120 THE XUT CULTURIST. 



noot ; and in Italy Avellana, from Avellana, a city of 

 Naples, near which there is a valley where these nuts 

 have been extensively cultivated for many centuries. 



History of the Filbert. It is claimed that the 

 filbert was first known to the Romans as Nux Pontica, 

 because introduced from Pontus ; but it must have be- 

 come naturalized throughout southern Europe in very 

 early times. But the Italian name of Avellana appears 

 to have been applied to the wild hazel of Britain, long 

 before Linnaeus adopted it as the specific name of the 



FIG. 38. LARGE SEEDLING HAZELNUT. 



indigenous species. John Evelyn, one of the most care- 

 ful and learned of English arboriculturists of his time, 

 in referring to these nuts, in his "Sylva," 1664, says: 

 "I do not confound the filbert Pontic, distinguished by 

 its beard, with our foresters or bald hazelnuts, which, 

 doubtless, we had from abroad, bearing the names of 

 Avelan or Avelin, as I find in some ancient records and 

 deeds in my custody, where my ancestors' names were 

 written Avelan, alias Evelin." 



