mere  circumstance  of  a  generous  soil  made  hard  resulted  in 
fruitfulness. 
But  all  soils  are  not  naturally  suited  for  the  Fig,  some,  as  in  a 
garden  not  far  from  the  one  ju>t  referred  to,  being  of  a  stubborn  nature, 
and  on  a  cold  wet  subsoil.  In  such  case,  and  the  situation  being  warm, 
draining  must  be  carried  out ;  then,  instead  of  trenching  and  manuring, 
remove  the  ameliorated  earth  only,  say  a  foot,  and  place  in  the  excava- 
*  tion  that  depth  of  brickbats  and  mortar  rubbish,  roughest  at  bottom 
and  finest  at  top,  covering  with  at  least  3  inches  thickness  of  old 
mortar  rubbish.  On  this  place  the  soil,  mixed  with  one-sixth  of  old 
mortar  rubbish.  This  will  form  a  mound,  but  flat,  and  on  this  the 
tree  can  be  planted  with  a  certainty  of  producing  fruit  where  other¬ 
wise  the  trees  yield  nothing  but  wood  and  leaves. 
I  he  foregoing  bints  may  be  useful  to  those  admiring  the  Fig  for 
its  foliage,  and  would  like  the  tree  all  the  better  if  it  produced  fruit,  even 
in  the  limited  area  of  a  town  garden.  The  trees  are  then  as  tractable 
as  Gooseberry  bushes,  can  be  lifted  as  required  to  restrain  any  undue 
exuberance,  are  readily  fed  by  manuring  on  the  surface,  and  in  winter 
can  have  the  shoots  tied  together  and  protected  from  severe  frosts.  I 
do  not  know  how  the  early  varieties  would  answer  in  this  way,  my 
experience  beiDg  confined  to  Brown  Turkey,  which  has  very  hand¬ 
some  foliage,  and  produces  abundance  of  large,  handsome,  wholesome 
fruit  under  favourable  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  in  the  open  in 
England. 
Trees. — The  trees  are  raised  in  various  ways — the  best  from 
cuttings  of  short-jointed  growths  of  the  previous  year,  from  6  to 
9  inches  in  length,  and  if  with  a  heel  all  the  better.  All  the  buds  on 
the  part  to  be  inserted  in  the  soil  must  be  extracted,  and  the  cuttings 
affixed  firmly  in  small  pots  of  gritty  soil ;  they  root  freely  either  with 
or  without  heat,  and  soon  form  good  plants.  To  form  bushes  the 
trees  should  be  pinched  at  about  15  inches  from  the  soil,  and  the 
growths  from  the  stem  rubbed  off  to  about  the  height  of  a  foot.  It 
suffices  to  insure  three  shoots  at  the  upper  part,  and  if  these  are  stopped 
at  about  every  fifth  leaf  a  well-formed  head  will  be  secured.  Those 
intended  for  standards  have  the  side  shoots  pinched,  not  rubbed  off, 
the  principle  being  to  secure  a  stout  stem  quite  as  thick  or  thicker  at 
the  lower  part  than  upper,  instead  of  a  weak  low  and  strong  upper  pait, 
as  occurs  when  strong  growth  is  made  without  side  growths.  At  about 
4  feet  in  height  the  head  may  be  originated,  and  the  side  shoots 
gradually  cut  away.  Dwarf  trained  trees  aie  simply  cut  over  at  a  foot 
from  the  ground,  three  growths  encouraged,  the  others  rubbed  off, 
and  the  he*d  formed  fan-fashion. 
The  different  forms  of  trees  are  supplied  by  nurserymen,  and  being 
grown  under  glass  have  thoroughly  sound  foundations,  which  is  of 
consequence  in  enabling  them  to  withstand  severe  frosts.  These 
sometimes,  as  before  stated,  kill  the  trees  to  the  ground.  How  about 
those  with  the  buds  extracted  ?  That  is  a  contingency  I  consider  it 
worse  than  useless  to  provide  against,  for  a  tree  that  is  everlastingly 
pushing  suckers  from  the  roots  never  bears  much  fruit,  hence  I  prefer 
the  clean  stem,  all  the  vigour  in  the  branches,  shoots,  and  fruit,  and  if 
such  thing  happens  as  the  death  of  the  tree,  it  is  better  to  plant  a 
fresh  one  than  to  incur  endless  trouble  in  restricting  suckering  propen¬ 
sities,  and  all  for  nothing  but  wood  and  leaves.  If  the  trees  are  in 
pots  or  borders  of  very  limited  area  the  many-stemmed  tree  may  be 
tolerable,  as  the  very  thing  that  prevents  root  extension  restricts 
sucker  formation,  and  sappy,  long-jointed,  unfruitful  wood. 
