THE HAZELS.
There are two species of hazels native to Canada—the common hazel (Corylus Americana) and the beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta). The hazels have a wider range than other nut-bearing plants in Canada, being found in almost every province from Nova Scotia westward to British Columbia and as far north as Edmonton in Alberta and Prince Alberta in Saskatchewan. In Ontario the beaked hazel grows as far north as Hudson Bay and in many other parts the common hazel grows very abundantly and bears heavily. In Norfolk County it is very common and in places almost covers the roadside in the little traveled sections. Dr. N. E. Hansen of Brookings, South Dakota, has made a few selections of the common hazelnut found in Manitoba and is now propagating the best of these for distribution.
A few filberts have been planted in Ontario but have not done very well. The growth of wood has been good but little or no nuts have been produced. In Guelph there is a filbert about fifteen feet tall growing on the grounds of J. W. Bell, but like most other filberts in this province it has not yielded nuts.
THE BEECH (Fagus grandiflora)
This tree grows in the hardwood region from Nova Scotia westward to the western end of Lake Superior.
On suitable soils it attains a height of eighty or ninety feet and a diameter of four feet. The nuts are much appreciated by old and young, but on account of the slow rate of growth and the irregularity of bearing very little has been done to plant this tree.
THE ALMOND (Prunus amygdalus).
Almonds have been tried to a limited extent in the warmer parts of Canada but only with indifferent success except on Vancouver Island. It is possible that a satisfactory strain will eventually be found that will extend the range of this desirable nut-bearing tree.
Introduction of New Species
In addition to the efforts to gather data regarding nut trees I decided to introduce some good exotic species for trial with the hope that some of these might prove hardy enough for our climatic conditions. I thought that northeastern Asia would be the most promising region from which to obtain nuts for planting. Therefore, I wrote to the Mission Boards of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican Churches and obtained the names of their missionaries in those fields. I then wrote to several of these missionaries and outlined my programme and asked them to send me samples of the best nuts growing in their respective sections. Here again I received great encouragement and assistance. Several packages of fine chestnuts and walnuts were received from China and Japan. Some of these nuts were planted at the College and the remainder were distributed throughout the province to interested parties. Owing to the length of the period between the gathering of the nuts and their arrival at Guelph many had lost their germinating power, consequently I only succeeded in getting ten walnuts to grow and failed entirely with the chestnuts. However, we may succeed in germinating a few more walnuts after a winter's frost.