146 FRUIT GARDEN. 
judicious culture and perhaps hybridizing with the Huro- 
pean Filbert, might be itade a desirable fruit, equal to and. 
perhaps superior to any kind known at the present day. 
Mr. Downing has published a paper upon the culture of 
the filbert in the United States, to the soil and climate of 
which he thinks the varieties known in England as Cosford, 
Frizaled, and Northampton Prolific, best adapted. When 
gathered ripe, filberts will keep and retain a good flavor 
longer than any other kind of nut. In dry rooms they 
will keep well for many years, whilst in air-tight jars they, 
may be kept an indefinite period. 
The Watnut (Juglans regea) is a native of Persia and 
the south of the Caucasus, and in Britain, therefore, the 
fruit seldom comes to complete maturity, except in the 
warmer districts. Besides the common walnut, there are 
several varieties cultivated in England, particularly the 
Large-fruited or Double Walnut, the Tender-shelled, and 
the Thetford or Highflyer, which last is said (Lond. Hort. 
Trans., iv. 517) to be “by far the best walnut grown.” 
The varieties can be propagated with certainty only by 
budding or inoculating; but the operation is rather nice, 
and not unfrequently fails. Mr. Knight’s method is de- 
scribed in the London Transactions, vol. iii. p. 133. 
Plants raised from the seed seldom become productive till 
they be twenty years old. The fruit is produced at the 
extremities of the shoots of the preceding year; and there- 
fore, in gathering the crop, care should be taken not to in- 
jure the young wood. In Kent, the trees arc thrashed 
with rods or poles; but this is rough, and far from being 
a commendable mode of collecting the nuts. 
The Cuestnut (Castanea vesca), like the preceding, has 
