V ] THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 185 



\vhicli are treated as other cuttings and layers are. 

 See Paragraphs 275 and 277. The fig is a mawkish 

 thing at best ; and, amongst such quantities of fine 

 fruit as this country produces, it can, from mere 

 curiosity only, be thought worth raising at all, and 

 especially at great trouble. 



303. FILBERD. This is a sort of Nut, oblong 

 in shape, very thin in the shell, and in flavour as 

 much superior to the common nut as a Water- 

 melon is to a pumpkin. The American nut tree is 

 a dwarf shrub. The Filberd is a tall one, and will, 

 under favourable circumstances, reach the height 

 of thirty feet. I never saw any Filberd trees in 

 this country, except those that I sent from England 

 in 1800. They are six in number, and they are 

 now growing in the garden of the late Mr. JAMES 

 PAUL, of Lower Dublin Township, in Philadelphia 

 county. I saw them in 1817, when they were, I 

 should suppose, about 20 feet high. They had al- 

 ways borne, I was told, very large quantities, never 

 failing. Perhaps live or six bushels a year, mea- 

 sured in the husk, a produce very seldom witnessed 

 in England ; so that, there is no doubt that the cli- 

 mate is extremely favourable to them. Indeed to 

 what, that is good for man, is it not favourable ? 

 The Filberd is propagated from layers, or from 

 suckers, of which latter it sends forth great abun- 

 dance. The layers are treated like other layers, 

 (See Paragraph 276,) and they very soon become 

 trees. The suckers are also treated like other 

 suckers. (See Paragraph 277;) but, layers are 

 preferable, for the reasons before stated. This 

 tree cannot be propagated from seed to bear Fil- 

 berds. The seed, if sown, will produce trees; but, 

 those trees will bear poor thick-shelled nuts, except 

 it be by mere accident. It is useful to know how 

 16* 



