June ipip 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 7 



Filbert Culture a New Orchard Industry in Oregon 



By Earl Percy, County Agriculturist of Douglas County, Oregon 



THE hazelnut is one of the very few 

 nuts indigenous to Oregon and it is 

 to be expected that the filbert, its city 

 cousin, should do well commercially. 

 It has been tested in many parts of the 

 Northwest for years and has proven so 

 successful under the climatic and soil 

 conditions of the Willamette Valley and 

 in other districts of Western Oregon 

 and Washington that it is now an ac- 

 cepted branch of horticulture. Like the 

 walnut, it holds promise of becoming 

 one of the most thriving fields for the 

 fruit grower. 



Recently the writer unearthed an in- 

 teresting fact bearing upon the future 

 of filbert culture. A grove of filberts 

 43 years old has been found which 

 without any other attention than that 

 which Mother Nature bestows upon her 

 children, is still alive and producing 

 heavilv. 



In 1859 G. J. Callahan traded his 

 farm in Benton County, Missouri, for 

 the donation land claim of a Mr. White 

 in Fleurnoy Valley in Douglas County, 

 Oregon. This was one of those "un- 

 sight and unseen" affairs peculiar to the 

 early pioneer days. Callanhan loaded 

 his family and effects into a prairie 

 schooner, traveling by way of Califor- 

 nia, reaching his new home in 1864. 



David Grenot, a Frenchman living 

 nearby, sent to France for some filbert 

 seed of the Aveline, or thin-shelled 

 type. When these sprouted he divided 

 with his neighbor, Callahan. These 

 plants, fifty in number, were set out in 

 1876, around the barn lot, being planted 

 along the fence row, as is the practice 

 in the old country. Little attention was 

 ever given these nuts and the Callahan 

 family was content to divide the crops 



Filbert tree five years old, showing liush form. 



I-'ilbert tree five years old, showing tree form. 



with the jaybirds and the squirrels. 

 Forty-nine of these trees are alive to- 

 day, a remarkable record for longevity, 

 for a fruit tree without care or atten- 

 tion. Apparently, therefore, there is 

 no need to consider the matter of pro- 

 ductive age when discussing filbert 

 culture. 



The word filbert is a corruption of 

 the old English appellation "fuUbeard" 

 given to the cultivated hazelnut be- 

 cause of the long husk which protects 

 the nuts of some varieties. Filbert cul- 

 ture has been an established factor in 

 the agriculture of parts of Southern 

 Europe for generations, namely, in the 

 Province of Tarragon, Spain, Corsica, 

 Sicily and Southern France. In a 

 smaller way it is cultivated in Ger- 

 many and England. Millions of pounds 

 of filberts are imported from Europe, 

 yet it is said that there is not a ten-acre 

 grove to be found in all of France or 

 Italy. Nut trees, including the walnut, 

 are grown as a secondary crop in the 

 countryside of Southern Europe, being 

 planted along the fence rows and on the 

 steep hillsides, where other crops can- 

 not be raised. 



All attempts to cultivate the filbert 

 commercially in the eastern part of the 

 United States have failed, but from the 

 beginning the plantings in Western 

 Oregon and Washington have been suc- 

 cessful. Horticidturists know that cer- 

 tain fruits of Western Europe thrive in 

 the Western part of America, but do not 

 grow well in the East. The European 

 grape is another example. Such varie- 

 ties as are represented by the Tokay 

 have never been produced in a com- 

 mercial way along the Atlantic Coast, 

 but on the Pacific Slope attain a perfec- 



tion difficult to surpass even in Europe. 



Over twenty years ago Mr. A. A. 

 Quarnburg, the veteran fruit grower of 

 Vancouver, began experimenting with 

 the filbert to test its adaptability under 

 Western conditions. He secured many 

 varieties from various sources through- 

 out the world, and from these extensive 

 tests has pronounced filbert culture a 

 success. 



The frost factor does not enter into 

 filbert culture because it blooms and 

 poUenates in mid-winter. In fact the 

 male catkins begin to grow during 

 August of the previous season. The 

 pollen is scattered in December, Janu- 

 ary and February. The filbert is bi- 

 sexual, having both the male and female 

 flower on the same bush, but separate. 

 The female flowers are inconspicuous, 

 appearing as tufts of crimson-purple 

 stigmas on the tips of the fruiting buds. 

 A prominent grower at Springfield has 

 harvested twelve successive crops from 

 his filbert grove, but has lost his crop 

 of pears, cherries and grapes many 

 times from frost under similar condi- 

 tions as to frost susceptibility. 



At the present time the Barcelona is 

 the best variety for the Northwest. The 

 DuChilly is next in commercial impor- 

 tance. The first named is a broad, 

 heavy nut. The DuChilly is a long, 

 thin-shelled variety. The Barcelona 

 makes a large tree, as it is the heaviest 

 feeder among the filbert family. On 

 river-bottom soil it will grow to be as 

 big as a peach tree. For this reason 

 twenty feet is the minimum distance 

 for planting this variety. The matter of 

 pollenation is still somewhat in doubt. 

 It is claimed that the DuChilly will fer- 

 tilize the Barcelona, but that a recipro- 

 cal action does not take place. Mr. 

 George Dorris, who is probably the 



Filbert tree sliouinK liiikiiia, »»huli begin to 

 grow in August. The filbert tree pollenizes 

 during the winter months and is bi-sexual, 

 having both the male and female flowers on 

 the same tree. 



