49 

 PILBEET CULTIVATION. 



BY BICHAED WEBB, CALCOT GEBDENS, BEADING. 



T appears to me that the cultivation of cob nuts and 

 filberts is considered too insignificant to be much noticed 

 in the various horticultural periodicals of the present 

 day. Why is this ? They are the most simple things 

 to grow, the most remunerative of all fruits, and the 

 most wholesome and nourishing. The nut tree will grow almost on 

 every soil, and will thrive in nineteen out of every twenty gardens in 

 the land, some exceptions being made for climate. I have for some 

 years been a large trade grower of them, and have at the present 

 time from twenty to thirty distinct varieties, but they are not all 

 worth growing, the most paying sorts being those enumerated below. 

 Coh filberts I have proved to be the best for a good return. I have some 

 trees cut short, and others grow much higher, and they bear the 

 most abundantly. I have a fancy every year to weigh the produce 

 of several single trees, and this year (which, I think, is not an 

 average year) I have gathered 18 lbs. from one tree, and manv 

 yield from 9 lbs. to 14 lbs. A few years ago, I had the enormous 

 weight of 110 lbs. from one tree, namely, the Emperor Cob, a seed- 

 ling of my own, the tree being now upwards of forty years old. This 

 tree grows in a loamy sand, and is very luxuriant, covering at the 

 present time a space of forty feet across. This tree has never had 

 the least manure whatever. It was grown from a nut, and it has 

 sometimes paid upwards of £5 in the crop, and has never been 

 pruned, but has had one large limb taken oft' it. None of my trees 

 have ever had the aid of manure. They all thrive and bear well — 

 some on a very strong clay, some on a light sand, some on a wet 

 bog, and one tree (quite a novelty) is growing upon the top of an 

 old oven, which is constantly used. It came there from a nut some 

 five or six years ago, and has borne nuts two years. I only mention 

 this to prove what I before stated, that nuts will grow almost any- 

 where. I generally take all the shoots and suckers from the bottom 

 of the trees every year, or once in two years, as occasion may re- 

 quire, besides taking out of the trees all extraneous or over vigorous 

 shoots. If it be possible, I also pinch off the top bud of as many 

 twigs as I can. This is almost impossible in large plantations, but 

 it is favourable to increased fruitfulness. I have ceased to dig 

 between the trees the last three years, and I find they bear quite as 

 well. 



I think the same mode of cultivation will apply to all sorts of 

 cobs and filberts, and although I grow ten acres of these varieties, 

 they are all under apple, pear, plum, and other trees. I have no 

 doubt they would be more fruitful in an open space, yet I think the 

 greatest return is obtained by growing them in the way I do. 

 Another part of my system is to take oft* every other row of trees 

 when they get too high, to give them more space for air and light, 

 and when they have grown again to a good head, I take away the 

 next row. I find that where they have this opening, they bear more 

 VOL. IV. — NO. II. 4 



