THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, December 2, 1856. 147 
of operations, certain localities are famed for furnishing 
fruits and vegetables of a better kind than other places 
are. We have Pears from Jersey, Broccoli from Corn¬ 
wall, and Asparagus from the Yale of the Thames, in 
better condition than when these three articles are all 
produced at one place, and many other things in a 
similar way might be pointed out; but the subject of my 
present chapter is The Filbert, almost peculiar to 
the county of Kent, and the culture of which seems 
to be better understood here than in most places. 
Its cultivation involves a greater amount of artificial 
treatment than that of most other fruits; and strangers, 
who have only seen a solitary plant or so in the mid¬ 
land or northern counties, have but a very imperfect 
knowledge of the assiduous care with which the Kentish 
fruit-grower tends this plant. A highly-trained wall- 
tree has not a greater dissimilarity to an open standard 
than has the closely-pruned Filbert of Kent to the 
rambling Hazel-bush or tree from which it springs, and 
in which form it is not unusual to find it where its cul¬ 
ture is but little known. 
Soil and Situation. —The natural habits of all 
robust-growing plants form a fair indication of what will 
suit them in a cultivated form; so the dry, gravelly 
banks on which our wild Hazels are found will be a very 
good guide, in most instances, for their improved off¬ 
spring. Though there is often a diversity of soils planted 
with Filbert-trees, still the term dry must in all cases 
be insisted on, and a situation naturally dry is much 
better than one made so by draining; in fact, it is 
questionable whether any land that has required draining 
can be brought to produce a profitable crop of Filberts. 
The soil on which the best crops are produced here is 
a pale yellow loam liberally intermixed with stones of 
medium hardness, and with a rocky subsoil at no great 
depth. The aspect is not of so much consequence as 
the nature of the soil; but, when a choice is to be had, 
the south-west is generally preferred. A good trench¬ 
ing should be given, so as to give at least eighteen 
inches of good tillage earth in which to plant the 
trees. This is on the supposition that a new planta¬ 
tion is to be made; but, if a few trees only are wanted 
in some orchard of mixed fruits, some modification of 
the above may be made. Yet it is not advisable 
to plant them under the shade of other trees; for 
though they are often enough placed so here, the practice 
is not considered good, and the best results are obtained 
when they are allowed to form a plantation by them¬ 
selves. Shelter from the cold winds of early spring is 
of much service to them, so that a high hedge or wood 
to windward is a useful adjunct, and sometimes an 
artificial means of sheltering is adopted, as will be 
shown hereafter; for the female blossoms of the nut are 
very susceptible of injury from frost, and, like other 
fruits, the crop is sometimes irrecoverably lost from its 
visits. 
Propagation of the Plants. —In this case we have 
to fall back to nature again, as the best modes of 
propagation are by the natural method of suckers or seeds. 
The latter, being uncertain in producing always good¬ 
bearing trees, is rarely adopted, save by those who are 
anxious to have some other sorts, while the possibility 
is, that many of them will degenerate into the common 
wild Hazel. Be this, however, as it may, it is certain 
that seedling plants do not bear so easily as plants from 
suckers, cuttings, or grafts; and, as this is important, it 
is better to secure a good-bearing plant than an uncertain 
one. Hence the general adoption of suckers, which, by- 
the-by, are not produced in any great abundance, and, 
when the cultivation is better understood, there will 
be fewer still; but I mention suckers as the most 
common way of propagating the species, as grafting is 
todious, and cuttings do not generally succeed; and 
seedlings, as stated above, having a tendency to sport, 
and return to the original wild Hazel, suckers are, for 
many reasons, the most suitable way of procuring young 
plants. 
Procuring a Stock. —Extensive fruit-growers around 
here rear almost all their own trees of Apple, Pear, 
Plum, Filbert, Gooseberry, and Currant, and have 
generally a plot of ground set apart as a nursery for 
such purpose. Here are rows of stocks ready for 
working on—a principle that might be copied by many 
gentlemen’s gardeners; Gooseberries and Currants by 
the thousand, and generally more or less of Filberts; 
but it must be observed, that the Filbert is, perhaps, 
more dainty as to the situation it likes than most other 
fruits, and, consequently, is not found in every nursery 
of this sort, for the very good reason that the grower 
does not want it for his own planting; but when the 
Filbert really does grow well, few fruits pay so profitably; 
but, as before said, every place does not suit them, and 
even considerable differences are observed in plantations 
adjoining each other, and seemingly equally suited 
as to soil, aspect, and the other features necessary to 
success. However, it would be advantageous for the 
intending planter to procure his plants from a soil 
inferior to his own, as few plants like to change to 
a worse place; but the stock ought not to be stunted 
and weak. Most growers of Filberts take up a quantity 
of suckers from some old plant that has been left to 
produce them in a way that will be explained hereafter, 
and grow them a year or two in a nursery before planting 
out, during which time they are pruned in so as to form 
the future shape of the tree. 
Planting. —Presuming the plot of ground, as noticed 
above, has been prepared ready for planting, it is 
necessary here to consider to what purpose it can be put 
in the interval the trees are arriving at full size; for, be 
it remembered, that in the cultivated condition the trees 
are not allowed to grow fast, so that it is several years 
before they arrive at what is here called their full size, 
and during that time the ground might be occupied by 
some useful crop. The common practice here is to 
plant the Filberts at the rate of about 300 to the acre, 
or, in fact, in rows twelve feet apart, and the same dis¬ 
tance from each other in the row; and between each plant, 
and also between each row, Gooseberries or Currants 
are planted, so that the whole plantation presents a tree 
at every six feet, three-fourths of them being Currants or 
Gooseberries, as above, and one-fourth Filberts. It 
sometimes happens that Apple or other large fruit-trees 
are planted as well, a six-foot standard being inserted 
every twenty-four or more feet; but this plan is falling 
into disuse, as the Filbert does not do so well underneath 
the other fruit, and is, therefore, deserving a site for itself, 
except, as described above, Gooseberries or Currants be 
planted with it to occupy the ground for one year. In 
planting, rich stimulating manures will not be wanted 
if the soil be of a good kind, as fresh maiden soil is, or 
ought to be, sufficiently rich for this production. The 
best time for planting is the autumn, as soon as the leaf is 
sufficiently ripe to insure its falling; for, if this is not 
attended to, most deciduous trees retain them all the 
winter, and a new-planted tree with leaves hanging on it 
so long suffers more from the wind in consequence. As the 
trees are always dwarf bushy ones, staking is not wanted; 
but, if very severe weather follows quickly after their 
planting, a little litter round their collar would be of 
service; and it is proper to state here that the ground 
ought not to be trampled on when very wet .if possible, 
as on its sweetness and general good tillage depends the 
future success of the Filbert crop. J. Robson. 
(To be continued .) 
