FIL 



226 



FIL 



a pit or forcing-house. If neither of 

 these can be had, prepare a small bed 

 of leaves and manure, and place a deep 

 frame over it, plunging the plants to 



varieties distinct; and this is a very 

 easy and expeditious method of propa- 

 gation ; for every twig layed will readily 

 ffrow : therefore, in autumn or winter, 



such a depth as to enable the roots to i let some of the lower branches that are 

 have S'' or 10'' more heat than the tops. ! well furnished with young shoots be 

 By doing this the roots are put in action | pegged down in the ground ; then lay 

 first, which causes the embryo fruit to | all the young shoots in the earth, with 

 come forth in such a strong healthy j their tops out, every one of which will 

 manner as will ensure a good crop. 1 root, advance in length, and be fit to 

 After the fruit is fairly shown, the plants ] transplant by autumn following, when 

 may then be removed to any forcing- i they should be separated, and planted 

 house where they can have plenty of j in nursery rows, two feet asunder, and 

 light and air. If they can be plunged I trained as observed of the seedlings; 

 in gentle heat, so much the better. It ' but when any considerable quantity are 

 should always be borne in mind that ! to be raised this way, it is eligible to 

 the fig, in its growing state, is almost j form stools for that purpose, by pre- 



an aquatic, therefore little danger is to 

 be apprehended from over-watering, 

 but serious mischief may arise from not 

 attending to this ; for if ever the soil 

 gets thoroughly dry when the fruit is 

 far advanced, some evil will be sure to 

 result." — Gard. Chron. 



The Temperature borne by the fig ad- 

 vantageously is very high. Even when 

 ranging from 90" to 110° during the 

 day, and never lower at night than 70°, 

 though some varieties grow too lux- 

 uriantly, yet the Large White ripened 

 both its spring and autumn produce, 

 and Mr. Knight thus obtained from the 

 same plants eight crops in twelve 

 months. 



FILBERT. Corylus avellana. 



Varieties. — Frizzled, great bearer. 

 Red (C. tuhulosa), pellicle of kernel 

 pink, flavour excellent. White, pellicle 

 white, flavour good. Cosford, great 

 bearer, good ; shell very thin. Down- 

 ton, large, square. Cob Nut. 



Propagation. — This is done by plant- 

 ing the nuts, by layers, suckers from 

 the root; and by grafting and budding. 



By the Nuts. — This should be done in 



viousiy, a year before, heading-down 

 some trees near the ground, to throw 

 out a quantity of shoots near the earth, 

 convenient for laying for that use an- 

 nually. 



Suckers arising from the roots of 

 trees raise by either of the above me- 

 thods, if taken up in autumn, winter, or 

 spring, with good fibres, will also grow, 

 form proper plants, and produce the 

 same sort of fruit as their parent plant ; 

 and suckers of these may also be used 

 for the same purpose. 



By grafting and budding. — These 

 methods have also the same effect as 

 layers of continuing any particular va- 

 riety with certainty, and the operation 

 is to be perfornied in the usual way on 

 stocks of any of the varieties of this ge- 

 n u s . — (Abercrombie.) 



" The season for planting is autumn 

 or spring; or any interval in mild wea- 

 ther from October till the beginning of 

 March. Allot detached standards not 

 less than ten and thence to twenty feet 

 distance, to have room to branch out in 

 full heads." — Loudon, Enc. Gard. 



Soil. — "A hard loam of some depth. 



October; but if postponed until spring, | on a dry subsoil, which dress every 



preserve the nuts in sand, and in Feb^ 

 ruary plant them in drills near two 

 inches deep. The plants will appear 

 in six or eight weeks, which, v/hen a 

 year old, plant out in nursery-rows, and 

 there train them two or three years. In 



year ; as the filbert requires a consider- 

 able quantity of manure." — Loudon^ 

 Enc. Gard. 



Pruning and Culture. — Mr. R. Scott 

 says, "The plants should be trained 

 with single stems to the height of a foot 



raising these trees from the nut, the j or so ; then permitted to branch into a 

 sorts are not to be always depended | symmetrical head, rather open in the 

 on, for, like other seedling trees, they middle, and not of greater height than 



often vary, so that the most certain 

 method to continue the respective sorts 

 is by layers. 



By Layers is one of the most certain 

 methods of continuing the respective 



a man can conveniently reach from the 

 ground, to perform the necessary opera- 

 tions of pruning and gathering. 



" The proper time for pruning is in 

 the spring, when the male blossoms are 



