72 



tlii.s fiiiifiiis country because tliey are subject to bliglit. More promis- 

 ing strains seem to be coming forward. 



The hybrids of filberts and hazelnuts are promising. Any one 

 who wants a little fun ought to visit tl:e nursery of Mr. J. F. Jones 

 of Lancaster, Pa., and see his display of filberts produced by crossing 

 with the American hazelnut. Some of them are six inches high at 

 the end of several years and some are ten feet higli at the end of several 

 years — a great thick bush clustered with. nuts. 



Many xarieties of filberts and their hybrids are on sale at com- 

 mercial nurseries. 



7. Tlic Persian Walnut — Commonly called Englisli walnut. 



This is first in present economic importance in American nut culture. 

 I mention it last because it is the least adapted climatically to this 

 climate. The tree, native to Persia, has wandered to America by way 

 of Europe. Our sole dependence thus far is on trees of this origin, and 

 as a result we have many tender strains. However, this species ap- 

 pears to have as many variations as the apple. 



The thousands of Persian walnuts that are grown in the United 

 States from Massachusetts to Oklahoma by way of New York and 

 southern INIichigan have proved themselves almost infinitely variable 

 regarding fruiting, flavor, tendency to blight, and frost injur}'. P'rom 

 this welter of possibilities a number of the best varieties have been 

 selected, and trees are for sale in the commercial nurseries. Meanwhile 

 I would suggest to the Peninsula landowner another policy, possiblj' 

 the best of all policies. Find among the many Persian walnuts that 

 are growing and doing well here one that seems good enough to propa- 

 gate on a commercial scale. If you do not know how to do it yourself 

 Mr. Jones or Mr. Hershey will raise a few hundred or a few thousand 

 for you. If you wish to plant seedling trees they will probably be in- 

 tellectually interesting and in most cases worthless, or relatively so as 

 to fruit. Tlie person who tries to make a commercial orchard of seed- 

 ling trees belongs to that large class of whom it is reported that one is 

 born every minute. 



As to technique of growing nut trees, first of all I suggest your door- 

 yard. Nothing is more majestic than a pecan tree, while the black 

 walnut and Persian walnut and hickory need but to be seen at their 



