As the cobnut is really a type of filbert-which has the husk shorter than the nut-I am dealing with them both under one heading. These nuts grow well on almost any soil, though they probably do best on light land because under such conditions they make less strong growth, with the result that they crop better.
These brutted side shoots are shortened back another 3 inches in early March. For ease of picking, keep the tops of the branches at a height of about 7 or 8 feet. Leaders, therefore, have to be cut back hard each year. The female flowers bloom very early in the season, usually from mid-February onwards, the blossoming period usually lasts for one month. The flowers are extremely small, hardly any bigger than a pin's head, and are like a little mauvy tuft peeping out of a bud. Because the male and female flowers are borne separately on the same branch, it is important to see that the male pollen is well distributed, when the female tufts are receptive.
One must always be careful, however, because certain species produce dangerous proportions of hydrocyanic acid and therefore should not be used for normal edible purposes. Small quantities of these almonds, however, when ground, can be used for flavouring.
The variety I recommend is Prunus amygdalus praecox or one of its closely related forms. This produces nuts about one twentieth of the hydrocyanic acid yielded by the true bitter almonds, and therefore may be used for the normal cooking or dessert purposes. Young children should not be allowed to eat more than twenty to thirty at a time, however.
After the first five or six years all the winter pruning is done in late September or early in March, for at that time the male catkins will be opening and the pruning helps to disturb them and so help in the distribution of the pollen.
It is the varieties .Prunus amygdalus amara, Prunus amygdalus pollardii, Prunus temella, and Prunus amygdalo-persica, which produce dangerous proportions of hydrocyanic acid. Grow, prune and treat as for Peaches. It very much depends on the weather how these trees yield. So often their blossoms are cut by the frost that few nuts appear. But in the years when there is a nice mild spring, the almond trees may bear quite heavily and those who bother to grow them discover that the nuts are an attractive and nutritious fruit.
These brutted side shoots are shortened back another 3 inches in early March. For ease of picking, keep the tops of the branches at a height of about 7 or 8 feet. Leaders, therefore, have to be cut back hard each year. The female flowers bloom very early in the season, usually from mid-February onwards, the blossoming period usually lasts for one month. The flowers are extremely small, hardly any bigger than a pin's head, and are like a little mauvy tuft peeping out of a bud. Because the male and female flowers are borne separately on the same branch, it is important to see that the male pollen is well distributed, when the female tufts are receptive.
One must always be careful, however, because certain species produce dangerous proportions of hydrocyanic acid and therefore should not be used for normal edible purposes. Small quantities of these almonds, however, when ground, can be used for flavouring.
The variety I recommend is Prunus amygdalus praecox or one of its closely related forms. This produces nuts about one twentieth of the hydrocyanic acid yielded by the true bitter almonds, and therefore may be used for the normal cooking or dessert purposes. Young children should not be allowed to eat more than twenty to thirty at a time, however.
After the first five or six years all the winter pruning is done in late September or early in March, for at that time the male catkins will be opening and the pruning helps to disturb them and so help in the distribution of the pollen.
It is the varieties .Prunus amygdalus amara, Prunus amygdalus pollardii, Prunus temella, and Prunus amygdalo-persica, which produce dangerous proportions of hydrocyanic acid. Grow, prune and treat as for Peaches. It very much depends on the weather how these trees yield. So often their blossoms are cut by the frost that few nuts appear. But in the years when there is a nice mild spring, the almond trees may bear quite heavily and those who bother to grow them discover that the nuts are an attractive and nutritious fruit.
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