Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/283

271 FRUITS.] HORTICULTURE 271 121. The Fig, Fieus Carica, lives to a great age, and along the southern coast of England bears fruit abundantly as a standard ; but in Scotland and in many parts of England a south wall is indispensable for its successful cultivation out of doors. Fig trees are propagated by cuttings, which should be put into pots, and placed in a gentle hotbed. They may be, obtained more speedily from layers, which should consist of two or three years old shoots, and these, when rooted, will form plants ready to bear fruit the first or second year after planting. The best soil for a fig bor der is a friable loam, not too rich, but well drained ; a chalky subsoil is congenial to the tree, and, to correct the tendency to over- luxuriance of growth, the roots should be confined within spaces surrounded by a wall enclosing an area of about a square yard. The sandy soil of Argenteuil, near Faris, suits the fig remarkably well ; but the best trees are those which grow in old quarries, where their roots are free from stagnant water, and where they are sheltered from cold, while exposed to a very hot sun, which ripens the fruit perfectly. The fig succeeds well planted in a paved court against a building with a south aspect. The li&quot; tree naturally produces two sets of shoots and two crops of fruit in the season. The first shoots generally show young figs in July and August, but these in the climate of England very seldom ripen, and should therefore be rubbed off. The late or midsummer shoots likewise put forth fruit-buds, which, however, do not develop themselves till the following spring; and these form the only crop of figs on which the British gardener can depend. The fig tree grown as a standard should get very little pruning, the effect of cutting being to stimulate the buds to push shoots too vigorous for bearing. AVhen grown against a wall, it has been recommended that a single stem should be trained to the height of a foot. Above this a shoot should be trained to the right, and another to the left ; from these principals two other subdivisions should be encouraged, and trained 15 inches apart ; and along these branches, at distances of about 8 inches, shoots for bearing, as nearly as possible of equal vigour, should be encouraged. The bearing shoots produced along the leading branches should be trained in at full length, and in autumn every alternate one should be cut back to one eye. In the following summer the trained shoots should bear and ripen fruit, and then bo cut back in autumn to one eye, while shoots from the bases of those cut back the previous autumn should bo trained for succession. In this way every leading branch will be furnished alternately with bearing and successional shoots. When protection is necessary, as it may be in severe winters, though it is too often provided in excess, spruce branches have been found to answer the purpose exceedingly well, ow r ing to the fact that their leaves drop off gradually when the weather becomes milder in spring, and when the trees require less protection and more light and air. The principal part requiring protection is the main stem, which is more tender than the young wood. Forcing. The fig requires more heat than the vine to bring it into leaf. It may be subjected to a temperature of 50 at night, and from 60 to 65 in the day, and this should afterwards be in creased to 60 and 65 by night, and 70 to 75 by day, or even higher by sun heat, giving plenty of air at the same time. In this temperature the evaporation from the leaves is very great, and this must be replaced and the wants of the swelling fruit supplied by daily watering, by syringing the foliage, and by moistening the floor, this atmospheric moisture being also necessary to keep down the red spider. When the crop begins to ripen, a moderately dry atmosphere should be maintained, with abundant ventilation when the weather permits. The fig tree is easily cultivated in pots, and by introducing the plants into heat in succession the fruiting season may be consider ably extended. The plants should be potted in turfy loam mixed with charcoal and old mortar rubbish, and in summer top- dressings of rotten manure, with manure water two or three times a week, will be beneficial. While the fruit is swelling, the pots should be plunged in a bed of fermenting leaves. The following are a few of the best figs ; those marked F. are good forcing sorts, and those marked W. suitable for walls : Agen: brownish-green, turbinate. AngL lique (.Madeleine), F., W.: yellow, turbinate. Brown Ischia, F. : chestnut-coloured, roundish-turbinate. Brown Turkey (Lee s Perpetual), F., W. : purplish-brown, turbinate Brunswick, V. : brownish-green, pyriform. Ool di Signora Blanca, F. : greenish-yellow, pyriform. Col di Signora Nero : dark chocolate, pyriform. Datte: pale dingy brown, pyriform. Early Violet, F. : brownish-purple, roundish. Griz/ly Bourjassotte : chocolate, round. Grosse Monstrense de Lipnri : pale chestnut, turhinatc. Lncrezia: dull white, roundish. Negro Largo, F. : black, long pyriform. Royal Vineyard: purple, long pyriform. White Ischia, F. : greenish-yellow, roundish-obovate. White Marseilles, F., W. : pale green, roundish-obovate. See FIG, vol. Ix. p. 153. 