THE HAZEL NUT. 



385 



Posts of chestnut, and others of oak, had been 

 ])iit down at Wellington, in Somersetshire, pre- 

 vious to 1745. About 1763, when they had to 

 undergo repair, the oak posts were found to be 

 unserviceable, but the chestnut were very little 

 worn. Accordingly, the oak ones were replaced 

 by new, and the chestnut allowed to remain. In 

 twenty-five years (1788) the chestnut posts, 

 which had stood about twice as long as the oak, 

 were found in much better condition than those. 

 In 1772 a fence was made, partly of oak posts 

 and rails, and partly of chestnut. The trees made 

 use of were of the same age, and they were what 

 may be termed young trees. In nineteen years 

 the oak posts had so decayed at the surface as to 

 need to be strengthened by spurs, while the 

 chestnut ones required no such support. A gate- 

 post of chestnut, on which the gate had swung 

 fifty-two years, was found quite sound when 

 taken up; and a barn, constructed of chestnut in 

 1743, was found sound in every part in 1792. It 

 should seem, therefore, that young chestnut is 

 superior to young oak, for all manner of wood 

 work that has to be partly in the ground. We 

 have not heard of any case in which it has been 

 tried against larch. 



Cliestnut trees of full growth were more abun- 

 dant in England than they are now ; the timber 

 was used indiscriminately with oak, in the con- 

 struction of houses, in mill- work, and in house- 

 liold furniture. Many plantations of it have been 

 formed since the proprietors of land began to turn 

 their wastes to profit, in the production of trees. 

 It makes also excellent underwood, and is quick 

 growing. 



Tlie fruit of the chestnut in England is infe- 

 rior to the produce of the trees of the south of 

 France and of Spain. In some pi-ovinces of 

 France, and in Corsica, this fruit constitutes the 

 principal food of the poorer people. The inhabi- 

 tants of Limousin, a province of France covered 

 with chestnut trees, have from time immemorial 

 prepared them in a peculiar manner, which de- 

 prives them of all their astringent and bitter pro- 

 perties, and, thus prepared, they make them into 

 bread. 



The chestnut is the tree with which Salvator 

 Rosa delighted to adorn his liold and rugged 

 landscapes. It flourislied in the mountains of 

 Calabria, which furnished the scenes of many of 

 this great artist's pictures. It grows not unlike 

 the ash, except that its branches are more strag- 

 gling- 



Tliere are numerous varieties of the chestnut, 

 especially in the south of France and in Italy. 

 In Devonshire there arc some kinds which ripen 

 their fi-uit somewhat earlier than the others. 



The usual mode of propagating tins tree is 

 from well selected nuts; but if a fruit-bear- 

 ing tree is the ol)ject, tlie Devonshire practice of 

 grafting is preferable. The trees prefer a sandy 



loam, with a dry bottom; but will grow in any 

 common soil, provided the subsoil bo dry. The 

 nuts ripen from the end of September to the end 

 of October. When the outer capsule, containing 

 the nuts, begins to divide, and the nuts appear 

 of a brown colour, their full maturity is indi- 

 cated. 



The Hazel Nut, or Fiibert, (coiylus avel- 

 lena.) Natural family amentacce. Moncscia poly- 

 andria of Linn. 



This is a middle sized tree, with ovate, deeply 

 serrated leaves. The male catkins make their 

 appearance in September, on the previous year's 

 shoots, but are not fully developed or expanded 

 until the succeeding season, when the female 

 flowers appear about the first of February, and 

 in April are in full blow. These are small, and 

 of a beautiful red colour. It is said that the 

 hazel was originally imported into Italy from 

 Pontus; and hence was known among the Romans 

 by the name of mix Pontica, which, in process 

 of time, was changed into that of mas Avdlana, 

 from Avellino, a city of the kingdom of Naples, 

 where they were first cultivated; and, according 

 to Swinbourne, where they are still reared to a 

 great extent, producing an annual profit of 

 nearly twelve thousand pounds. 



The common hazel is found gi'owing in a wild 

 state in many woods and coppices in Great Bri- 

 tain. The nuts are extensively used as an article 

 of food; and the wood is employed for hoops, 

 fishing rods, walking sticks, crate making, and 

 other purposes. Formerly the roots were used 

 by cabinet makers; and where yeast was not 

 always readily to be procured, the twisted twigs 

 of the hazel were steeped in ale during its fer- 

 mentation until they had imbibed a quantity of 

 yeast, wdien they were hung up to dry; and in 

 this way preserved this useful commodity for 

 many months. The dry twigs thus saturated 

 were immei-sed into new wort to promote its fer- 

 mentation. 



There are many varieties of the hazel nut, dis- 

 tinguished by the size and shape, as also by the 

 quality of the kernel. The oblong large Spanish 

 nut is most esteemed, and in general use. 



The Filbert is not a distinct species, but merely 

 a variety of the common nut. 



The word filbert is a corruption of the original 

 English name for this nut, full-beard, which was 

 applied to the large and fringed husk, to distin- 

 guish it from the closer covering of the common 

 haze!. Our old poet, Gower, assigns a more 

 classical origin to the name: 



"Phillis 

 Was shape into a nutte-trco, 

 That all men it might see; 

 And after Phillis, Pldlberd 

 This tree was clcped." 



Of thefilbert thereare many sorts. Thered, white, 

 3 c 



