242 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
September  29,  1898. 
For  Dwarf  Trees  or  Bushes.— Early  Violet,  Angelique,  Black 
Provence  or  Marseilles,  Black  Ischia,  and  Dwarf  Prolific.  If  one  only, 
Brown  Turkey. 
Standards  are  simply  bushes  with  long  stems,  planted  15  feet  apart 
in  rows  IS  leet  asunder.  Bushes^  have  stems  12  to  18  inches  high, 
and  should  be  lifted  and  root-pruned  to  keep  them  sturdy  and 
fruitful.  Half-standards,  or  trees  with  2  leet  3  inches  stems  are 
fine  for  warm  sites,  even  in  town  gardens.  They  must  be  lifted 
annually  during  the  first  fortnight  of  November  with  a  ball,  and  may 
be  ‘placed  in  a  shed  or — as  suggested  by  the  late  Mr.  Thos.  Pavers — 
cellar,  safe  from  severe  frost  for  the  roots.  These  must  not  be  allowed 
to  become  too  dry.  The  trees  can  be  placed  in  their  fruiting  quarters 
early  in  May,  and  will  ripen  a  crop  of  fruit  in  September.  Such  trees 
are  charming  in  foliage,  and  thrive  in  London  as  well  as  southern  and 
south-eastern  towns. 
Fan-trained  trees  should  be  planted  12  to  15  feet  apart  against 
walls  of  10  to  12  feet  in  height.  Against  buildings  or  high  walls  the 
trees  may  be  placed  9  to  12  feet  asunder.  The  strong  growing  varie¬ 
ties,  such  as  Brunswick,  will  cover  a  large  area  of  wall,  and  must  be 
allowed  space  accordingly  ;  but  it  is  generally  undesirable  to  place  the 
trees  a  great  distance  apart,  as  they  are  liable  to  be  injured  by  frost, 
and  may  thus  need  cutting  back  occasionally. 
Planting. 
The  border  or  soil  should  be  prepared  some  time  in  advance  of 
planting  to  allow  of  settling.  Though  the  trees  may  be  planted  in  the 
autumn,  April  is  better,  but  before  they  are  much  advanced  in  growth, 
so  as  to  disentangle  the  roots  and  spread  them  out  evenly,  otherwise 
the  root  base  retains  the  corkscrew-like  formation  given  through 
growing  in  pots.  The  uppermost  mots  should  not  be  buried  more 
than  a  couple  of  inches,  making  the  soil  firm  under  and  over  them. 
If  dry  give  a  good  watering,  and  mulch  over  the  roots  with  short 
manure  to  the  extent  of  1  foot  beyond  their  spread  from  the  stem. 
Training  Fan-shape. 
Tiees  received  from  nurseries  for  covering  walls  may  have  several 
shoots.  Aim  at  a  clean  stem,  with  three  to  five  shoots  radiating  from 
it,  evenly  disposed  and  spread  out  like  the  ribs  of  a  fan.  It  will 
seldom  be  necessary  to  cut  back  the  central  growth,  but  this  may  be 
done  to  about  a  foot  if  more  than  that  length.  This  will  cause  it  to 
push  thiee  or  more  growths,  of  which  take  one  upright,  one  on  each 
side  at  an  angle  of  about  45°,  rubbing  off  the  other  shoots,  and  when 
th  leading  growth  has  made  six  good  leaves,  pinch  off  its  point. 
This  gives  rise  to  three  shoots  and  strengthens  the  base.  Train  one 
growth  upright  and  one  on  each  side  similar  to  the  early  summer 
shoots,  rubbing  off  all  foreright  and  other  growths. 
The  side  branches  of  the  preceding  )  ear,  whether  two  or  four,  may 
push  several  shoots  each.  Train  one  forward  in  continuation,  and  one 
or  two  of  the  others,  so  as  to  cover  the  space  evenly,  having  a  foot 
of  space  between  them.  At  the  sixth  good  leaf  the  continuation 
growl  h  of  each  side  branch  may  be  pinched,  and  also  the  points  taken 
out  of  the  side  shoots  at  that  distance,  but  the  depressed  branches 
seldom  grow  as  strongly  as  the  upright,  and  push  growths  all  along 
down  to  the  base,  so  that  there  is  less  need  of  pinching.  Disbudding, 
however,  is  generally  more  necessary  than  pinching,  no  greater  mistake 
being  made  than  laying  all  the  growths  in,  and  ultimately  so  crowding 
the  branches  at  the  lower  part  of  the  tree  as  to  prevent  the  origination" 
except  from  the  rootstock,  of  successional  wood.  Bub  off  some  of  the 
shoots  to  avoid  overcrowding  in  any  part  of  the  tree. 