122. The Gunsrlwrij has a double parentage, Ribes Grossularia being the parent of the rough or hairy-fruited sorts, and 11. Uva- crispa that of the smooth-fruited ones. It prefers a loose rich soil, which readily imbibes, but does not retain, much moisture. The plant is propagated by cuttings, and should be transplanted early in autumn, the trees, like those of the currant, being ranged in lines or grouped in compartments. The trees should be formed with single stems a foot high ; and the suckers, if any spring up from the roots, should be carefully removed. Formerly it was the practice in Scotland to spur all the annual wood ; but now the black currant system of pruning is more generally and advantageously followed. The ground on which the bushes stand should be forked over once a year, but only slightly, so as not to disturb the roots, and manure should be applied either as a top-dressing or in a liquid form. The caterpillars which attack the plant may be destroyed by dusting the leaves with powdered white hellebore, which seems to be the only certain remedy, as even hand-picking fails in some seasons when the caterpillars are very abundant, and the trees are numerous. The gooseberry, like the currant, may be trained on walls or espaliers, to accelerate the ripening or increase the size of the fruit. The following is a good limited selection of sorts : Hairy Jtcds. Red Champagne, Red Warrington, Keens Seedling, Rough Red, Lord Derby, Henson s Seedling, Crown Bob, Companion. Hairy Yellows. Yellow Champagne, Early Sulphur (very early), Catharina, Fanny, Broom Girl. Hairy Greens. Early Green Hairy, Glenton Green, Thunder. Hairy Whites. White Champagne, Bright Venus, White Lion, Trans parent, Snowdrop, Fascination, Antagonist. Dmmy Whites. Whitesmith, Cheshire Lass, Maid of the Mill, Early White. Smooth Reds. London (very large), Plough Boy, Small Red Globe, Turkey Red. Smooth Yellows. Smiling Beauty, Leveller, Gipsy Queen, Leader, Ringer. Smooth Greens. Pitmaston Green-gage, Telegraph, Heart of Oak, Green Overall, Shiner, General Markham. Smooth Whites.- White Honey, White Fig, Careless, Freedom. See GOOSEBERRY, vol. x. p. 779. 123. The Medlar, Mespilus gcrmanica, is a deciduous tree, native Medlar, of the middle and south of Europe, and found in hedges and woods in England. Its fruit is hard, acid, and unfit for eating till it loses its green colour and becomes &quot; bletted,&quot; in which state it acquires an agreeably acid and somewhat astringent flavour. The medlar is propagated by budding or grafting upon the white thorn, which is most suitable if the soil is dry and sandy, or on the quince if the soil is moist. It pnxVuces the best fruit in rich, loamy, some what moist ground. The tree maybe grown as a standard, and chiefly requires pruning to prevent the branches from crossing and rubbing each other. The fruit should be gathered in November, on a dry day, and laid out upon shelves in the fruit room. It becomes bletted and fit for use in the course of two or three weeks. 124. The Melon, Cucumis Melo, is an annual tropical plant of Melon, climbing or trailing habit, extensively cultivated in Persia and some parts of India. The plant requires artificial heat to grow it to per fection, the rock and cantaloup varieties succeeding with a bottom heat of 70 and an atmospheric temperature of 75, rising with sun heat to 80, and the Persian varieties requiring a bottom heat of 75, gradually increasing to 80, and an atmospheric tempera ture ranging from 75 to 80 when the fruit is swelling, as much sun heat as the plants can bear being allowed at all times. The melon grows best in rich turfy loam, somewhat heavy, with which a little well-rotted dung, especially that of pigeons or fowls, should be used, in the proportion of one-fifth mixed in the compost of loam. Melons are grown on hotbeds of fermenting manure, when the soil should be about a foot in thickness, or in pits heated either by hot water or fermenting matter, or in houses heated by hot water, in which case the soil bed should be 15 or 18 inches thick. The fer menting materials should be well prepared, and, since the heat has to be kept up by linings, it is a good plan to introduce one or two layers of faggots in building up the bed. A mixture of dung and leaves gives a more subdued but more durable heat. For all ordinary purposes February is early enough for sowing the first crop, as well-flavoured fruits can scarcely be looked for before May. The seeds maybe sown singly in 3-inch pots in a mixture of leaf-mould with a little loam, the pots being plunged in a bottom heat of 7;&quot;) to 80, and as near the glass as possible, in order that the young plants may not be drawn up. The hill or ricige of soil should be about a foot in thickness, the rest of the surface being afterwards made up nearly to the same level. If the fruiting bed is not ready when the roots have nearly filled the pots, they must be shifted into 4-inch pots, for on no account must they be allowed to get starved or pot-bound. Two or three plants are usually planted in a mound or ridge of soil placed in the centre of each light, and the rest of the surface is covered over to a similar depth as soon as the roots have made their way through the mound. The mode of pruning and training is similar whether the plants are grown on a trellis or on the surf ace of abed, Avith this difference that in the former case the. main stem has to be carried up to a sufficient height to reach the trellis before it is stopped. When the plants are trained on the surface of the beds the tops should bo pinched off as soon as the second rough leaf is fairly formed, the stopping being effected either long enough before planting to allow the buds to break, or not until the plants have taken fresh root after planting. One branch will thus be developed from the axil of each