Page 4 



BETTER FRUIT 



January, ip20 



being familiar with most of tlie plant- 

 ings in the state, ventures to estimate 

 the acreage of filberts over six years of 

 age at thirty-flve to forty-five acres, and 

 the total number of trees planted in 

 orchard form in the state at from ten 

 to twelve thousand. Production will 

 increase rapidly during the next few 

 years and the home grown nut will 

 soon become known in the channels of 

 trade. 



The filbert trees are planted much 

 closer together than most other nut 

 trees and their yields are greater per 

 acre, and usually they get into commer- 

 cial bearing at an earlier age than do 

 the other nuts. Among the records of 

 yields that have come into the writer's 

 hand the following are interesting: 

 H. A. Kruse of Wilsonville obtained 

 1,400 pounds from 100 trees 9 years old; 

 in 1918 from one and one-third acres of 

 13-year-old trees he reported a yield of 

 2,165 pounds. Fifty Barcelonas aver- 

 aged 30 pounds per tree, while some of 

 his individual trees produced as high 

 as 50 pounds. The trees are growing on 

 a fine silt-loam soil and are given splen- 

 did care. 



A Gresham grower, whose trees are 

 much crowded, 215 being planted on 

 about an acre of ground, reports that in 

 his seventh year his yield was 900 

 pounds and in the following two years 

 700 pounds. 



A Vancouver grower, who planted 380 

 trees to the acre, spacing them 10x14 

 feet apart, reports a peak yield of 2,000 

 pounds and an average yield of about 

 1,000 pounds per acre. 



A Salem grower with two acres of 

 trees 6 or 7 years old that had been 

 considerably neglected and which were 

 allowed to grow suckers obtained 1,200 

 pounds in 1917 and netted $125 per acre 

 in 1918. 



Joseph Nibler, of Woodburn, with 

 two and one-half acres 9 years old, har- 

 vested 3,100 pounds of nuts in 1918. 

 One thousand pounds of these came 

 from 400 Aveline bushes. One hundred 

 and twelve Barcelonas produced 2,000 

 pounds. Nibler had one 8-year-old 

 Barcelona that yielded 35 pounds and 

 two others 25 pounds each. His soil is 

 the ordinary Willamette Valley loam, 

 of which there are thousands of acres 

 as good as his. 



George Dorris, at Springfield, reports 

 a 3-year-old tree that bore 384 nuts; a 

 5-year-old that produced 16 pounds; a 

 6-year-old, 21 pounds; a 10-year-old tree 

 46 pounds, and 13-year-oId trees with 

 50 to 60 pounds. Dorris has an ideal 

 filbert location. His soil is a rich, moist 

 river bottom. He stated at a meeting of 

 the Western Walnut Association that 

 one acre of No. 1 Barcelonas, given 

 every advantage of soil, care and polli- 

 nation, should produce the following 

 yields: 



At 5 years SCO to 1,000 pounds 



At 6 years 1,000 10 1,500 



At 8 years 2,000 to 3,000 



At 10 years 3,000 to 4,000 



At 12 years 4,000 to 5,000 



The better growers, such as Dorris, 

 are now advising that the filbert, espe- 

 cially varieties such as Barcelona, be 

 planted about 20 feet apart, which gives 

 108 to 125 trees per acre, depending 



upon the system of planting. Small 

 growing varieties, such as the Avelines, 

 can be planted at 14 to 16 feet apart. 

 However, as the different varieties are 

 usually planted together for pollination 

 purposes, the larger spacing should be 

 used. 



The filbert is usually propagated from 

 suckers that grow from the root or from 

 the underground part of the stem of the 

 tree. Those suckers that have a few 

 fibrous rootlets on them are trans- 

 planted to the nursery row for a year 

 or two, when they are ready for the 

 orchard. Layering is also practiced. 

 This form of propagation prevents in- 

 tensive cultivation of the trees and 

 hence tells on the resulting crop of 

 nuts. To obtain trees by this method, 

 bend over a low-growing limb and 

 partly cover it with dirt, leaving the tip 

 exposed. Some growers tie this tip to 

 a stake to insure a straight growing tree. 

 Layering is done in the spring. One 

 grower reports an average of sixteen 

 salable plants or trees, using this 

 method of propagation. Some of the 

 more progressive nurserymen are plant- 

 ing seed and grafting the two-year-old 

 roots, which gives a much more desir- 

 able form of tree. This practice will 

 permit a more rapid expansion of the 

 filbert acreage, which has been retarded 

 because of scarcity of nursery stock. 



There is little reliable information on 

 the subject of filbert pollenization. No 

 carefully controlled experiments have 

 ever been reported. Such information 

 as we are able to present is based on 

 field observations of growers, where 

 the liability of error is always present. 

