96 



THE MINIATURE EEUIT GARDEN. 



Kentish gardens, form straggling bushes, and are 

 some years before they commence to bear. To cor- 

 rect this, I some ten or more years since had them 

 grafted on stems of the hazel-nut raised from Spanish 

 nuts, as they were vigorous growers and 'formed stout 

 stems. I have found these grafted trees answer ad- 

 mirably, and come quickly into bearing, forming nice 

 garden trees. 



As soon as the nut trees designed for stocks have 

 made stout stems about four feet high, they should be 

 grafted at that height with the choice kind of nuts, 

 such as red and white filberts and the Cusford nut — 

 an excellent nut. The purple-leaved filbert, gener- 

 ally planted as an ornamental shrub, may also be 

 grafted ; it gives nuts equal to the common filbert, 

 and forms a nice ornamental standard. 



Standard nuts require but little culture ; they soon 

 form round heads, and bear profusely. Care must be 

 taken to destroy all suckers from the stem and root. 



The only pruning required is in winter, to thin out 

 the crowded shoots, and shorten to half their length 

 those that are inclined to be vigorous — that is, those 

 that are more than nine inches in length. The short 

 spray-like shoots must not be shortened, as they are 

 the fruit-givers. 



If these standard nuts are planted in rich garden 

 soils, they will soon make trees too large for srna.il 

 gardens. If, therefore, they are found to grow too 

 vigorously, they should be lifted and replanted bien- 

 nially in November. 



I have mentioned seedling nuts as good for stocks ; 

 but I have lately employed a valuable sort introduced 



