FILBERT OE HAZELNUT. 133 



delicate, and may be planted in the fall, or stored in a 

 cool place, mixed with sand or sphagnum, and then put 

 out in spring, always selecting a rather light and rich 

 soil for a seed bed, and in such beds plants from one to 

 three feet high may be obtained the first season. The 

 seedlings produce such a mass of fine roots that they are 

 readily transplanted without danger of loss. Varieties 

 are perpetuated and multiplied by budding, grafting, 

 suckers, layers, and some grow quite readily from cut- 

 tings made of the young, vigorous shoots, cut up into 

 proper lengths in the fall, and then buried in the ground 

 until the following spring, then planted out in trenches, 

 as usually practiced with currants, grapes and similar 

 plants. The method of propagation most generally 

 practiced in Europe and this country is by suckers, and 

 as the cultivated varieties of the filbert usually produce 

 these from the base of their stems in profusion, there is 

 no lack of material ; besides, they make as strong, 

 healthy and productive plants as can be procured in any 

 other way. To secure an extra number of roots on these 

 suckers, they should be banked up with a few inches in 

 depth of good rich soil, or old manure, about midsum- 

 mer, and then late in the autumn dig down to the base 

 and remove with knife or chisel, after which they may 

 be headed down to about fifteen or eighteen inches, and 

 heeled-in for the winter, to be planted out iu nursery 

 rows early in spring. If a greater number of sprouts are 

 wanted than the plants naturally produce, the main 

 stem may be cut down ; but this will seldom be necessary, 

 because the young transplanted suckers will usually pro- 

 duce more or less new ones the first season, all of which 

 can be utilized for multiplying the stock if they are 

 wanted. 



Soil, Location and Climate. — European varieties 

 of the filbert thrive best in what may be termed a rich 

 loam, with a dry subsoil. If the soil is too moist, the 



