The Filbert
The filbert situation in the north is difficult to characterize. Repeated plantings have been established in this part of the country, probably since colonial days, only to perish in due time. Filbert blight was responsible for much of this loss, but so also were destructively low temperatures. Western New York now seems to be particularly favored, as trees there, notably at Geneva, bear regularly. Mr. Bixby's trees at Baldwin, Long Island, failed significantly during practically the whole of their life. Similarly, a comprehensive collection of varieties in the orchard of Dr. F. L. Baum, Boyertown, Pa., fruits practically not at all. Trees at Arlington, Va., on the government experimental farm, suffer sufficient winter injury each late winter or early spring to be quite regular in non-bearing. The varieties of all these plantings are much the same, and failure is not due to winter killing of the trees, as there is normally very little of this. It appears to be due to destruction of the flowers wrought by low temperatures following weather in January, February or March mild enough to start the flowers into bloom. At the present moment it looks as though European varieties of filbert might do much better where the trees bloom in April, as in western New York, than where flowers come out in February, as at Arlington, or in March, as on Long Island.
For the present not a great deal of encouragement can be offered regarding the European varieties of filbert in the east, except in the most suitable sections. Certain hybrid varieties are now being developed, but they are not yet available for planting.