1884.] COB FILBERTS. 361 



COB FILBERTS. 



I Pi. Cooper, F.H.H.S., proprietor of the Calcot Gardens, Eeading, 

 has sent ns an interesting paper, written by his predecessor 

 the late Mr. Webb, on the cultivation of cob filberts, together 

 with a history of proceedings adopted at the Calcot Gardens for the 

 growth of filberts. We shall give this paper in extenso. Though 

 written some time since, it is not the less interesting : — 



' In consequence of the extraordinary demand for, and high price 

 of cob filberts, I was induced to call the attention of the fruit- 

 growing public to them, and as I had for some few years been a 

 grower of them in a small way, and found the demand for them 

 increasing, and the price rising, consequently, in 1855, I planted all 

 the ground I had (viz., 10 acres) with them, and they are now all in 

 a bearing state. For the benefit of those who choose to entertain the 

 idea of planting a quantity, I will state the manner I have adopted 

 in planting mine : — I put my trees in squares eight feet three inches 

 apart, and therefore it took 640 trees to plant an acre. As my trees 

 were getting to a good size, I planted potatoes between them, and 

 had a good crop on the same ground for seven following years, and 

 only manured them once since the first planting. Over these I have 

 Apple, Pear, and Plum trees, all in bearing order. Now, with regard 

 to the nuts and their produce : — If the 640 trees bear Is. each, it is 

 iJ32 per acre per annum, and if they should bear 10s. each tree, it 

 would be the almost fabulous sum of j£320 per acre, and it is not too 

 much to suppose they will yield even more than that, for as a 

 proof of it I had six individuals a quarter of a day gathering the 

 nuts off one tree, and they were all witnesses to the weight — 

 110 Ihs. of cob nuts ; and then look at the price obtained at the 

 market — they are always saleable — and sure bearers six years out of 

 seven ; and I am of opinion that no crop can be planted which will 

 yield so much money per acre. Let any man purchase twenty acres 

 of land (for it should be freehold) at ^BlOO per acre, and plant it with 

 cob filberts : in seven years it will be worth £1,000 a year to rent 

 — to purchase, ten times the cost. So certain am I of the correctness 

 of this statement, that I have planted all the ground I have. Another 

 thing is that these trees will grow on every soil, so that much of the 

 waste land about Chobham and its neighbourhood would be a very 

 profitable investment to purchase and plant. Some people are afraid 

 of the great expense, but look at the returns — more than cent, per 

 cent. ; and then it is not a thing of a day, but its value goes on to 

 increase and is never exhausted. If in America an enterprising 



