While the filbert likes a reasonable amount of 
air and sun, it does not require continued sun- 
light as much as most other fruits and succeeds 
well in partial shade. For this reason filberts are 
well adapted for fillers in orchards of walnuts and 
other strong growing fruit trees. In Kent, Eng- 
land, apples and pears frequently form a dense 
cover over the filbert trees and yet they produce, 
but naturally not so freely as those in more open 
quarters. 
In the famous filbert orchards of Kent, the 
trees are trained in the form of a broad, open and 
basin-like top on a short trunk, the top having six 
or more branches which are systematically pruned 
in winter by thinning the spurs, removing old wood 
and shortening strong growths, leaving the trees 
regularly balanced on all sides. 
TIME OF BEARING AND YIELDS 
Filberts are generally early bearers and good 
well-rooted trees usually begin to bear the third 
year from planting, increasing thereafter with the 
age and size of the trees. 
Usually a few pounds of nuts may be ex- 
pected from five-year-old trees, and when_ the 
orchard is six years old, it begins to pay. With 
proper care it will go on paying from 50 to 100 
years or more. Filbert trees are known to grow 
very old. For matured trees the average yield is 
somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of nuts 
per acre. Some orchards, of course, produce more 
