138 THE XUT CULTURIST. 



thirty to seventy-five cents per pound, if sent to market 

 in their fresh, half-ripened husk; but later on, when 

 the nuts have fallen out and become thoroughly ripened, 

 as when imported, ten cents a pound may be considered 

 an average price for the larger varieties. Several of 

 these are shown in Fig. 41, of natural size and form. 

 Another extra-large hazel is shown in Fig. 42. The 

 fifth year after planting, my specimen filbert orchard 

 had suffered so much from blight that it appeared as 

 shown in Fig. 43 ; but a few dozen trees have been re- 

 served, the rest being removed and reduced to ashes. 



Name and Nature of the Filbert Blight. The 

 reader must not suppose that one who has spent ^ much 

 time and money as the writer in experimenting with 

 these nuts, would make no effort to discover the origin 

 and name of such a virulent disease, and means of de- 

 stroying it if these were known. For many years I had 

 been well aware of its presence in nearly all of the nur- 

 series of the older States, as well as in the public parks 

 and private gardens. In the meantime I had diligently 

 examined the reports of the Division of Vegetable Pa- 

 thology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, as well 

 as the hundreds of bulletins of the various State experi- 

 ment stations, treating of the fungous diseases of plants, 

 all without finding a hint or reference to this widely 

 distributed and destructive blight of the filbert. I also 

 sent many specimens of the diseased twigs and branches 

 to professional mycologists, with no better results. 

 With the nature of the disease, its mode of multi- 

 plication and distribution, I had become somewhat fa- 

 miliar, but the information sought was : Had it ever 

 been described and given a scientific name, and if so, 

 where, and by whom ? This much of its history had 

 somehow escaped me, and, as it would appear from the 

 following correspondence, the chances were none too 

 good of finding it. 



