282 GARDENING. 



the fall or spring, and planted out in rows, at the 

 distance of ten or twelve feet from each other, 

 where they undergo several sevt-r and successive 

 prunings, for the purpose "of hollowing out the 

 head into the form of a punch-bowl, and of deter- 

 mining the whole nourishment of the tree to the 

 production of the fruit." Williamson is, however 

 of opinion, that the severity of this discipline de- 

 feats itself, and is, in fact, the reason why the plants 

 give no fruit three years out of five. Instead, there- 

 fore, of a rigid adherence to the Maidstone practice, 

 he recommends " that the trees be left in a great 

 degree to their natural growth and shape." 



In some parts of England, the filbert forms an ob- 

 ject of very profitable culture, giving, per acre, on 

 an average produce of five years, five hundred 

 pounds' weight of nuts. 



The maturity of the fruit is indicated by the 

 brown colour of the nut and the husk, and the readi- 

 ness with which these separate. Braddick's method 

 of preserving the fruit, by putting it up in airtight 

 casks, is no doubt the best. The filbert is neither 

 often nor seriously attacked by insects. The eggs 

 of the curculio kukans are sometimes deposited in 

 the germen, where, when matured, they subsist 

 upon the kernel. The only cure for this is to de- 

 stroy the nuts which are so attacked, and with them 

 the larvae, before they attain the fly state. 



THK END 



