292 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  2,  1903. 
Fruit  Prospects  :  The  Critical  Time. 
The  gardeners  of  Britain  have  had  so  many  bitter  experiences 
of  too  forward  seasons  that  they  are  always  sceptical  as  to  the 
nltiniate  results  when  bursts  of  glorious  weather  occur  during 
February  and  March.  A  painful  picture  of  fruit  prosiiects 
ruined  at  blossoming  time  inevitably  rises  to  the  mind’s  eye  when 
vegetation  is  in  advance  of  a  normal  season,  and  on  such  grounds 
grave  fears  must  be  entertained  this  year,  as  nearly  everything 
in  the  open  air  seems  some  weeks  in  advance  of  recent'  years. 
Fortunately,  the  unexpected  often  happens  in  connection  with 
our  British  olimate,  and  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  an 
early  season  means  a  short  crop  ;  indeed,  if  the  frost  keeps  away 
at  the  critical  times  early  seasons  have  great  advantages,  as  all 
kinds  of  produce  are  grown  under  favourable  conditions,  and  an 
early  season  is  usually  a  long  season. 
At  the  time  of  writing  (March  21)  vegetation  has  suffered  hut 
little  on  account  of  its  earliness,  and  prospects  look  fairly  bright. 
The  critical  time,  however,  has  arrived,  for  Plums  and  Pears  are 
already  unfolding  their  flowers,  and  it  behoves  cultivators  to  do 
all  they  possibly  can  to  preserve  fruit  blossoms  from  injury.  In 
many  private  gardens  a  regular  system  of  protecting  the  blossoms 
of  the  choicer  kinds  of  fruit  trees  is  followed,  but  when  hardy 
fruits  are  grown  on  a  large  scale  but  little,  if  anything,  is,  as  a 
rule,  done  to  prevent  disaster.  The  American  system  of 
enveloping  trees  in  smoke  from  smoke  fires  is  certainly  worthy 
of  being  carefully  and  thoroughly  tested  in  this  country,  because 
it  is  the  simplest  of  all  methods  of  preventing  loss  of  heat,  and 
if  the  results  achieved  are  generally  as  satisfactory  as  some  claim 
them  to  be,  the  practice  ought  to  become  a.  univereal  one,  for  the 
greatest  problem  in  fruit  culture  may  by  such  means  be  solved. 
I  know  of  one  grower  who  has  followed  the  plan  for  several 
years,  and  he  is  so  well  satisfied  with  the  results  that  he  intends 
to  watch  and  practise  it  every  year  when  necessarjn  In  his  ca.se, 
large  heaps  of  rubbish,  consisting  of  prunings  and  garden  refuse, 
are  arranged  ai’ound  the  outside  of  the  plantation.  Should  there 
be  unmistakeable  signs  of  a  sharp  frost  while  the  trees  are  in 
flower,  some  of  the  heaps  are  set  ablaze  early  in  the  evening,  and 
when  well  alight,  covered  on  the  outside  with  adittle  soil,  and 
later  in  the  evening  an  additional  layer  of  soil,  is  added.  This 
usually  keeps  the  fires  burning  stea'Clily  thraughout  the  night, 
and  creating  abundance  of  smoke  rather  than  flame. 
In  the  case  of  small  fruit  plots  it  seems  to  me  that  a  few  old 
zinc  buckets,  with  holes  in  the  bottom,  might  be  pressed  into 
sei'vice  for  burning  slack  coal,  Avhich,  as  a  rule,  can  be  relied  upon 
to  smoke  furiou.sly  for  several  hour.s. 
“  Journal  ”  readers  who  have  already  experimented  in  the 
above  directions  would  be  doing  good  service  by  I'ecording  the 
result  of  their  endeavours. 
I  fear  there  will  not  be  a  great  wealth  of  blo.ssom  on  fruit 
trees  genei’ally  this  year,  as  the  sunless  weather  of  the  past 
summer  scarcely  ripened  the  wood  sufflcientlj^.  In  some  districts, 
where  the  soil  is  not  pai’ticularly  deep  or  rich.  Plums  are  flowering 
profusely,  but  in  others,  where  the  soil  is  deep,  I  have  recently 
noticed  numbers  of  trees  with  scarcely  any  bloom  or  blossom 
buds,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  bore  but  little  fruit 
last  year. — H.  D. 
Figs  :  Earliest  Forced  Trees  in  Petes. 
