THE HAZEL. 



145 



level of the river, its promising clusters of nuts 

 never contain kernels, but are filled with a black 

 spongy substance, and are consequently worthless. 

 The tree stands alone, and overspreads a consider- 

 able extent of green sward, which in the nutting- 

 season is pretty sure to be thickly strewed with 

 clusters of large and very fresh-looking nuts. A 

 favourite practical joke with a person acquainted 

 with this deceitful tree is to lead a nutting-party 

 hither, as if carelessly, and while all are congra- 

 tulating themselves that they will now^ be able to 

 fill their baskets without further trouble, to stand 

 aloof until the ground is clear, and then to re- 

 commend his companions to test the value of their 

 easily acquired store, by tasting a few. Many a 

 long face have I seen under this tree, as the dis- 

 appointed collectors have carefully picked out 

 from their wallets the now despised clusters, and 

 scattered them, in the hope of practising a similar 

 imposition on the next foraging party who might 

 happen to come up. Trees standing near either 

 running or stagnant water should be looked on 

 suspiciously, for though the Hazel attains a large 

 size in such situations, its produce is generally 

 worthless. 



Phillips mentions his having gathered nuts '^from 

 a Hazel which grew on the top of the church- 

 steeple at Henfield in Sussex. Mr. Borrer in- 

 forms me that the parish-clerk of Henfield well 

 remembers the tree in question, and says that he 

 himself (a bricklayer by trade) assisted in de- 

 stroying it when the church-tower was under 

 repair nearly fifty years ago. He describes it 

 as of considerable size, growing at the top of one 

 of the buttresses, and producing plenty of nuts, 



II. L 



