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XXI. On the Cultivation of the Filbert, describing the Method 

 of Pruning, as practised in the Grounds near Maidstone in 

 Kent. In a Letter to the Secretary. By the Rev. William 



• Williamson, A.M. Corresponding Member of the Society. 



Read March 21, 1820. 



Sir, 



The county of Kent, and more particularly the district 

 round Maidstone, and extending to the borders of Sussex, 

 having been long celebrated for the production of large crops 

 of Filberts, and of a much larger size than are commonly 

 grown, a description of the method of cultivation and prun- 

 ing cannot be unacceptable to the Members of the Horticul- 

 rural Society, more especially, as I have reason to believe it 

 is but little, if at all, known in other parts of England. 



In order to make myself more clearly understood, I shall 

 treat the subject under the following divisions : Soil, Raising 

 the Plants, Manure, and Priming ; which last forms the great 

 distinction between the cultivation in Kent and in other 

 counties. 



Soil. The first consideration in making a plantation, is to 

 select a proper soil ; for if that be not congenial to the con- 

 stitution of the plants, we cannot expect any great success. 

 The soil in which the most experienced cultivators suppose 

 the Filbert to flourish best, is a hazle loam of some depth, 

 with a dry subsoil. If the sub-soil be too retentive of mois- 

 ture, the trees are apt to run too much to wood, without 



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