Soil. — The  Fig  will  grow  and  produce  grand  foliage  in  almost  any 
soil,  but  it  will  not  bear  fruit  when  the  soil  is  too  rich  and  deficient  in 
siliceous  and  calcareous  matter.  Like  the  Nettle  and  the  Hop  it  loves 
soils  that  contain  at  least  85  per  cent,  of  insoluble  silicates  and  sand, 
represented  by  stones  and  gritty  matter,  not  under  I5  per  cent,  of  lime, 
nor  less  than  3^  per  cent,  of  iron.  All  three  plants  thrive  near 
buildings,  whether  occupied  by  man  or  beast,  because  they  need  the 
nitrate  of  lime  which  is  surely  formed  where  ammonia  is  given  off, 
seized  and  converted  by  microbes  into  nitrate  in  the  presence  of  lime. 
In  practice,  therefore,  we  imitate  Nature,  and  secure  the  best  crops  of 
Figs  outdoors  by  planting  in  a  border  composed  of  loam  and  brick  and 
mortar  rubbish  by  the  side  of  a  hard  walk  into  which  the  roots  can 
scarcely  penetrate.  Thus  we  find  Fig  trees  producing  grand  crops  of 
fruit  against  the  walls  of  castle  and  palace,  with  gravel  piths  almost, 
if  not  quite,  up  to  the  stems;  but  on  the  garden  wall  and  other 
positions,  with  an  unlimited  run  for  the  roots  of  rich  generous  soil,  the 
trees  produce  little  beyond  wood  and  leaves. 
In  no  case  need  the  border  be  wider  than  one-third  the  height  of 
the  wall ;  and  if  the  bottom  be  formed  of  brick-and-mortar  rubbish  or 
chalk  a  foot  thick,  and  on  that  2  feet  in  depth  of  strong  calcareous 
loam  with  flints,  Figs,  under  favourable  climatic  conditions,  will  be 
produced  abundantly.  Outside  the  border  must  be  a  wall  underground, 
not  one  of  bricks  and  border,  but  a  bank  of  rubble  brought  up  from 
the  same  depth  as  the  border  bottom  wide  enough,  if  desired,  for  a 
path,  or  in  any  case  not  less  than  2  feet  wide.  This  cannot  be  too 
hard ;  brick-and-mortar  rubbish  rammed  will  form  a  barrier  to  the 
roots  sideways  whilst  letting  superfluous  or  necessary  water  for  keeping 
moist  to  trickle  either  way.  Good  drainage — that  is,  a  drain  under¬ 
neath  the  rubble— must  be  provided,  with  proper  fall  and  outlet  in 
case  of  a  cold  wet  subsoil,  and  in  some  cases  it  may  be  necessary  to 
concrete  the  bottom  of  the  border. 
Ordinarily  it  will  suffice  to  use  good  loam  with  a  liberal  addition 
of  old  mortar  rubbish  and  road  scrapings,  and  to  put  the  materials 
together  compactly,  always  making  sure  of  efficient  drainage.  Some 
soils  are  naturally  suited  to  the  growth  of  Figs,  of  which  such  as 
sandy,  gravelly,  calcareous  loans.  The  evils  to  avoid  are  too  rich, 
loose  soil,  and  a  wet  substratum.  The  Fig  will,  however,  grow  on 
almost  any  kind  of  soil,  providing  the  summer  temperature  is  high 
enough  to  ripen  the  fruit  and  wood,  and  the  winter  temperature  never 
so  low  as  to  prejudice  the  life  of  the  tree. — G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.) 
