NUTS. 
349 
gardens, is a worthless, nearly barren variety, but we hsvc 
found the better English sorts productive and excellent in this 
climate, and at least a few plants of them should have a place 
in all our gardens. They are generally raised from layers, made 
in the spring, but they may also be grafted readily on the com- 
mon hazel-nut, or the Spanish nut. When planted out they 
should not be permitted to sucker, and should be kept in the 
form of bushes with low heads, branching out about two feet 
from the ground, and they should be annually pruned some- 
what like the gooseberry, so as to preserve a rather thin, open 
head — shortening back the extremities of the young shoots one 
half, every spring. 
The following are the best filberts known. 
1. Cosford. (Thomp. P. Mag.) Nut large, oblong; husk 
hairy ; shell remarkably thin, and kernel of excellent flavour. 
A good bearer. 
2. Frizzled. (Thomp. P. Mag.) Easily known by its hand- 
some, deeply cut husk. Nut of medium size, oval, compressed; 
husk hairy ; shell thick ; kernel sweet and good. 
3. Northamptonshire Prolific. (Thomp.) Ripens early. 
Nut of medium size, oblong, husk hairy ; shell thick. 
4. Red Filbert. Easily known from other sorts, by the 
crimson skin of the kernel. Fruit of medium size, ovate. 
Shell thick. Kernel with a peculiar, excellent flavour. 
5. White Filbert. (Thomp. Lind.) Resembles the last, 
but with a light yellow or white skin. The tree is also quite 
bushy. Nuts ovate. Husk long and tubular. 
The English generally call those varieties with long husks, 
filberts , ( fiull-beards ,) and those with short husks, simply nuts. 
The Chestnut, ( Castanea vesca , W; Chatagnier, of the 
French ; Castainenbaum , German ; Castagno , Italian ;) is one of 
our loftiest forest trees, common in most parts of the United 
States and Europe, and bearing excellent nuts. The foreign 
variety best known in this country, is the Spanish Chestnut, 
with fruit nearly as large as that of the Horse-Chestnut, and 
which is excellent when boiled or roasted. It thrives very well 
here, but is not quite hardy to the north or east of this. One 
or two English varieties have been produced, of considerable 
excellence, among which, the Downton is considered the best. 
The French cultivate a dozen or more varieties of greater or 
less excellence, but though some of them have been introduced, 
we have not yet fairly tested them in this country. 
The Chinquapin, or Dwarf Chestnut, common in some parts 
of the middle and southern states, is a dwarf species of the 
chestnut, usually growing not more than six to ten feet high, 
and bearing fruit of half the size of the common chestnut, with 
the same flavour. It is worth a place in a small fruit garden, 
as a curiosity. 
