1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 



86 



FILBERTS. 



The cultivation of Nuts, especially Fil- 

 berts, or Hazel-nuts, has so far received 

 little attention in the United States ; and yet 

 Nuts are enjoyed by all, furnishing an agree- 

 able dessert as well as a wholesome winter 

 food, substituting in some measure the small 

 fruits of summer. 



Like Raspberries, Blackberries, etc., they 

 are found growing wild in our woods, and 

 have in similar manner been greatly im- 

 proved by cultivation and hybridization ; so 

 that those who have never seen and tasted 

 the better cultivated kinds would hardly 

 recognize them as the descendants of the 

 unsightly Hazel bush in the hedge-row. 



The accompanying excellent illustration, 

 kindly furnished by Mr. J. T. Lovett, Little 

 Silver, N. J., who has given considerable 

 attention to Nut culture, represents : A, 

 cluster of Nuts in husk; B, blossoms; C, 

 English Filbert ; D, Kentish Cob Filbert, 



In the county of Kent, England, hundreds 

 of acres are devoted to Filberts, and the 

 culture and care given them produces Nuts 

 of superior quality. The system pursued 

 there, and described in 

 Gardening Illustrated, 

 will be of interest to 

 those intending to 

 make a trial in Nut 

 culture. 



The plants are trained 

 up with a single stem 

 less than one foot in 

 height, after which the 

 branches are tied out- 

 ward to a wire or wood- 

 en hoop, so as to give 

 them a cup-like form. 

 All shoots arising from 

 the center are removed 

 during summer. The 

 advantage of the plants 

 being trained in this 

 shape, is that it admits 

 sunlight into the cen- 

 ter of the trees, as well 

 as elsewhere. Some 

 plantations of Nut 

 trees occupy several 

 acres in extent, the 

 trees being fully four- 

 teen feet in diameter, 



and not more than five feet high at the out- 

 side. Severe pruning is adopted to keep 

 them within bounds, and all suckers are 

 carefully removed every year. The small 

 wood of the previous year's growth produces 

 the fruit, and short spurs of this are only left 

 in winter, all gross and fruitless shoots being 

 entirely cut away. 



The trees are generally planted sixteen feet 

 apart each way, or alternately with standard 

 Apple or Pear trees, and when Apples and 

 Pears are scarce, a fair crop of Filberts is 

 often secured. Sometimes a single tree, 

 well established, has been known to bear 

 forty pounds of Nuts, and over five hundred 

 dollars per acre have been realized. 



bad buds are sure to produce diseased trees. 

 On infected soil even the best seeds and 

 buds will lead to failure ; hence the great 

 importance of clean, new, suitable soil for 

 Peach culture. 



Again, the Peach borer may destroy the best 

 trees on any land, which, although the cause 

 of nearly one-half of the entire loss of Peach 

 trees, is entirely preventable. 



Excessive late growth — too late for proper 

 ripening of the wood — is too often a cause of 

 failure. Trees thus grown may be expected 

 to fail ; hence the Peach should be planted 

 on land of moderate fertility, and on a high 

 northern exposure, if practicable. 



Again, ocer-bearing is a frequent cause of 

 early decline in the Peach orchard. The 

 tree has a tendency to prolific bearing ; it 

 ripens its fruit in the dryest part of the year, 

 and an excessive crop may entirely over- 

 draw its reserved vitality as readily as your 

 bank account if imprudently managed. 



A bushel of Peaches of one hundred and 

 forty specimens is worth far more than if 

 made up of double this number, and ex- 

 hausts the tree far less. Therefore, if your 



necessary potash, but "chlorine," which 

 Doctors Gosssman and Penhallow consider 

 a specific against yellows. 



But before all, as soon as you see the first 

 indication of manifest disease, stamp it out 

 by the entire removal of the tree, root and 

 branch. 



Don't say you can't raise Peaches till you 

 have provided their requisite conditions and 

 then failed. P, M. Augur. 



CAUSES OF FAILURE IN THE PEACH, 



Of all our fruits none are more affected by 

 favorable or injurious influences than the 

 Peach; hence, if mistakes in its manage- 

 ment are made, failure is inevitable. 



Many failures occur through gross care- 

 lessness in propagation. Unsound seed and 



Peach trees bloom full, when they begin to 

 show color shorten back and thin out one- 

 half of the young wood, which will result in 

 a fair crop of extra fine Peaches, and a 

 growth of well matured wood, firm and 

 healthy for the succeeding year. 



To preserve the health of Peach trees in 

 bearing no other crop should be grown in the 

 orchard ; they should be well cultivated till 

 mid-summer, but after July the ground about 

 them should not be stirred, in order to se- 

 cure ripened wood. The ground of a young 

 orchard must be moderately enriched, that 

 is, neither starved nor over-fed. 



An application of caustic lime once in 

 three or four years, at the rate of twenty- 

 five bushels per acre, more or less, according 

 to the fertility of the land, counteracts acidity 

 of soil and fungoid development. 



An occasional dressing of superphosphate 

 of lime or ground bone is also advisable to 

 supply the special wants of the Peach. For 

 the same reasons, apply occasionally four 

 hundred to six hundred pounds of high grade 

 muriate of potash, to supply not only the 



LARGE GOOSEBERRIES, 



The cultivation of the large English varie- 

 ties of Gooseberries in our climate is gen- 



j erally considered so difficult that it is but 

 seldom attempted. An amateur horticult- 

 urist living in the vicinity of New-York 

 has for several years met with sueh marked 

 success, as was demonstrated by the mon- 



| strous berries he brought to our office last 



j summer, that we requested him to give us 

 his mode of treatment for the benefit of our 



J readers, to which he kindly responds as 

 follows : 



I " Gooseberries should be planted on level 

 ground, and in good, 

 mellow loam, naturally 

 underdraiiied. Dig the 

 holes sufficiently large 

 enough to admit all the 

 roots without cramp- 

 ing. Place sods, upside 

 down, in the bottom. 

 In the center of the 

 hole make a little 

 mound of rich soil on 

 which to place the 

 plant ; spread the roots 

 all around, and cover 

 with rich soil. On this 

 put three inches of 

 good, rotten horse ma- 

 nure, and fill up with 

 earth. In dry weather 

 water evenings with 

 brook or rain water. 



" Train in tree shape 

 by removing every 

 shoot that springs up 

 from the roots or side 

 of the stem. About 

 a foot from the ground 

 the side branches are 

 allowed to grow. In pruning, which has to 

 be done very early in spring, cut away all 

 upright branches, so as to form a flat top, 

 and thin out and cut back the side branches 

 pretty severely. When the trees commence 

 to bear heavily a hoop should be fastened 

 around them to support the branches. After 

 the fruit has set, watering with liquid ma- 

 nure will be found to increase their size. 

 During the hottest part of the day they 

 should be covered with an awning to pre- 

 vent burning or blistering." 



THE BEST STRAWBERRY, 



About thirty years . ago, John Wilson, of 

 Albany, N. Y., introduced to the world his 

 "Wilson's Albany Seedling." Thousands of 

 new varieties, every one claimed to be better, 

 have since been introduced, and yet atthe re- 

 cent meeting of the Mississippi Valley Hort, 

 Soc, at which many of our most experienced 

 fruit-growers participated, it was almost 

 unanimously declared ' ' The best Straw- 

 berry for general cultivation yet known." 



