268 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  G,  1898. 
become  bare  or  exceed  their  limits.  A  portion  of  the  growths  may 
be  pinched  to  form  so-called  spurs,  but  only  where  there  is  not  room 
for  extension. 
Winter  Pruning. — This  ought  to  be  performed  as  soon  after  the 
fall  of  the  leaf  as  possible.  Better  practice  is  to  cut  out  all  the  wood 
not  wanted  after  the  fruit  is  gathered,  and  so  give  the  growths  left  the 
benefit  of  the  autumn  sun.  The  wounds  then  made  soon  heal,  and 
branches  of  almost  any  age  may  be  removed  at  any  part,  and  young 
shoots  will  be  produced  quite  freely.  Suckers  proceed  in  large 
quantities  from  the  roots  of  permanent  trees  ;  these  must  be  sup¬ 
pressed,  and  successional  wood  obtained  from  healthy  branches.  The 
suckers,  however,  are  sometimes  left  about  a  foot  apart,  and  these 
form  the  many  stemmed  trees  often  met  with  in  gardens,  and  for  the 
most  part  producing  nothing  but  leaves.  In  winter  pruning  the 
bearing  shoots  are  left  from  12  to  15  inches  distance  apart. 
Summer  Pruning. — The  leaves  of  Fig  trees  are  large,  and  this 
necessitates  keeping  the  branches  and  shoots  sufficiently  far  apart  for 
every  leaf  to  have  a  fair  share  of  light.  An  early  disbudding  of  all 
superfluous  shoots  saves  endless  trouble,  as  many  more  push  in  spring 
than  can  be  allowed  sufficient  space  to  develop,  and  as  there  is  a 
difference  in  the  shoots  select  those  that  are  short  jointed  for  laying 
in,  always  reserving  growths  for  filling  blank  places.  Commence  this 
disbudding  when  the  shoots  are  about  3  inches  long,  and  pursue  it  at 
intervals  up  to  about  the  middle  of  August,  when  the  main  branches 
and  side  shoots  will,  if  the  work  has  been  properly  performed,  have 
every  one  of  their  leaves  exposed  to  the  sun.  Fig  buds  will  then 
form  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  and  the  wood  have  a  chance  to 
become  matured.  Sometimes  there  is  not  room  for  a  long  shoot  to 
be  laid  in  at  full  length,  but  space  for  a  so-called  spur  or  short  shoot 
obtained  by  stopping  at  about  the  sixth  leaf.  These  are  extremely 
useful  for  originating  successional  growths  at  a  future  time,  yet  no 
more  should  be  encouraged  than  can  receive  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun. 
Such  is  the  extension  system  that  I  have  mostly  seen  and  practised. 
It  answers  admirably  when  the  roots  are  in  firm  soil  and  the  rooting 
area  is  limited.  But  there  exists  a  different  mode — the  pinching 
method.  It  may  be  well  to  note  that  a  grower  having  a  difficulty  in 
getting  the  trees  to  retain  the  first  and  only  crop  possible  outdoors 
did  wonders  by  pinching  the  shoots  at  the  fifth  or  sixth  leaf,  rubbing 
off  all  superfluous  growths,  and  when  the  shoots  broke  again  followed 
out  the  disbudding  on  both  the  last  and  current  year’s  wood,  retaining 
only  the  required  growths.  This  certainly  helped  the  Figs,  so  much 
so  that  the  trees  bore  heavy  crops  instead  of  only  a  few  fruits  here  and 
there.  In  a  growing  year  the  points  of  the  once-pinched  shoots  were 
again  stopped  in  August,  this  taking  place  from  the  middle  to  the  end 
of  the  month,  which  certainly  promoted  the  ripening  of  the  fruit  and 
the  maturing  of  the  growth  to  the  tip. 
