NUTS CULTURE AND STORING. 39 



Culture. The nut bush produces the more and finer fruit as it is made to assume 

 a tree-like habit ; therefore all buds on the stems below ground should be carefully 

 extracted before planting. Suckers are the greatest hindrance to nut production, and 

 should be pulled up when in growth. It is a good plan to remove the surface soil for 

 some distance round the tree in autumn, eradicate all the suckers, and lay on a coat of 

 manure, covering it with soil taken from the open spaces. The ground between the 

 trees should, if not rich enough, have a dressing of manure during the winter, and be 

 dug, but not so deeply as to injure the roots. Old woollen rags are used in Kent as 

 manure, and given once in two or three years, as considered necessary, at the rate of 

 1 to 2 tons per acre. Ordinary stable or farmyard manure may be supplied at the rate 

 of 20 tons or more per acre, about 2J cwts. per rod being a fair dressing. In light 

 soils it is desirable to dig early, so as to bury the weeds, and spread the manure on the 

 surface as far outwards from the stem as the branches extend. The summer prunings 

 decayed, and the winter ones reduced to ashes, form excellent manure for nut trees, 

 about \ bushel in equal parts being applied to each rod of ground early in spring. 

 The leaves ought always to be utilised, as they are large and of considerable manurial 

 value, digging them in, or if collected and reduced to leaf soil, apply as a top-dressing. 

 Weeds must be kept down by hoeing in summer, and when the nut crop is heayy, and 

 the weather hot and dry, a few good soakings of diluted sewage or liquid manure 

 may be advantageously given. A mulching of littery manure applied in advance 

 of dry weather aids the trees wonderfully in thin, sandy, or rocky soil, and in such 

 ground manure should be given every year. Trees on grass may have the contents of 

 cesspools and manure-tanks poured around them in winter. 



Gathering. Cob nuts and filberts ought not to be gathered till quite ripe ; the husks 

 and nuts are then brown, and easily separated. Filberts have a certain amount of 

 succulence at the base of the husks, and unless the nuts are thoroughly dried before 

 they are packed for keeping, the husks mould or rot. Filberts must not be shaken off 

 the trees, but carefully gathered, so that they may be preserved and served in the husks. 

 Cob nuts should be gathered before they leave the husks ; yet they are often shaken off 

 the trees and picked up. 



Storing. After gathering, lay the nuts in an airy place or in the sun for a few 

 days to dry the husks ; then pack in tin boxes about 10 inches long, 6^ inches wide, 

 and 3| inches deep. Paste a strip of paper round the box after the lid is put on to 

 render it air-tight, and store in a cool, dry place. This is unquestionably the best 



