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Hazel, Filbert, and Cob, and is known to botanists as Corylus avellana* 

 It belongs to the natural order Amentacese (Cupuliferae of some botanists), 

 or the Catkin-bearing family. The generic* name comes from the Greek 

 Korys (a helmet), in allusion to the calyx covering a greater part of the 

 fruit. The specific name is derived from Avellino, a town near Naples, 

 where the plants at one time grew in great abundance. By the early 

 Romans the fruit was called Nux Avellano. It is not quite certain how 

 the name Hazel originated, as authorities differ considerably. According 

 to some, the word came from the Saxon, and signified a head-dress, in 

 allusion to the fruit being covered with a husk. Others assert the word 

 is derived from the German hces (a behest), from the circumstance that a 

 Hazel stick was commonly used in driving cattle or compelling slaves to 

 -work. The Hazel bears unisexual flowers, or the male and female 

 separately. First to appear are the male blossoms, or catkins, the fine 

 yellow dust upon them being the fertilizing pollen. The female blossoms 

 :are of a pinkish colour, very small, and growing close to the sides of the 

 shoots. 



Corylus avellana embraces a number of sub-species, all of which are 

 deciduous shrubs or small trees. They are indigenous to most parts of 

 Europe, and are abundant in the woods and hedgerows of the United 

 Kingdom. From this section we obtain our ordinary Barcelona, Filbert, 

 and Cob nuts, the classes known to growers. Some have supposed that a 

 distinct species (Corylus maxima) is the source of the Red Filbert, but 

 there is no clear evidence that such is the case. The Filbert class, which 

 comprises a number of varieties, is distinguished from the others by the 

 nuts being oblong in shape, like finger nails, and covered with long husks. 

 The word Filbert is simply a corruption of full beard, a name originally 

 given in allusion to the length of the beards or husks. The Cob section 

 embraces varieties that have round and broad nuts with short husks, that 

 generally separate more freely than in the Filbert class. Cob is an old 

 English word meaning thick. Other species of Corylus utilized for their 

 nuts are : C. America, a native of North America, of low habit, and 

 bearing small, hard-shelled fruit ; C. colurna, a species indigenous to 

 Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, which bears freely, and yields large 

 nuts that are pleasantly flavoured. This is the tallest of the species, and 

 will attain a height of fifty or sixty feet. C. pontica, which produces 

 fruit somewhat similar to the Barcelona nnts, is largely grown in Turkey 

 and other parts of Eastern Europe. C. rostra t<t, a low-growing species 

 indigenous throughout North America, has small but very sweet and 

 pleasantly flavoured nuts. Possibly some of these species might prove 

 serviceable if fairly tried, but intending cultivators for profit had better 

 confine themselves to varieties of Corylus avellana. 



The cultivation of the Hazel should prove a profitable industry in 

 suitable localities. A considerable quantity of nuts are consumed in 

 Australasia, but at present the greater portion has to be imported. If the 

 local supply was larger the consumption would probably greatly increase, 

 and if at any time there should be a surplus in the colonies a market can 

 be readily found elsewhere. Though the Hazel is not a timber tree in 

 the strict sense of the term, yet its wood is valuable and used for 



