FRUIT GARDEN. 281 



of the garden. Its diseases are generally the result 

 of accident, and it has few, if any, enemies among 

 the insect tribes. 



The CHESTNUT (fragus castanea) is a native of Sar- 

 dis, and, it is said, was first brought to Europe by Ti- 

 berius Caesar. Be this fact as it may, another, of 

 which we are better assured, is, that the tree has 

 been long naturalized in Italy and Spain, and that 

 in these countries it contributes an important article 

 to the food of man. 



Like the walnut, it was long propagated by sow- 

 ing the nut; but the shorter process of grafting (as 

 already detailed under the preceding article) may 

 be advantageously substituted for this. The exper- 

 iments of the late Sir J. Banks and of Mr. Knight 

 demonstrate that "the Spanish chestnut succeeds 

 readily, when grafted in almost any of the usual 

 ways ; and that, when the grafts are taken from 

 bearing branches, the young trees blossom the suc- 

 ceeding year."* 



The soil most proper for the chestnut is a sandy 

 loam, on a dry subsoil. With regard to situation, 

 it does well in northern and western borders ; but, 

 as its shade is unfriendly to any vegetable growing 

 under it, the better method is to give it a square by 

 itself. 



The FILBERT (Coj-ylus avellana). This is the com- 

 mon hazelnut improved by cultivation. Its princi- 

 pal varieties are, the White, the Red, the Barcelona, 

 the Cosford, and the Long Cob, all of which are prop- 

 agated alike by. suckers, by layers, and by seeds. 

 When the last of these modes is employed, sow the 

 nuts in October or November, and keep the plants 

 in the nursery till they are two years old ; after 

 which, set them out, and manure and dress them 

 occasionally. But the better method of propagating 

 them is that by suckers. These are taken up in 



* Hort. Trans., vol. i., p. 61. 