That  is  one  side  of  the  question,  for  I  have  seen  another  grower 
practise  in  that  way  and  have  nothing  but  waste  and  watery  spray 
for  his  pains.  Exuberance  clearly  cannot  always  be  restrained  by 
pinching,  so  that  system  depends  upon  reciprocity  of  action  between 
roots  and  branches  for  success.  It  is  not  possible  to  force  a  barren 
Fig  tree  into  fertility  by  mere  top  manipulation,  and  the  success  of 
the  pinching  alluded  to  simply  implies  the  art  of  cultivation  directed 
to  the  concentration  of  energy  by  the  tree  on  the  fruit  and  facilitating 
of  the  ripening  of  the  wood  process  by  restricting  late  growth.  Indeed, 
it  is  a  case  analogous  with  that  of  stopping  Vines  to  concentrate  the 
energies  on  the  Grapes,  and  pinching  the  laterals  in  order  to  secure 
plump  pruning  buds.  In  neither  case  will  the  pinching  produce  the 
desired  result  unless  the  trees  are  in  good  condition  at  the  roots,  to 
which  attention  must  be  directed  when  necessary  to  repress  excessive 
vigour  and  induce  fruitfulness. 
Root-pruning  should  be  done  as  soon  as  the  leaves  commence 
falling  or  before.  The  trees  ought  to  be  taken  up,  the  roots  shortened, 
and  then  replanted.  This  is  vague  to  the  inexperienced,  but  the 
experienced  cultivator,  seeing  the  condition  of  the  roots,  is  enabled 
to  act  according  to  the  need,  some  trees  requiring  much  root-pruning, 
others  little.  As  a  rule  the  roots  of  unfruitful  trees  should  be  cut  off 
at  a  distance  of  about  one-third  from  the  stem  the  branches  cover  of 
wall  space,  taking  out  a  trench  as  deeply  as  the  roots.  Then  some  of 
the  soil  may  be  removed  from  amongst  the  roots  towards  the  stem, 
shortening  the  strong  about  one-third,  the  medium  one-fourth,  and  the 
small  left  entire,  but  paring  the  ends  smoothly  where  jagged  at  the 
trench.  Supply  fresh  soil  or  the  old  mixed  with  calcareous  matter, 
and  make  quite  firm  over  the  roots  and  in  the  trench.  The  operation 
in  the  case  of  rich  soils  may  need  repeating  occasionally,  a  trench  being 
taken  out  just  outside  the  first  one,  which,  without  root-pruning,  will 
generally  suffice  to  chock  exuberance  and  unfruitfulness. 
Straight-down  roots  seldom  give  trouble  unless  the  soil  rests  on  an 
unfavourable  subsoil.  On  a  wall  of  10  feet  height  some  Fig  trees  under 
such  conditions  gave  abundant  growth,  not  fruit.  A  trench  was  taken 
out  3  feet  from  and  parallel  with  the  wall,  and  cross  trenches  made 
3  feet  on  each  side  of  each  tree.  From  the  trench  the  soil  was  taken 
out  under  the  tree,  first  18  inches  from  each  end  to  the  wall  2  feet 
from  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  1  foot  in  depth,  and  in  place  of  the 
soil  brick  and  old  mortar  put  in  and  rammed,  afterwards  serving  the 
central  part  the  same  way.  It  was  a  sort  of  underpinning,  such  as  practised 
by  builders  on  bad  foundation  walls,  the  trench  being  filled  with  part  of 
the  old  soil  mixed  with  about  an  equal  proportion  of  brick  and  mortar 
rubbish.  The  Fig  trees  bore  well  afterwards,  though  they  were 
simply  suckers  that  had  sprung  from  the  roots,  the  branches  being 
renewed  from  time  to  time.  This  and  the  preceding  will  give  some 
idea  to  the  uninitiated  as  to  what  rampant  growing  trees  require  to 
render  them  fruitful.  Such  treatment  causes  the  production  of  short, 
stubby,  fruitful  wood. — G.  Abbey. 
CTo  be  concluded.) 
Chrysanthemum  Rust. 