The  procedure  of  one  year  applies  to  every  succeeding  season  until 
the  space  has  been  covered,  but  after  the  second  or  third  year  of 
training  such  foundation  will  have  been  laid  that  it  will  seldom  bo 
necessary  to  shorten  the  branches,  as  sufficient  growths  will  start  to 
cover  the  wall  space.  Over  this  the  main  branches,  and  those  required 
for  furnishing  the  tree,  should  be  thinly  disposed,  then  it  may  be 
possible  to  secure  fruit,  but  not  when  the  wall  is  covered  by  a  thicket 
of  wood  and  numerous  suckers  springing  from  the  root.  The  Fig 
requires  light  down  to  the  base  of  each  growth,  then  every  leaf  will 
perform  its  functions,  and  fruit  follow. 
Mode  of  Bearing. 
Fig  production  differs  from  that  of  fruit  on  most  other  trees.  A 
tree  will  bear  two  and  even  three  crops  in  one  season.  The  first  crop 
of  each  year  is  borne  on  the  wood  of  the  previous  year’s  formation.  The 
fruits  are  produced  one  or  two  together  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves, 
being  formed  along  the  shoots  as  the  growth  proceeds,  and  only  those 
on  the  new  or  recently  ripened  wood  come  to  maturity.  It  will  thus 
be  understood  that  the  points  of  the  shoots  must  be  preserved  when 
pruning.  The  flowers  of  the  Fig  are  unisexual,  and  produced  inside 
the  fleshy  receptacle,  which  is  almost  closed  at  the  summit.  The 
female  flowers  are  most  numerous,  and  located  at  the  lower  and  greater 
part  of  the  receptacle  inside,  the  male  organs  being  uppermost,  and 
on  their  development  appears  to  depend  the  swelling  and  ripening  of 
the  fruit. 
The  first  crop  ripens  in  August  and  September,  but  the 
crop,  though  the  fruits  become  large,  and  remain  on  the  trees  after 
the  leaves  fall,  rarely  ripen  in  this  country.  Where  I  got  my  first 
lesson  in  Fig  culture  they  were  jealously  guarded  in  order  to  secure  a 
few  ripe  fruits  in  June,  but  this  occurred  very  seldom,  most  of  those 
of  large  size  remaining  on,  falling  with  the  rest  of  the  second  crop 
Figs  early  in  the  autumn.  When  these  were  removed  at  the  end  of 
the  summer,  after  the  first  crop  was  cleared,  by  careful  pinching  other 
later  ones  formed  by  the  side,  and  these,  with  those  produced  nearer 
the  points  of  the  shoots,  remain  dormant  until  the  tree  starts  the 
following  season,  and  then,  as  before  stated,  develop  into  the  Figs 
constituting  the  first  crop. — G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.) 
A  HOLIDAY  REMINISCENCE. 
The  longer  evenings,  and  the  settling  down  after  the  holidays, 
give  us — when  we  have  gathered  up  the  threads  of  professional  duties, 
and  things  generally  are  falling  into  order — an  opportunity  to  develop 
some  of  the  mentagraphs,  or  mind  pictures,  which  were  struck  off 
during  our  holiday  outings.  These  mental  pictures  are  many  with 
every  true  gardener,  because  observation,  close,  keen,  and  critical,  is 
such  a  life-habit  with  him  that,  involuntarily,  he  takes  in  scenes  and 
things,  wholly  and  in  detail,  more  than  most  other  men.  Especially 
is  this  so  of  things  of  his  profession,  whether  it  be  some  practical  idea 
which  he  can  work  out  at  once  in  his  daily  duties,  or  only  the  germ  of 
an  idea,  which  is  stored  away  to  come  up,  matured  by  being  kept  and 
looked  at  nowand  then,  ripe  for  use  when  wanted.  All  are  there; 
and,  I  say,  the  longer  evenings  help  materially  to  put  into  form  these 
pictures  of  observation. 
One  of  these  pictures  has  been  developing  in  my  mind  ever  since 
my  holiday  in  August.  For  some  years  past  my  holiday  week  has 
been  spent  in  Salop — glorious  and  beautiful  Salop.  Family  ties  have, 
in  the  first  place,  drawn  me  thither,  with,  of  course,  Mrs.  Provincial, 
but  the  great  Shrewsbury  Show  in  August  is  really  the  chief  and 
most  powerful  magnet  to  draw  me  to  the  county  and  the  county  town. 
