0414 



it's very rarely used in Europe. The nuts are eaten dry when they're green. They have a 

 pleasant flavor, but too many of them will give you indigestion. A variety known as the 

 big hazelnut sometimes appears for dessert at the best tables; confectioners make sweets 

 out of them by coating them with sugar. 



Cultivation. The hazel is propagated in seed beds in February after the seeds 

 had been stored in dry sand, by rooted suckers that are separated in November, and lastly 

 by layering. It does well in all kinds of soil, but it has a preference for loose and sandy 

 soil in the shade next to a stream. Several known varieties include: 1°. small white fruit; 

 2°. oblong red fruit; 3°. very big, round fruit; 4°. fruit in clusters. 



KEY TO PLATE. 



491. Common hazel. 1. Flowering branch. 2. Female flower bud. 3. Scale of male 

 flower, exterior view. 4. Same, interior view with stamens. 5. Anther, enlarged. 



