HAZEL. 275 



Soil and planting. The soil for almonds should be light, 

 warm and well drained. The trees, like the peach, will stand much 

 drought but will yield good crops only on rich, productive soil. 

 It is, however, impatient of too much water in the soil. The 

 trees are generally planted about 24 feet apart each way. It is 

 customary to do considerable pruning to the tree in order to get 

 it in good form while it is young, after which little pruning is 

 done. 



Propagation. The almond is grown almost entirely by bud- 

 ding on seedlings of the sweet or bitter almond, though it is 

 sometimes worked upon peach stocks. The seedlings are han- 

 dled in very much the same way as those of the peach and the 

 trees are planted in an orchard when one year old from the bud. 

 The peach and the prune D'Argen are also successfully grown on 

 the almond. 



Marketing. Where the summer air is very dry, the hulls 

 open readily and the unstained nuts are in good condition for 

 marketing and require no further care. In some sections, how- 

 ever, the nuts are more or less stained by rains and then recourse 

 is had by bleaching them with sulfur fumes. As the sulfur 

 fumes do not penetrate to the kernel, the nuts are not injured by 

 this treatment. The only advantage is that it gives them a little 

 better appearance. If the hulls do not separate readily from 

 the nuts it is customary to use what is known as an almond 

 huller, by means of which the hulls are pulled off. Nuts that 

 are so badly stained that they cannot be made marketable are 

 generally sold for confectioner's use. 



The Hazel. 



The European hazels are known botanically as Corylus arel- 

 lana, C. pontica and C. maxima, and in Europe, are cultivated on 

 an extensive scale and yield the most filberts of commerce. The 

 species ordinarily grown in Europe have shown themselves quite 

 liable to disease in this country and have not been successfully 

 cultivated here. Our two native species have a wide range and 

 are quite variable, some plants bearing fruit of very good size 

 and quality. 



The American hazels are known botanically as Corylus amer- 

 icana, C. rastrato and C. California. They are of dwarf form and 