There  seems  to  be  little  doubt  but  that  this  subject  will  engage 
the  attention  of  growers  very  seriously  during  the  present  season.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  N.C.S.,  on  the  26th  ult., 
Mr.  P.  Waterer,  in  giving  his  experience  of  the  matter,  said  that  he 
considered  the  rust  had  taken  a  permanent  hold,  and  would  require 
a  great  deal  of  energy  on  the  part  of  those  concerned  to  eradicate  it, 
and  he  was  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  Committee  should  take  the 
matter  in  hand.  In  this  view  the  Committee  concurred,  and  veiy 
wisely  so,  for  surely  growers  of  the  popular  flower  are  justified  in 
looking  to  the  leading  society  to  do  what  it  can  in  all  such  matters  of 
difficulty,  whether  for  the  benefit  of  members  or  not.  Mr.  Waterer’s 
experience  will  be  embodied  in  a  paper  to  be  read  at  the  Conference, 
but  it  may  be  useful  to  give,  briefly,  a  few  of  his  remarks  at  the 
committee  meeting. 
A  fortnight  previously,  he  told  us,  there  was  not  a  sign  of  the 
disease  on  his  plants,  but  upon  a  subsequent  examination  he  discovered 
many  of  them  were  infected.  Lime  and  sulphur  were  applied,  and 
then  a  week  later  he  found  not  a  single  plant  had  escaped,  with 
the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Davis  and  Carnot  families.  In  every 
instance  the  rust  seemed  to  originate  in  the  texture  of  the  leaf. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  Mr.  Waterer  repudiated  the 
suggestion  that  his  plants  had  been  overwatered  or  neglected.  The 
disease  did  not  appear  more  on  weak  plants  than  on  strong  ones,  nor 
was  it  to  be  found  more  on  new  varieties  than  on  old.  Old  stools 
planted  out  for  the  purposes  of  supplying  cuttings  seem  to  have* 
escaped,  as  also  did  the  early  flowering  varieties.  No  doubt  this  and 
much  more  information  will  be  elaborated  in  the  paper  Mr.  Waterer 
will  read  at  the  Conference,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  when  the 
practical  and  the  scientific  aspects  have  been  fully  discussed,  that 
some  effective  remedy  will  be  forthcoming. 
Curiously  enough  the  French  N.C.S.,  although  a  very  young 
society,  has  already  dealt  with  the  subject  of  Chrysanthemum  diseases, 
both  of  animal  and  vegetable  origin.  M.  Chifflot,  of  the  Lyons 
Faculty  of  Science,  at  the  Orleans  Conference  last  year,  read  a  paper 
describing  the  whole  series  known  to  him,  and  this  with  illustrations 
explanatory  of  the  text  has  been  published  under  the  auspices  of 
that  Society,  first  in  its  journal,  and  since  then  in  a  semrate  pamphlet. 
— C.  H.  P. 
[We  have  received  numbers  of  specimens  of  “rust”  infested 
Chrysanthemums,  and  almost,  if  not  entirely,  in  every  instance  the 
most  luxuriant  growths  were  the  most  seriously  infested.  We  have 
published  microscopical  illustrations  of  the  rust  fungus  on  page  381 
of  our  issue  of  October  21st,  1897,  from  Mr.  G.  Abbey,  who  has 
explained  its  history  and  working.  The  subject  will  be  referred  to 
again  in  the  hope  of  assisting  in  the  suppression  of  a  great  scourge. 
The  secret  of  success  in  combating  the  insidious  invader  rests  in 
timely  preventive  measures,  as  when  once  the  fungus  becomes  deeply 
seated  in  the  tissues  of  the  leaves,  it  is  practically  beyond  the  reach 
of  external  applications.  Sulphur  and  lime  are  of  small  avail  in 
arresting  its  progress,  as  Mr.  Waterer  has  shown,  and  up  to  the 
present  time  nothing  has  been  discovered  more  effectual  for  preventing, 
and  by  prompt  and  widely  exercised  action,  in  subduing  the  enemy 
than  Bordeaux  mixture  and  sulphide  of  potassium  (liver  of  sulphur). 
In  some  instances  which  have  come  to  our  notice,  sulphate  of 
potassium  (which  is  useless  for  the  purpose  in  view)  has  been  sup¬ 
plied  by  chemists  instead  of  the  sulphide,  and  growers  should  be  careful 
to  obtain  the  genuine  article.] 
