1871.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 225 



age, if the one be planted in September and the other in March following, the 

 tree planted in September will for many a year continue to be the largest and 

 best. As already stated, the very best position ought to be selected for the 

 Almond, as it is only with great care and attention that it can be got to produce 

 fruit in this country. If space could be spared against a south wall, this would 

 be found to be the best position for it ; and if managed as the Peach, it might be 

 more productive than as a standard. It cannot be expected, however, to be 

 a profitable speculation, as the prices and quality of the Almonds imported 

 from the south of France are such as to defy competition. It is merely for 

 the sake of curiosity that we would recommend their cultivation in Britain 

 at all. 



As the insects and diseases to which the Almond is subject are the same as 

 those which attack the Peach, and as the cure in every case is the same, we 

 refer the reader to our papers upon that fruit, where he will find the informa- 

 tion he may require upon this division of our subject. 



NUTS. 



The Walnut. — This nut is grown pretty extensively all through Britain, but 

 it is only in the best parts of the kingdom that the fruit ever gets thoroughly 

 ripened. The tree succeeds very well in almost any part of the British Isles, 

 growing as it does to a considerable height, and forming a large and hand- 

 some tree. Even in Scotland it thrives very well. There is one large 

 tree here which is a little over 30 years of age, and which is above 40 feet in 

 height, well furnished and healthy, and yearly produces a crop of fruit ; as a 

 rule, however, it is only once in two years that it bears a full and heavy crop. 

 During the period I have been here, I have only once seen the fruit approach- 

 ing to maturity, and that was in the autumn of 1868. The crop was a large 

 one, and a considerable quantity of the fruit ripened, yet those which did were 

 a mere fraction in comparison to those that fell off green. 



The propagation of the Walnut is effected by sowing seed in spring, and by 

 budding, grafting, and inarching for the perpetuation of existing varieties. The 

 seed should be preserved in sand during winter in a cool room, and in spring 

 may be planted in light rich soil, in rows 1^ foot apart and 6 inches seed from 

 seed, placed at a depth of 2 or 3 inches. The seedlings may remain in the seed- 

 rows till the second autumn, when they may be transplanted into rows 4 feet apart, 

 and 3 to 4 feet plant from plant. At the end of two years more they may be trans- 

 planted into their permanent positions, which, if planted together, must be at least 

 50 feet apart. The ordinary way, however, is to plant them one here and another 

 there in the best positions in the landscape, so that at once the two purposes are 

 served of usefulness and effect. The only thing necessary, in selecting a position 

 for the Walnut, is to see that the soil is not of too light or too wet a nature. If 

 the soil is very sandy, the best plan is to remove a quantity of it, and have it 

 replaced with good substantial loam. If the situation is wet, let it be drained; 

 and if these two things be attended to, there is little to fear from the want of suc- 

 cess. Budding, grafting, and inarching are seldom resorted to, as there is often 

 great difiiculty in succeeding in either operation, from physical causes which it is 

 unnecessary to explain. Inarching the Walnut was first practised by one Boutcher, 

 a nurseryman in Edinburgh. Mr Abercrombie also practised it, as we learn from 

 his works. Mr Knight, who was in favour of budding, wrote a long article in the 

 ' Transactions of the Horticultural Society ' regarding it. His remarks are as 

 follows : — "The buds of almost every species succeed with most certainty when 



