160 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



1885, which have cropped well during the past two years. They 

 will thrive on stony ground, but the better the ground the 

 larger the bushes grow, and Nuts will pay well for good treat- 

 ment. It is at least six years from the time of planting before any 

 return worth speaking of is obtained. They are always grown 

 on a leg, about 2 feet high, and the young bushes are usually 

 propagated from suckers or layers taken from the old bushes. 

 After planting, the centre of the bushes should be cut out so as 

 to get them as cup- shaped as possible, but the main branches 

 should not be shortened back, so that after two or three years 

 they can be bent outwards and tied down to stakes firmly 

 driven into the ground ; this is considered a better method than 

 keeping the branches cut back each year, as a bigger bush is 

 obtained in a much shorter time. It is a mistake in pruning 

 to use a saw, as the boughs are more liable to die back to where 

 the branch was sawn off, than they are if a clean cut is 

 made with a knife. The small fine wood is the bearing wood, 

 and this must only be thinned out and shortened back where 

 necessary, always keeping the centre of the bush perfectly open. 

 About the middle of August the trees should be gone over and 

 the leading shoots broken off. Very great care has to be 

 taken in pruning Nuts ; an inexperienced hand will soon ruin 

 the bushes. About 12 feet apart is a good distance to plant, 

 the remainder of the ground being planted with Currants, 

 Gooseberries, or other bush-fruit, which will yield a return until 

 the Nuts require all the ground. Young bushes cost about 30s. 

 per 100, and the cost of planting Nuts only would be about £5 

 per acre. The average crop may be taken at 10 cwt. per acre, 

 and the price 6d. per lb. The cost of cultivation with standard 

 trees, Apples or Plums, 36 feet apart, together with bush-fruit 

 planted among the Nut-trees, would be about £15 per acre, in- 

 cluding manure. 



General Bemarks on Planting Bush Fruit. — In estimating 

 the cost of planting bush-fruit it is assumed that the land is in 

 good heart, clean and fit for planting ; if foul and poor the extra 

 cost of cleaning the land and manuring must be added. The 

 cost of cultivation does not include picking (the cost of which is 

 given separately), packing, carriage, commission on sales, rent 

 and rates ; the amount of these items varies considerably, and 

 must be added. The wages of labourers in different districts 



