FILBERT OR HAZELNUT. 133 



with blight, and these were immediately cut out and 

 burned. The next season more of the branches were 

 affected, and from these the blight extended downward 

 on the main stems, and when these were cut away the 

 sprouts from below made a very vigorous and apparently 

 healthy growth, some reaching a hight of six feet the 

 first season, but a year or two ■ later these were also at- 

 tacked and destroyed by blight. 



Finding that the filberts in my grounds were doomed, 

 I visited my old neighbor in Brooklyn, hoping to learn 

 something of the origin or cause of the disease ; but the 

 blight had invaded his garden, and not a tree remained. 

 On my return from this visit I had every filbert and 

 hazel plant on my place dug up and burned, thinking 

 by such means to stamp out the disease. After waiting 

 ten years, I thought it time to try filberts again, and to 

 be certain of securing pure and healthy plants, I con- 

 cluded to raise them from the nuts, and sent an order 

 for a few pounds of the largest and best variety to be 

 found in the celebrated filbert orchards of Kent, Eng. 

 In due time the nuts arrived, and they were very large, 

 and all of one variety, as ordered. They were mixed 

 with sand and buried in the garden until the following 

 spring, then sown thinly in shallow drills and covered 

 with about two inches of rich soil. 



At the close of the first season the plants were from 

 one to two feet high and quite stocky, with a mass of 

 small fibrous roots. The next spring they were trans- 

 planted into nursery rows, and set about one foot apart. 

 The third spring I laid out about .one acre for a speci- 

 men filbert orchard, and after the ground had been thor- 

 oughly prepared, the plants were set ten feet apart in 

 •the row, and twelve between the rows. No crop was 

 planted among the trees, but the ground was kept clean 

 and free from weeds during the summer, with cultivator 

 and harrow. All suckers springing from the base of the 



