HAZELS 211 



good kinds sent to market in the husk when the 

 husk first takes on the tinge of ripening. In New 

 York markets fresh hazels were sold for prices as 

 high as seventy-five cents a pound before the time 

 of war prices. The market for fresh hazels, how- 

 ever, is probably a comparatively limited one, while 

 the market for the fully ripe nuts and the hazel oils 

 is practically unlimited. 



Hazels as a group are not so particular about soils 

 as are some of the walnuts, standing perhaps mid- 

 way between the walnuts and hickories in this re- 

 gard. If hazels are planted in a soil which is too 

 rich and moist they have a tendency to produce very 

 large woody growth at the expense of nut produc- 

 tion. On the other hand, in poor and thin soil they 

 grow slowly and bear small nuts even when prolific. 

 As a rule they prefer soil neutral in reaction, al- 

 though the common American hazels will thrive 

 pretty well in soil that is distinctly acid. Well 

 drained loam gives the favorite soil texture for the 

 hazels, but they manage to get on pretty well in 

 sandy soils and in some of the clay soils. On the 

 northern Pacific coast hazels have found their best 

 home up to the present time in North America. 



Hazels of varieties which do not exceed fifteen 

 feet in height need not be set more than fifteen feet 

 apart in the orchard. Larger kinds will have to be 

 set at distances appropriate to their dimensions, but 

 above all is to be remembered the fact that hazels 

 need company for cross pollination. It is essential 



