2026 AKHORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



distance, and it 5 ft. apart in the row ; the plants in one row alternating with 

 openings in the other. When an oak wood with hazel coppice is to be 

 formed, the mode of proceeding has been already given (p. 1802.). Hazel 

 coppice, for the ordinary purposes of hurdle wood, hethers or wattles, crate- 

 ware, hoops, &c, is generally cut every seven or eight years. The hurdles 

 are sometimes manufactured on the spot; and, the other articles being selected, 

 the remaining shoots and branches are made up into faggots. 



The varieties, whether botanical, or valued for their fruits, are propagated 

 by layers ; though the purple hazel, being as yet rare, might be budded or 

 grafted. 



The hazel, as a fruit tree, is most commonly propagated by suckers, more 

 especially in the neighbourhood of Maidstone, where the nuts are grown to 

 greater perfection than any where else in England. Plantations are generally 

 made in autumn, in soil which has been well trenched and manured. The 

 plants are placed in rows, at from 10 ft. to 20 ft. distance from each other, 

 and at 10ft. apart in the row; while between the rows hops are frequently 

 grown for a few years ; but, after the filberts have attained a sufficient size to 

 nearly cover the ground, the hops are destroyed. Filberts are also frequently 

 planted in rows, in the intervals between larger fruit trees, such as apples, 

 pears, cherries, &c. ; but, though they grow very well in such situations, yet, 

 From being shaded, and sometimes partially under the drip of the larger trees, 

 they seldom, if ever, bear so well as in plantations by themselves. The prin- 

 cipal art in the culture of the filbert, as a fruit tree, consists in training and 

 pruning it properly, as the blossom is produced upon the sides and extremities 

 of the upper young branches, and from small young shoots which proceed from 

 the bases of side branches, cut off the preceding year. The tree requires to be 

 kept remarkably open, in order that the main branches may produce young 

 wood throughout the whole of their length. In the filbert orchards about 

 Maidstone, the trees are trained with short stems like gooseberry bushes, and 

 are formed into the shape of a punch-bowl,',exceedingly thin of wood. William- 

 son, w r ho has written on the subject in the Horticultural Transactions, advises 

 " to plant the trees where they are to remain ; to suffer them to grow without 

 restraint for three or four years ; and then to cut them down within a few 

 inches of the ground. They will push five or six strong shoots, which, the 

 second year after cutting down, are to be shortened one third ; then place a 

 small hoop within the branches, and fasten the shoots to it at equal distances. 

 In the third year, a shoot will spring from each bud. These must be suffered 

 to grow till the following autumn, or spring of the fourth year, when they are 

 to be cut off nearly close to the original stem, and the leading shoot of the 

 last year shortened two thirds. In the fifth year, several small shoots will 

 arise from the bases of the side branches, which were cut off the preceding 

 year : from these the fruit is to be expected ; and the future object of the 

 pruner must be directed to produce an annual supply of these, by cutting out 

 all that have borne fruit. The leading shoot is to be shortened every year 

 two thirds or more ; and the whole height of the branches must not be suffered 

 to exceed Oft. Every shoot that is left to produce fruit should also be 

 tipped, which prevents the tree from being exhausted in making wood at the 

 end of the branch. Observe, in pruning early in spring, to have a due supply 

 of male blossoms, and to eradicate all suckers." Such is the Maidstone prac- 

 tice, " which has been long celebrated," by which 30 cwt. of nuts per acre 

 have been grown on particular grounds, in particular years: but 20 cwt. is 

 considered a large crop, and rather more than half that quantity the usual 

 one, with a total failure three years out of five; so that the average produce is 

 not more than 5 cwt. per acre. Williamson thinks "the failure happening so 

 may be owing to the excessive productiveness of the successful years, 

 to the mode of pruning, by which the whole nourishment of the tree is 

 <l<d in the production oHrnit;" and he recommends having the trees 

 rather more in a state of 'nature. (Ilorl. V'/vw.v., vol. iv. p. 1.54.) 



If, at any time, there should appear to be a deficiency of male catkins in a 



