CHAPTER XXXV. 



SMALL NUTS. 



THE Rev. H. P. D mister, a practical authority, says : 



" There are few small industries that give a larger 

 return of profit than filbert growing, especially cob 

 filberts ... it is almost incredible how large a return 

 can be made from an acre of ground, when a favourable 

 soil and situation can be found." 



As cob nuts have been selling at 2s. per pound, at 

 Covent Garden, the last two or three years, one can 

 readily understand that if the right spot can be found 

 there is a possibility of getting a crop to pay even 140 

 per acre, which Mr. Dunster speaks of as not at all an 

 extraordinary return. 



The best soils for nuts are to be found in Kent and 

 some parts of Berkshire. It was. at Calcot Gardens, 

 near Reading, that a crop of one acre and a half realized 

 210, at market prices, and some of the best prize cob 

 filberts are raised at nursery grounds in those gardens. 



The chief points needing attention in the culture of 

 nuts are the pruning and subsequent setting of the 

 bloom. The nut bushes should be kept thinned out 

 well, and hollow in the centre ; and it should be care- 

 fully noted that a fair proportion of the male blossom 



