I 9 8 



MY GARDEX. 



blossom is a catkin and the female a little red flower. They bear on 

 spurs like currant-trees, and in Kent the bushes are carefully thinned 

 so that light and air is admitted to every branch, but the little bearing 

 spurs are carefully preserved. Varieties which are called nuts have their 

 husk as long as, or not longer than, the enclosed nut ; filberts have their 

 husk longer than the nut. It is desirable to have trees of all the 

 sorts which are here mentioned, but I am uncertain how far other new 

 varieties can be commended. 



WALNUTS. 



Our district has been celebrated for its Walnuts (Juglans rcgia, fig. 



374) for many years. Carshalton Park abounds in fine walnut-trees. 

 Beddington Park and its estate had several, but many of 

 these have been cut down recently. We have one large 

 walnut-tree, and also small trees of the Dwarf Prolific, 

 but they grow too rapidly with us to get much produce 

 every year, and besides we suffer from spring frost. Walnuts 

 are mostly raised from seed, but superior varieties are 

 multiplied by inarching. There is one kind, called the 



Walnut of St. Jean, that does not put forth its leaves till June, 



and thus escapes all spring frosts. 



CHESTNUTS. 



We do not grow Sweet Chestnuts (Castanca vcsca, fig. 375), nor do I 

 know of any trees which are grown in the 

 district. There is a considerable difference in 

 the fertility of varieties, and also in the quality of 

 their produce. They do not every year come 

 to perfection in this country. The Devonshire 

 C;. 375. Sweet chestnut, \ diam. Prolific and Downton are the best kinds. 

 Chestnut-trees are largely grown in Italy, and the rotten wood is 

 used exclusively in the South of France and in Italy as a material in 

 which the camellia, azalea, and rhododendron are grown. 