The  very  early  varieties,  St.  John’s  and  Eaidy  Violet,  that 
were  started  in  bottom  heat  last  November  or  beginning  of 
December,  are  now  showing  signs  of  taking  the  last  swelling  for 
ripening,  and  are  closely  followed  by  Angelicpie,  Black  Mar¬ 
seilles,  Brown  Ischia  and  White  Ischia.  Brown  Turkey,  Dwarf 
Prolific,  Negro  Largo,  and  White  Marseilles,  however,  are  still 
stationary.  They  must  not  be  hurried,  as  this  is  the  most 
critical  time  in  Fig  culture,  checks  of  any  kind  causing  the  fruit 
to  fall,  and  this  must  be  carefully  guarded  against  by  maintain¬ 
ing  an  equable  temperature,  making  the  most  of  fine  days  for 
giving  air,  and  closing  early  so  as  to  secure  safe  advancement. 
After  the  fruit  gives  indications  of  ripening  w^ater  must  be  with¬ 
held;  yet,  thougli  less  water  at  the  roots  is  necessary,  there 
must  not  bo  anything  like  dryness  in  the  soil.  Until  the  fruit 
changes  for  ripening  the  trees  must  bo  well  supplied  with  liquid 
manure,  giving  the  whole  rooting  area  a  thorough  supply,  and 
the  trees  safely  passed  the  flowering  stage  a  thorough  soaking 
of  water  a  few  degrees  warmer  than  the  bed  acts  like  a  charm 
on  Fig  tree  roots,  e, specially  when  a  light  mulching  is  .supplied 
of  sweetened  lumpy  manure,  as  thi.s  absorbs  moisture  when  the 
trees  are  syringed,  and  the  changes  it  undergoes  attract  the 
rcot.“,  V  hilst  a  genial  vapour  is  given  off  highly  favourable  to  the 
foliage.  Syringe  twice  on  fine  days,  once  a  day  when  the  weather 
is  dull,  always  giving  the  .second  syringing  in  time  for  the  foliage 
to  become  fairly  dry  before  night.  Alaintain  a  night  temperature 
of  G5deg  in  mild  weather,  70deg  to  7odeg  by  day,  and  with  sun 
secure  a  heat  ranging  from  75deg  to  85deg,  closing  early,  so  as  to 
raise  it  to  90deg  or  more,  as  Figs  swell  be.st  with  abundance  of 
heat,  moisture,  and  light,  full  exposure  to  sun.shine  beiiig  abso¬ 
lutely  essential  to  secure  high  quality.  Stop  side  shoots  at  the 
fourth  or  fifth  leaf,  not  allowing  them  to  become  crowded.  Then, 
when  needed,  train  terminals  forward  where  space  remains  un¬ 
filled,  and  it  can  be  done  without  shading  the  fruit. 
Late  Houses  of  Figs. 
Very  fine  Figs  are  grown  in  houses  with  a  south  aspect,  even 
when  unheated.  The  trees  .should  be  trained  down  rather  than 
up  the  roof,  as  the  fruits  then  always  face  the  sun,  and  are'  sturdy 
and  fruitful  in  consequence.  Brunswick  and  Negro  Largo,  both 
strong  growers  and  bearing  grand  fruit,  do  well  under  such  treat¬ 
ment,  planting  them  at  the  back  of  the  house,  training  the  plants 
with  single  stems  up  the  back  wall  of  a  lean-to,  and  the  fruiting 
branches  disposed  down  the  roof  on  a  trellis  about  16in  from  the 
glass.  In  that  form  it  is  questionable  if  there  are  two  finer  Figs 
for  cool  hou.ses.  Black  Genoa  also  affording  enormous  fruit  of 
highest  quality,  a  good  companion  being  Gros.se  Verte>,  and 
Violette  Geper  has  very  large  dark-fleshed  fruits.  For  general 
purposes  Brown  Turkey  or  Dwarf  Prolific  stajids  unrivalled,  White 
IVIarseilles  being  a  fine,  large,  roundi.sh  fruit,  and  freely  pro¬ 
duced  where  there  is  room.  Grizzly  Bourjassote  is  the  most  con¬ 
stant  for  delicious  flavour,  and  ought  to  have  a  heated  house. 
For  late  supplie.s,  Negro  Largo,  Nubian,  and  Agen  are  excellent, 
but  the.se  must  have  heat  to  ripen  the  late  fruits  pert'ectly.  The 
grand  secret  in  growing  Figs  is  plenty  of  light  and  heat,  and  the 
principal  points  in  their  culture  consist  in  keeping  the  growths 
thin,  their  points  always  facing  the  light,  and  when  growing  afford 
generous  treatment . — Guower . 
