35 
July  10,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTA  IE  GARDENER. 
The  Begonias 
from  Messrs. 
Blackmore  and 
Langdon,  Twer- 
ton  Hill  Nursery, 
Twer  ton -on- 
Avon,  Bath,  were 
of  exceptionally 
high  quality.  The 
strain  is  certain¬ 
ly  a  superior  one 
of  good  habit,  and 
the  culture  given 
to  the  plants  had 
resulted  in  large 
flowers  of  the 
best  shape.  The 
illustration  on 
page  37  will  testi¬ 
fy  to  these  re¬ 
marks.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  their  finer 
varieties  were 
noted  as  follows: 
Captain  Hender¬ 
son,  a  very  hand¬ 
some  scarlet  ; 
Lady  Wilmot, 
dark  crimson, 
flowers  some¬ 
times  6ins  in 
diameter  ;  Mrs. 
Kendall,  rose- 
blush;  Mrs.  G. 
F.  Hodder,a  very 
attractive  pink, 
with  a  lighter 
centre  ;  Ophelia, 
cjjimson ;  Seagull, 
spotless  white  ; 
and  Sunset, 
orange  -  scarlet  ; 
all  of  which  are 
double  -  flowered 
tuberous  Be¬ 
gonias.  As  a 
general  rule,  single  flowers  are  preferred,  on  the  grounds  of  graceful¬ 
ness  and  beauty-character,  to  double  ones  ;  but  there  are  exceptions, 
and  double  tuberous  Begonias  give  an  instance.  Here  the  flowei  s  are 
full  and  rich,  having  something  “  to  look  at,”  rivalling  in  their  best 
forms  even  the  Roses. 
Early  Forced  Fig  Trees. 
Second  Crops. — The  fruits  on  early  forced  trees  have  now 
swelled  to  a  good  size,  and,  being  judiciously  thinned,  there  will 
be  a  crop  of  good  Figs  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  summer. 
To  insure  this  the  foliage  must  be  kept  free  from  insects  and  the 
feeding  liberal.  When  the  crop  is  heavy  and  the  former  thinning 
not  having  been  sufficient,  a  second  thinning  should  take  place 
at  once,  leaving  the  most  forward  at  the  base  of  the  shoots, 
which  will  ripen  earlier  than  the  others,  and  so  afford  more  time 
for  the  ripening  of  the  shoots  at  their  points,  these  being  kept 
well  up  to  the  light.  Early  forced  planted-out  trees  should  have 
the  young  wood  ripened  and  be  resting  by  the  middle  of  October. 
Watering  and  Feeding.— If  the  borders  in  the  house  started 
at  the  new  year  have  become  dry  whilst  the  first  crop  of  fruit 
was  ripening,  they  must  be  watered  repeatedly  until  the  soil  is 
properly  moistened  through  to  the  drainage.  Liquid  manure  will 
be  required  by  trees  having  the  roots  in  borders  of  limited 
extent,  and  more  frequently  than  by  trees  with  a  large  extent  of 
rooting  area ;  about  once  a  week  in  the  first  case  and  every  fort¬ 
night  in  the  other,  giving  thorough  supplies,  and  always  in  a 
tepid  state.  Top-dressings  of  fertilisers  may  be  given  at  intervals 
of  three  weeks  or  a  month,  always  after  watering,  and  then 
washing  in  moderately.  A  light  mulching  is  beneficial  in  supply¬ 
ing  nutriment,  keeping  the  soil  moist,  and  encouraging  surface 
roots,  but  it  should  be  kept  moist  by  sprinkling  when 
it  becomes  dry. 
Syringing  and  Insects. — Syringe  the  trees  twioe  a  day, 
except  in  dull,  wet  weather,  when  morning  or  early  afternoon 
syringing  will  be  sufficient,  and  always  early  enough  to  allow  the 
foliage  to  become  dry  before  night.  Judicious  and  forcible 
syringings  are  usually  sufficient  to  keep  down  red  spider,  but 
if  it  and  scale  gains  a'  footing  they  must  be  dislodged  by  the  use 
of  an  insecticide,  for  which  the  carbolic  acid  and  petroleum  soft- 
soaps  are  effective.  Old  scale  must  be  dislodged  by  a  brush. 
Painting  the  hot -water  pipes  with  a  cream  formed  of  flowers  of 
sulphur  and  skim  milk,  after  heating  them  to  IGOdeg  to  200  deg, 
keeping  the  house  closed  for  an  hour  or  two  with  the  sulphur  on 
the  pipes,  is  an  effectual  remedy  for  red  spider  and  a  good  pre¬ 
ventive  of  spotting  in  the  fruit  from  attacks  of  fungus.  The 
foliage  should  be  dry,  and  the  following  morning  the  trees  should 
be  well  syringed.  Repeat  the  heating  of  the  pipes  and  brushing 
them  with  sulphur  in  about  ten  days. 
Temperature  and  Ventilation. — Unless  the  weather  be 
unusually  cold  and  wet  artificial  heat  will  not  be  necessary,  but 
fire  heat  must  be  afforded  to  maintain  a  temperature  of  GOdeg 
to  65deg  at  night  and  70deg  to  75deg  by  day.  Ventilate  early 
on  fine  mornings.  Keep  the  house  through  the  day  at  80deg 
to  85deg  with  sun  heat,  and  close  early  so  as  to  run  up  to  85deg 
or  90deg,  or  even  95deg  to  lOOdeg,  providing  abundance  of  atmo¬ 
spheric  moisture. 
Fruit  Ripening. — When  the  Figs  change  colour  afford  more 
air,  insuring  a  circulation.  Reduce  the  moisture  gradually,  keep¬ 
ing  water  from  the  fruit,  which  expose  as  much  as  possible  to  light 
and  air.  Lessened  supplies  of  water  tell  in  favour  of  quality,  yet 
keep  the  soil  moist,  damping  the  surface  occasionally. 
Trees  Swelling  their  Crops. — Afford  a  light  mulching  of 
short  manure,  and  through  this  supply  tepid  water,  or  in  the 
case  of  trees  carrying  heavy  crops  and  not  over-luxuriant,  liquid 
manure  with  alternate  dressings  of  artificial  manures.  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  overfeed  Fig  trees  in  well-drained,  properly 
constructed,  narrow  borders,  but  deep  borders  and  wide  favour 
growth  at  the  '  expense  of  fruitfulness.  The  trees  grow 
splendidly  and  produce  little  beyond  leaves.  In  fine  weather 
syringe  twice  a  day,  always  in  good  time,  and  close  so  as  to  run 
up  to  90deg,  9odeg,  or  lOOdeg.  As  the  fruit  approaches  ripen¬ 
ing  provide  a  little  ventilation  before  nightfall  and  let  it 
remain,  increasing  it  early  so  as  to  dissipate  moisture  deposited 
on  the  foliage  during  the  night  before  the  sun  acts  powerfully 
on  the  house. 
Grand  Figs  are  grown  in  cool  houses,  one  crop  ripening  in 
August  and  September.  Calcareous  soil,  well-drained  narrow 
borders,  light  well-ventilated  structures  afford  best  results.  The 
chief  points  are  to  grow  them,  feed  highly,  ventilate  early,  close 
soon  enough  to  keep  a  good  heat  until  the  evening,  affording 
abundance  of  atmospheric  moisture.  Avoid  overcrowding  the 
growths,  stop  side  shoots  at  the  fifth  leaf,  and  water  liberally. 
Let  the  shoots  grow  with  their  points  to  the  light,  just  keeping 
them  clear  of  the  glass,  and  they  will  fruit  abundantly. 
— Grower. 