I  must  confess  this.  I  could  not  keep  away  from  it  if  I  wanted,  but 
then  I  do  not  want.  Indeed,  I  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  any  gardener 
who  has  once  seen  that  grand  show,  in  that  ideal  show  place,  the 
beautiful  Quarry  grounds,  will  want  to  see  it  again,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  attractiveness  of  the  quaint  old  town.  Not  irreverently  do  I  quote 
Dr.  Watts,  “  I  have  been  there,  and  still  would  go,”  and  so  powerful 
is  the  attraction  to  me  that  no  sooner  have  I  got  back  home  than  I 
begin  to  look  forward  to  the  next  show  in  the  coming  year. 
The  show,  as  a  show,  is  now  “ancient  history.”  Its  description 
was  so  well  done  bv  “  H.  D.,’’  in  our  Journal,  that  there  does  not 
need  one  word  adding.  At  least,  I  am  not  going  to  add  any,  except 
in  one  matter,  and  that  is  as  to  the  scene  of  the  gathering  of  notable 
gardeners  round  the  Secretary’s  tent  in  the  show  grounds  on  the  first 
day  of  the  show,  just  before  and  after  judging,  and  at  the  luncheon. 
Before  judging  there  are  the  cheery  salutations  and  introductions,  the 
handshakings,  the  comparing  of  ideas  on  all  sorts  of  gardening 
subjects,  the  merry  banter  of  friend  and  friend  ;  and  after  the  judging 
is  over,  the  animated  discussions  on  the  merits  of  the  show  and  its 
prominent  characteristics,  the  interchange  of  thoughts  one  with 
another  on  special  points,  all  done  with  earnestness  and  intelligence, 
make  up  a  delightful  scene,  and  one  once  seen  never  to  be  forgotten. 
In  no  part  of  the  kingdom  surely  is  such  a  representative  body  of 
gardeners  brought  together  as  judges  as  assembles  round  the  Secre¬ 
tary’s  tent  at  Shrewsbury.  Let  us  look  at  them.  Not  that  he  would 
wish  it  we  know,  but  I  begin  with  Owen  Thomas,  the  Queen’s 
gardener,  because  he  is  the  Queen’s  gardener,  and  worthily  so.  Then 
there  are  the  three  ducal  gardeners — Barnes  of  Eaton,  Blair  of  Trentham, 
and  Slade  of  Clumber.  After  these  we  will  put  the  lordly  gardeners — 
Speed  of  Penrhyn  Castle,  Crump  of  Madresfield  Court,  Miller  of  Combe 
Abbey,  Lambert  of  Powis  Castle,  and  Pearson  of  Attingham.  Then 
(and  here  I  ought  to  apologise  for  not  putting  these  first  on  these  pages) 
there  are  the  literary  gardeners — our  Editor,  John  Wright ;  and  with 
him  -we  put  Alexander  Dean,  the  initials  of  whose  name  are  familiar 
to  us  all  in  the  serial  literature  of  gardening.  Then  a  pleasant  sight  it 
is  to  see  the  past  and  present  Superintendents  of  Chiswick,  A.  F.  Barron 
and  S.  T.  Wright.  An  interesting  group  is  formed  by  what  we  may 
call  the  trade  gardeners — Ward  of  Rayleigh,  Outram  of  London, 
Ranger  of  Liverpool,  and  Dunkin  of  Leicester ;  and  last,  the  squires’ 
gardeners — Hudson  of  Gunnersbury,  Wallis  of  Keele,  Pownall  of 
Lenton,  Milner  of  Penrice  Castle,  Bremmell  of  Overley,  Newman  of 
Condover,  and  Farrant  of  Shrewsbury,  with  the  naturalist  gentlemen 
of  the  town  and  neighbourhood  who  judge  the  wild  flowers. 
All  this,  with  the  activities  of  the  Secretary’s  tent,  and  the  flitting 
about  of  the  Society’s  officers,  makes  up  a  scene  wonderful,  inspiring, 
and  ever  delightful ;  a  mental  picture  which  comes  to  me  again  and 
again.  So  interesting,  indeed,  is  it,  and  so  enjoyable,  that  I  thought 
I  would  try  to  put  it  into  words  that  others  might  eojoy  it  also. — 
An  Old  Provincial. 
