ON THE HICKORY NUT 
There are two familiar types of hazelnut that 
often grow in the same region, and that resemble 
each other so closely that the boys who gather the 
nuts commonly do not discriminate between them. 
One of these grows in husks with a long beak, 
while the other has an incurved husk that in some 
cases does not fully cover the nuts. There are 
sundry varieties of the two species that may some- 
times be found growing in the same patch. 
The fact of such variation in the wild species 
is of course important from the standpoint of the 
would-be plant developer. We have learned from 
frequent repetition that where there is variation 
there is opportunity for selection and improve- 
ment. 
The hazelnut has a European relative that is as 
familiar in America as the filbert. This is merely 
a larger hazelnut, the qualities of the two nuts 
both as to form and flavor being such as to leave 
no question of their relationship. But for some 
reason the European nut appears not to thrive in 
this country. At all events it has never been culti- 
vated here on a commercial scale. 
But for that matter the hazelnut has never been 
cultivated on a scale commercial or otherwise, 
unless in the most exceptional instances when it 
has been brought into the garden by some one 
rather as a curiosity than for any commercial pur- 
[147] 
