HAZELS 205 



hazels. If the grafting is done at a distance of sev- 

 eral inches above the ground no stolons are sent out. 

 On these larger stocks and roots the common Ameri- 

 can hazel continues to bear heavily for a number of 

 years in succession, but we do not as yet know how 

 many years. Recently, I have grafted European 

 hazels upon American hazel stocks in the pasture. 

 These large tops required so much feeding from the 

 roots that few stolons were sent out. At the present 

 moment it appears to be possible to transform acres 

 of worthless hazel patches into very valuable nut 

 bearing orchards by grafting them to European va- 

 rieties. When this is done we may graft to one 

 healthy young stock in the hazel patch and cut off 

 all of the surrounding bushes springing from the 

 same root. There is one disadvantage in this method 

 of propagation. The European hazel top develops 

 into such a rapidly growing heavy bush that it will 

 blow over or bend over from its own weight and 

 injure the more slender American hazel stock near 

 the ground unless we support each bush with a stout 

 permanent stake of durable wood or metal. At the 

 present time I have adopted the plan of grafting 

 three American hazel stocks in one clump and then 

 fastening the bushes together, subsequently tying a 

 few branches with tarred sisal cord. This tripod 

 stock arrangement may avoid the necessity for arti- 

 ficial support. The outlook for transforming our 

 worthless pasture hazels into valuable income pro- 

 ducers appears to be hopeful at least. 