 Barcelona, which is the most widely 

 planted variety in the West, is at least 

 partially self-fertile. It will bear crops 

 when isolated, but some growers are of 

 the opinion that the yield is increased 

 by cross pollination with certain other 

 varieties. Dorris reports that both Du- 

 Chilly and White Aveline have a bene- 

 ficial effect on it. Nibler, at Woodburn, 

 thinks that his Barcelonas among his 

 Kentish Cob seedlings yield better than 

 do those that are isolated. Many of the 

 pistillate blossoms of this variety are 

 out when the catkins are, and these are 

 probably fertilized by their own pollen, 

 but later, after the Barcelona catkins 

 are all gone, still other pistillate flowers 

 appear. It is probably the pollenization 

 of these late blossoms by the pollen of 

 varieties that shed their pollen later 

 than does the Barcelona that causes the 

 increased crop noted when this variety 

 is planted among certain other varieties. 



White Aveline is self-sterile. Dorris 

 finds that when planted with Red Ave- 

 line and Davidiana, both red and white 

 Avelines produce well, but whether it 

 is the Avelines pollenizing each other 

 or the Davidiana pollenizing them he 

 cannot tell. For this reason he recom- 

 mends that these three be planted 

 together. 



DuChilly is one of the finest nuts 

 grown and as soon as a sure pollenizer 

 is found for it it will be more largely 

 planted. Several growers think they 

 have varieties that will fertilize it, but 

 more definite proof will have to be 

 given before one can plunge on the 



variety. With Dorris the Davidiana 

 seems to do the work, but this combin- 

 ation is not the best, since no variety 

 has yet been found to pollenize the 

 latter variety. With him, too, the Ave- 

 lines pollenize the DuChilly only to a 

 very limited extent. 



Barcelona is the safest variety to 

 plant in the light of present knowledge. 

 One cannot go wrong with it. As a mat- 

 ter of safety DuChilly should be planted 

 with it in at least limited quantities. 

 Barcelona is a strong grower and heavy 

 bearer of large nuts with medium thick 

 shells. The nuts are of good quality. 

 The variety is quite a heavy producer 

 of suckers when young, which is prob- 

 ably one of the reasons why it is so 

 widely planted. The nut itself is large, 

 short, compressed, thick, shell hard; 

 husk shorter than the nut, which makes 

 it a self-husker, a very desirable 

 feature. 



If a perfect pollenizer were to be 

 found for DuChilly, it would probably 

 become the most popular variety grown. 

 It produces the largest and one of the 

 best quality nuts of the varieties com- 

 monly grown in the Northwest. The 

 nut is elongated, oval, broad, over an 

 inch long and three-quarters of an inch 

 wide. The nut is often confused with 

 Davidiana, but is longer, flatter and 

 more angular. The bush is less rank in 

 growth than Barcelona, being of me- 

 dium size. It is a rather shy producer 

 of suckers. 



Davidiana — This variety is not widely 

 distributed in this section and it is 

 doubtful whether any of the nursery- 

 men can supply it in any quantities. 

 Those who wish to have Davidianas in 

 their plantings for pollenizers will do 

 well to plant the strong growing Barce- 

 lona and later top-work Davidiana into 

 them. Grafting wood is much more 

 plentiful than are Davidiana suckers 

 and the filbert is not as hard to graft as 

 is the walnut. Scions should be cut in 

 January and grafting done in February. 

 A softer wax than the common walnut 

 wax should be used in the grafting. 

 This variety resembles to quite an ex- 

 tent the DuChilly in character of nut 

 produced. The husk is nearly smooth 

 or slightly downy, as long or longer 

 than the nut and deeply cut; the nut is 

 large, roundish ovate; shell pale brown 

 andbeautifully striated with dark brown 

 lines; kernel is full and of excellent 

 flavor. While according to Dorris' ob- 

 servations Davidiana has great value as 

 a pollenizer to DuChilly and possibly 

 to Barcelona and the Avelines, no var- 

 iety is yet known in our country that 

 will pollenize it. The bush is a strong, 

 vigorous grower. Dorris says of it: 

 "The Davidiana to my mind is the finest 

 variety grown, if only a pollenizer can 

 be found for it." 



White Aveline — This variety produces 

 a medium sized nut with very thin shell, 

 and with kernel full and sweet and of 

 the highest quality. It is the choicest 

 home nut, and when the public once 

 learns of its quality it will be in great 

 demand in spite of its smaller size. It 

 has a commercial disadvantage in that 

 the husks are longer than the nuts, pre- 

 venting the nuts from falling from the 



