NUTS PROPAGATION AND SITUATION. 33 



PROPAGATION. 



Nut trees are increased by seed, layers, and grafts. 



Seeds or nuts should be gathered when quite ripe, as they only are when they drop 

 out of the husks or can be readily taken out. They may be sown at once if the weather 

 is favourable (or stored in sand until the following February or March). Place them 

 thinly in rows in the open ground, and cover with 2 inches of soil. Transplant the seed- 

 lings in the autumn of the second year 1 foot apart in rows 2 feet asunder. In another 

 couple of years the plants will require more room, or they may be planted about 5 feet 

 apart for fruiting. Seedlings are not to be relied upon to bear equal to the parents, and 

 may be grafted with the desired variety at the height required. The cob or Spanish 

 nut, the Constantinople hazel (Corylus Colurna) and Lambert's Filbert seedlings make 

 good stocks. 



Layers. Two-year-old growths from stools pegged down firmly, and covered to 

 about 3 inches' depth with soil in the autumn, will be well rooted by the following 

 autumn, and may then be removed and planted 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet 

 asunder, training them with clear stems 1~ foot high, and when the trees have 

 formed the framework of the head they should be planted out where they are to remain. 

 "When care is taken to remove the buds on the part buried in the soil, layers are unques- 

 tionably the best for dwarf culture. 



Suckers. These are generally the most favoured by growers, as they are produced 

 freely. Some persons take the suckers from fruiting trees in autumn, shorten them to 

 about 1 foot, and plant in nursery rows, similar to the two-year-old seedlings, and in 

 two or three years they may be planted in their fruiting quarters. Suckers of 2 to 3 

 feet in height, when detached with good roots, may be planted out permanently at once. 



Grafting. This should be performed at the end of February or in March; whip- 

 grafting is the best method. Moderate-growing yet fruitful sorts worked in strong- 

 growing stocks grow large and produce fine fruit. Over-luxuriant and indifferently 

 bearing varieties are induced to crop freely by grafting them on stocks of less vigour. 



Situation and Soil. Cob-nuts and filberts succeed in high and well-drained ground, 

 as on knolls, banks, and hillsides, where they enjoy full exposure to light and air. 

 Spring frosts are often fatal to nut crops in low ground. Exposed sites can be 

 made available by planting sheltering belts and lines of common hazel, and these are 

 useful in providing pollen for fertilisation and a plentiful crop of the coveted nuts. In 

 flat and rather strong ground standard plum or damson trees at 30 feet apart may be 



VOL. in. F 



