A dictionary of modern gardening - University Library

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FIL 226 FIL
a pit or forcing-house. If neither of
these can be had, prepare a small bed
of leaves and manure, and place a deep
frame over it, plunging the plants to
such a depth as to enable the roots to i
have S'' or 10'' ! more heat than the tops.
By doing this the roots are put in action |
varieties distinct; and this is a very
easy and expeditious method of propa-
gation ;
for every twig layed will readily
ffrow : therefore, in autumn or winter,
let some of the lower branches that are
well furnished with young shoots be
pegged
down in the ground ; then lay
the young shoots in the earth, with
first, which causes the embryo fruit to all |
come forth in such a strong healthy their tops out, every one of which will
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manner 1 as will ensure a good crop. root, advance in length, and be fit to
After the fruit is fairly shown, the plants transplant by autumn following, when
]
may then be removed to any forcing- i they should be separated, and planted
house where they can have plenty of in nursery rows, two feet asunder, and
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light and air. If they can be plunged trained as observed of the seedlings;
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when any considerable quantity are
' but
!
in gentle heat, so much the better. It
should always be borne in mind that to be raised this way, it is eligible to
the fig, in its growing state, is almost form j
an aquatic, therefore little danger is to
be apprehended from over-watering,
but serious mischief may arise from not
attending to this ; for if ever the soil
gets thoroughly dry when the fruit is
far advanced, some evil will be sure to
result." Gard. Chron.
The Temperature borne by the fig advantageously
is very high. Even when
ranging from 90" to 110° during the
day, and never lower at night than 70°,
though some varieties grow too luxuriantly,
yet the Large White ripened
both its spring and autumn produce,
and Mr. Knight thus obtained from the
same plants eight crops in twelve
months.
FILBERT. Corylus avellana.
Varieties.—Frizzled, great bearer.
Red (C. tuhulosa), pellicle of kernel
pink, flavour excellent. White, pellicle
white, flavour good. Cosford, great
bearer, good ; shell very thin. Downton,
large, square. Cob Nut.
Propagation.—This is done by planting
the nuts, by layers, suckers from
the root; and by grafting and budding.
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stools for that purpose, by pre-
viousiy, a year before, heading-down
some trees near the ground, to throw
out a quantity of shoots near the earth,
convenient for laying for that use annually.
Suckers arising from the roots of
trees raise by either of the above methods,
if taken up in autumn, winter, or
spring, with good fibres, will also grow,
form proper plants, and produce the
same sort of fruit as their parent plant
and suckers of these may also be used
for the same purpose.
By grafting and budding. — These
methods have also the same effect as
layers of continuing any particular variety
with certainty, and the operation
is to be perfornied in the usual way on
stocks of any of the varieties of this gen
u s . (Abercrombie.)
" The season for planting is autumn
or spring; or any interval in mild weather
from October till the beginning of
March. Allot detached standards not
less than ten and thence to twenty feet
distance, to have room to branch out in
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By the Nuts.—This should be done in
full heads." Loudon, Enc. Gard.
Soil.—"A hard loam of some depth.
October; but if postponed until spring, on a dry subsoil, which dress every
preserve the nuts in sand, and in Feb^
ruary plant them in drills near two
inches deep. The plants will appear
in six or eight weeks, which, v/hen a
year old, plant out in nursery-rows, and
year ; as the filbert requires a considerable
quantity of manure." — Loudon^
Enc. Gard.
Pruning and Culture.—Mr. R. Scott
says, "The plants should be trained
there train them two or three years. In with single stems to the height of a foot
raising these trees from the nut, the so ; then permitted to branch into a
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sorts are not to be always depended |
or
symmetrical head, rather open in the
on, for, like other seedling trees, they middle, and not of greater height than
often vary, so that the most certain a man can conveniently reach from the
method to continue the respective sorts ground, to perform the necessary opera-
is by layers.
By Layers is one of the most certain
tions of pruning and gathering.
" The proper time for pruning is in
methods of continuing the respective the spring, when the male blossoms are
;