92 
Hints on Vegetable and Fruit Farming. 
Alice, Dr. Hogg, Refresher, La Grosse Sucree, Elton Pine, 
Eleanor, Comte de Paris, Sir Joseph Paxton, are among the be&t 
for field purposes. It is curious to notice how little attention is 
given to strawberries in the ordinary farm-gardens. The bed, 
in all probability, has not been changed for many years, and is 
a thick mass of roots and runners, instead of having been moved 
every four or five years. The fruit may be profitably grown 
upon banks and side ground which it is difficult to cultivate. It 
always meets with a ready sale, either raw or made into jam. 
There are fruit-growers in Kent who have from 80 to 120 acres 
planted with strawberries. 
Filberts and Cob-Nut-TEEES are grown from suckers or 
spawns taken from old trees, or pieces cut from the tree, as 
some prefer, and put in a nursery. In two or three years they 
are planted out about 13 feet apart, or 257 trees to the acre. 
A tolerably light soil is best for them, although they thrive 
remarkably upon the Atherfield Clay, in Kent, which is heavy 
and adhesive. They also do well in what is termed in Kent 
" stone-shattery " land. It is necessary that they should be 
in a position sheltered from the prevalent winds. Standard 
apple- or plum- or damson-trees are usually put with them in 
Kent, and currants and gooseberry-bushes are set between the 
rows, which are taken away when the nut-trees attain a good 
size. After four or five years a little crop may be expected, 
and after eight years they will yield a good quantity. The 
ground is dug in the winter with a three-pronged spud, and 
hoed once or twice in the summer. Rags, fur, or fur waste, 
shoddy and refuse manures are applied, not very lavishly. From 
one and a half to two tons of rags or of shoddy every other year 
form a sufficient dressing. Pruning requires great skill and 
care to keep the trees in cup-shape, with the inside as clear as 
possible. Every branch is examined by the " tree-cutter," who 
leaves the finest young wood, and cuts away the older and coarser 
branches. In height, full-grown trees are about 6 feet. Cob- 
nuts are more cultivated now than filberts, as the nuts are much 
larger and are more saleable. Owners of land, or tenants with 
long leases and agreements for compensation, might plant nut- 
trees to great advantage in places where the soil and situation 
are suitable. These nuts are packed in ordinary sieves, like 
other fruit, and consigned to salesmen in London, and are in 
great request, making from Id. to Is. 4rf. per lb. An average 
crop is about 8 cwts. per acre. A demand for cob-nuts has 
arisen in America, and it is likely that as the nuts produced 
in that country have not the same flavour as the English, this 
will assume important proportions. 
Ari'LE-TREES are planted either upon grass-land or in plan- 
