Coryh 



lus 523 



stem diameter of 18 inches. The nuts of the wild tree are small, with a thick and 

 hard shell. It also grows in the mountains of Karabagh, but does not occur in the 

 Talysch district. /y^ j-j \ 



Cultivation 



The Turkish hazel was first cultivated in western Europe by Clusius, who 

 obtained -it from Constantinople in 1582. Linnaeus states that in 1736 the finest 

 specimen known was a tree in the Botanic Garden at Leyden, which had been 

 planted by Clusius. It was apparently first cultivated in England about the year 

 1665 by John Rea/ who states that he had then "many goodly trees of the filbeard 

 of Constantinople." He grafted these upon ordinary hazel stocks. 



The Turkish hazel is now a rare tree in England, seldom to be got from a 

 nursery, though perfectly hardy and easy to grow from seed, which It ripens in most 

 seasons in the southern half of England. I have raised many from a tree at 

 Tortworth Court, and the Earl of Ducie has done the same. The seed usually 

 germinates in the following spring if sown when ripe, but if kept till spring, some- 

 times not until the next year. The seedlings, on my soil at least, have more 

 inclination to become bushes than to make a single stem, but, if cut down two or 

 three years after planting, will throw up strong suckers which may be trained into 

 a tree, and should be planted in half-shady places or in an opening in a wood, as 

 they are liable when young to be injured by spring frosts. 



Remarkable Trees 



No other place can show so many fine trees as Syon, where there are in the 

 grounds at least five, all apparently of about the same age. The largest of these 

 stands near the east bridge over the lake, and is about 75 feet high, with a bole about 

 30 feet long and 6 feet 9 inches in girth. Near the gardener's house is another fine 

 tree more spreading in habit, about 70 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, which is probably not 

 the same as one figured by Loudon, which was then 61 feet high. This has been 

 figured by the Hon. S. Tollemache as the Hazel.'^ 



At Bute House, Petersham, Henry measured a well-shaped tree which, in 1904, 

 was 56 feet by 6 feet 7 inches. 



At Corsham Court there is a remarkable tree about 50 feet high, which divides 

 near the base into two stems, one of which is quite decayed, and the other, which has 

 the appearance of having originated as a sucker from it, is quite sound and 6 feet 

 8 inches in girth. Lord Methuen tells me that he can remember this tree as formerly 

 producing fruits which were sent up to table, but now it no longer bears any nuts. 



At White Knights I saw a grafted tree from which seedlings had sprung up in 

 the shrubbery, and one of these, growing at the base of a stump, is 10 feet high at 

 about ten years old. 



At Arley Castle there is a good tree which, in 1904, was by Mr. Woodward's 

 measurement 60 feet by 5 feet 7 inches. 



' Flora, 225 (1665). ^ British Trees with Illustrations, 9 (1901). 



Ill L 