Melons. 
Stout  leathery  leaves,  .short-jointed  growths,  usually  produce 
heavy,  high-flavoured  fruit,  their  thin  foliage  and  long-jointed 
wood  produce  the  exact  opposite,  solidification  being  essential  to 
fertility.  No  effort  should  be  spared  to  get  fruit  set  on  the  first 
laterals.  When  in  flower,  and  during  the  setting  period,  water 
should  only  be  given  to  prevent  flagging,  and  the  atmosphere 
must  be  kept  drier,  with  an  increase  of  temperature  of  about 
odeg,  a  circulation  of  warm  air  conducing  to  a  good!  set.,  and  if 
necessary  a  little  air  should  be  admitted  at  night  to  prevent 
the  deposition  of  moisture  on  the'  flowers.  Fertilise  the  blossoms 
every  day,  pinching  each  growth  at  the  same  time  one  joint 
beyond  the  fruit.  When  the  fruits  are  set  and  about  the  size 
of  a  hen’s  egg  give  a  thorough  watering  with  tepid  liquid  manure, 
having  the  soil  for  earthing  warmed,  for  if  the  roots  are  chilled 
by  cold  water  in  soil,  the  fruits  turn  yellow  instead  of  swelling. 
In  a  day  or  two  after  watering  top-dress  with  rich,  turfy,  rather 
strong  loam,  pressing  it  down  somewhat  firmly,  and  again  supply 
water.  Stop  the  subsequent  growths  to  one  or  two  leaves,  and 
avoid  overcrowding  the  foliage  by  removing  superfluous  growths. 
The  bottom  heat  should  be  kept  .steady  at  80deg  to  85deg.  This 
assists  the  swelling  of  the  fruits,  and  speedy  growth  with  early 
ripening  is  a  great  point  in  growing  the  first  crop  of  Melons. 
The  night  temperature  may  stand  at  65deg  to  70deg  70deg  to 
75deg  by  dary  from  artificial  means,  ventilating  from  that  point, 
but  allowing  an  advance  to  8odeg  or  90deg,  and  closing  sufficiently 
early  to  rise  to  90deg  or  lOOdeg. 
Syringe  'Inoderately  about  three  p.m.  in  bright  and  warm 
afternoons,  or  soon  after  midday  when  the  air  is  shaiqj.  Damp 
the  floor  in  the  morning,  and  keep  the  evaporation  trough.s 
charged  with  liquid  manure,  or  failing  these  sprinkle  the  floor 
with  stable  drainings  cliluted  with  five  times  the  bulk  of  water, 
unless  sufficiently  diluted  by  washings  running  into,  the  tank. 
Liquid  manure  will  he  needed  by  plants  in  restricted  borders, 
and  a  mulching  of  rather  lumpy  and  sweet  manure  encourages 
roots,  and  affords  .support.  Water,  liquid  manure,  and  mulching 
must  always  be  supplied  equal  to  or  in  advance  of  the  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  houses. 
Later  plants  will  need  the  growths  trained  regularly,  remov¬ 
ing  the  laterals  on  the  .stem  up  to  the  trellis,  then  rubbing  off 
every  alternate  lateral  directly  thej'  are  perceived,  leaving  the 
rest  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  main  stem,  pinching  the  fruit 
out  of  the  primary  stem  after  it  has  extended  two-thirds  of  the 
required  distance.  Increase  the  supply  of  water  as  the  days 
lengthen,  but  avoid  making  the  soil  too  wet,  as  that  hinders  root 
action,  and  .secure  a  genial  condition  of  the  atmo.'^phere  hy  damp¬ 
ing  in  the  morning  and  lightly  syringing  on  fine  afternoons. 
Sow  seeds  to  raise  plants  for  occupying  small  houses  or  pit  s 
as  they  become  cleared  of  bedding  plants,  keeping  the  plants 
near  the  glass  so  as  to  secure  a  sturdy  habit,  and  not  allowing 
them  to  become  very  much  rO'Ot-bound.  In  pit'S  and  frames  a 
bottom  heat  of  80deg  should  be  maintained  in  order  to  ensure 
steady  progre.ssive  growth.  Newly-made  beds  will  have  a  bottom 
heat  of  90deg,  which  is  safe  for  planting  out.  and  as  the  heat 
declines  it  can  be  inorea.sed  by  linings  renewed  as  required,  .em¬ 
ploying  thick  night  coverings  over  the  lights. — G.  A. 
