114 
Fruit-growing in Kent. 
of picking and selling them at the busiest time of the year. 
They are for the most part sent to Covent Garden, in sieves 
which hold about 28 lbs. of green, and 40 lbs. of ripe or 
harvested nuts. It is customary to send a portion of the crops 
to London when the bunches are quite green, and the kernel 
not by any means fully developed. There is a certain demand 
for these, as they look well on the table, though at this time 
they have but a mere soupcon of the true filbert flavour. When 
filberts sell well at this stage, some growers send their whole 
crop up, as the weight of green nuts is nearly double that 
they would have if duly harvested. Prices of filberts range 
from 5d. to Is. per lb., according to the supply. They are not 
much influenced by the competition of foreign nuts, none of 
which have the flavour or the appearance of the genuine Kentish 
filbert, although the quantity of nuts of all kinds imported is 
very large. The value of the imports of this duty-free fruit, 
which chiefly comes from Belgium, France, and Brazil, amounted 
to 584,325/. in 1875, as against 408,2917. in 1871.* 
The Kent cob-nut, or " Lambert's filbert,"t is superseding the 
old-fashioned filbert in a degree, and is generally preferred for 
new plantations. It is a much larger nut than the filbert, with a 
thicker shell, and is a more hardy and more abundant bearer. As 
these trees do not thrive so well under standards as filberts, they 
are now generally planted by themselves, with bushes under them, 
or with plums, damsons, or half-standard apple-trees. They are 
treated in the same way, requiring, perhaps, to be cut a little 
harder than filbert-trees. A casual observer would not notice 
the difference between cob and filbert trees, but their leaves are 
different ; the whole growth of the former is more vigorous, 
and its " bloom " or pistilline cluster is darker than the filbert 
bloom. As a rule cob-nuts make rather higher prices than 
filberts. 
" Bush " or " Under " Fruit. 
A brief description of the various kinds of fruit known as 
bush, soft, or under fruit must be given, as these form a 
very important part of the fruit grown in Kent ; commencing 
with 
Gooseberries. — The gooseberry bush is planted under filbert, 
apple, and other fruit trees, and does remarkably well upon the 
loam, " pinnock," and the lighter soils of the Hythe beds. It 
thrives best in fairly dry land, and is grown extensively in the 
* The ' Returns of the Board of Trade for 1876 ' had not been published when 
this was written. — Ed. 
t So called from a Mr. Lambert, who introduced it to the Horticultural Society 
in 1812. 
