2026

arboretum AND FIIUTICETUM.

PART III.

distance, and at 5 ft. apart in tho row; the plants in one row alternating withopenings in the other. When an oak wood with hazel coppice is to beformed, the mode of proceeding has been already given (p. 1802.). Hazelcoppice, for the ordinary purposes of hurdle wood, hethers or wattles, crate-ware, hoops, &c., is generally cut every seven or eight years. The hurdlesare sometimes manufactured on the spot; and, the other articles being selected,the remaining shoots and branches are made up into faggots.

The varieties, whether botanical, or valued for their fruits, are propagatedby layers; though the purple hazel, being as yet rare, might be budded orgrafted.

The hazel, as a fruit tree, is most commonly propagated by suckers, moreespecially in the neighbourhood of Maidstone , where the nuts are grown togreater perfection than any where else in England. Plantations are generallymade in autumn, in soil which has been well trenched and manured. Theplants are placed in rows, at from 10 ft. to 20 ft. distance from each other,and at ]0ft. apart in the row; while between the rows hops are frequentlygrown for a few years; but, after the filberts have attained a sufficient size tonearly cover the ground, the hops are destroyed. Filberts are also frequentlyplanted in rows, in the intervals between larger fruit trees, such as apples,pears, cherries, &c.; but, though they grow very well in such situations, yet,from being shaded, and sometimes partially under the drip of the larger trees,they seldom, if ever, bear so well as in plantations by themselves. The prin-cipal art in the culture of the filbert, as a fruit tree, consists in training andpruning it properly, as the blossom is produced upon the sides and extremitiesof the upper young branches, and from small young shoots which proceed fromthe bases of side branches, cut off the preceding year. The tree requires to bekept remarkably open, in order that the main branches may produce youngwood throughout the whole of their length. In the filbert orchards aboutMaidstone , the trees are trained with short stems like gooseberry bushes, andare formed into the shape of a punch-bowl, exceedingly thin of wood. William-son, who has written on the subject in the Horticultural Transactions , advises“ to plant the trees where they are to remain; to suffer them to grow withoutrestraint for three or four years; and then to cut them down within a fewinches of the ground. They will push five or six strong shoots, which, thesecond year after cutting down, are to be shortened one third; then place asmall hoop within the branches, and fasten the shoots to it at equal distances.In the third year, a shoot will spring from each bud. These must be sufferedto grow till the following autumn, or spring of the fourth year, when they areto be cut off nearly close to the original stem, and the leading shoot of thelast year shortened two thirds. In the fifth year, several small shoots willarise from the bases of the side branches, which were cut off the precedingyear : from these the fruit is to be expected; and the future object of thepruner must be directed to produce an annual supply of these, by cutting outall that have borne fruit. The leading shoot is to be shortened every yeartwo thirds or more; and the whole height of the branches must not be sufferedto exceed 6 ft. Every shoot that is left to produce fruit should also betipped, which prevents the tree from being exhausted in making wood at theend of the branch. Observe, in pruning early in spring, to have a due supplyof male blossoms, and to eradicate all suckers.” Such is the Maidstone prac-tice, “ which has been long celebrated,” by which 30 cwt. of nuts per acrehave been grown on particular grounds, in particular years: but 20 cwt. isconsidered a large crop, and rather more than half that quantity the usualone, with a total failure three years out of five; so that the average produce isnot more than 5 cwt. per acre. Williamson thinks “ the failure happening sooften may be owing to the excessive productiveness of the successful years,owing to the mode of pruning, by which the whole nourishment of the tree isexpended in the production of fruit;” and he recommends having the treesrather more in a state of nature. ( Hort. Trans., vol. iv. p. 154-.)

If, at any time, there should appear to be a deficiency of male catkins in a