124 THE NUT CULTURIST. 



trees are inclined to run too much to wood, producing 

 less fruit. In the famous nut orchards of Kent, Eng- 

 land, the soil is loam upon a dry, sandy rock. The 

 trees in these orchards are manured at least once in two 

 years, especially after they reach the full bearing age. 

 Almost any good soil that is rich enough to produce a 

 good crop of corn, and is not submerged in winter, will 

 answer for the filbert in this country. 



In selecting a location for a filbert orchard, an open, 

 airy one would probably be preferable to a spot so shel- 

 tered as to cause the flowers to appear so early as to be 

 injured by frosts. Furthermore, I would warn culti- 

 vators to keep as far away as possible from any hedge- 

 rows or plantation of the wild native hazel bushes, for 

 these are always loaded with disease germs that are fatal 

 to the foreign species. We might reasonably suppose 

 that filberts would succeed better in the Southern than 

 in the Northern States, but if the experience of those 

 who have tried them there count for anything, then 

 these nuts are not adapted to the South, owing to the 

 fact that the flowers almost invariably push out during 

 warm days in winter, and these are destroyed later by 

 frosts. In the more elevated regions of the northern 

 border of the Southern, and in similar locations in the 

 Middle States, these nuts will doubtless thrive, or at 

 least the climate will prove congenial. The more equa- 

 ble the climate and free from extremes in temperature, 

 the better ; but the most important element in this 

 country is moisture, especially in summer, when the 

 nuts are filling out ; and the best way to supply this, 

 where irrigation cannot be practiced, is to keep the 

 ground around the trees continually covered with a 

 mulch of leaves or other coarse vegetable matter. 



Planting and Pruning. The space to be allowed 

 between the plants, when set out for bearing, will, of 

 course, depend very much upon the size they are ex- 



