Now what was the reason for this immense pleasure I found in working among those plants? Was it perhaps from the commercial or financial point of view, the future income from them for fruit or when the plants reached a saleable age? Not at all. I was then too much of a boy and did not comprehend such a thing as that. It was merely the fond and pleasant recollection of my childhood, of my boyhood, when, together with other children, in the proper season, we went hunting for the common hazel nuts, the Corylus avellana, as the gathering of these nuts is one of the greatest pleasures of the German country child, and to roam through fields and woods in late summer in those beautiful September days, when the foliage of trees and bushes begin to color, when the birds of the garden, field and forest begin to assemble for future migration, when goldenrod, asters and other field flowers are reaching their greatest beauty, then, ladies and gentlemen, the hazelnut has reached maturity. The nut itself is a very beautiful brown color, the outer bark a golden yellow, the leaves of the plants slightly colored with bronze, pink or yellow, a most beautiful combination, a pleasure to look upon, and a sight never to be forgotten. Whoever has had an opportunity to see and admire a well fruited hazel plant, at the time of maturity, will agree with me that it is a thing of beauty, not only during the fruit bearing season, but in fact throughout the whole winter, with the handsome staminate flowers or catkins appearing very abundantly in early fall, and remaining throughout the winter, until late spring. Of all these pleasures, these beautiful sights, etc., of which a vivid and fond recollection caused all the pleasures in cultivating the above mentioned hazel lot, we need not be deprived in our otherwise so richly blest country. It is true that, at the present time, we have no American native hazel, that can fully compete with the better European varieties, but we hope that in time not far off, through scientific hybridization, such will be produced. For the time being, we have some very fine European varieties as a substitute, which for years have stood the test very well, and should be planted wherever a place can be spared for a few of them, and great pleasure and enjoyment will be the result. So much for the pleasure of raising hazel nuts. I have related the foregoing merely to show the lasting pleasure and enjoyments derived from the planting, cultivating and gathering of a few European hazel nuts.
But to raise hazel nuts for the pleasure of it only, would be a very poor business proposition, and certainly not a paying one. What we should do is to raise them in large quantities, for commercial purposes, but here it seems to me the question should be asked: Have we had experience enough as to recommend the planting of them in the middle and eastern states for commercial purposes? In other words, is it worth while to plant them with that point in view? Now, gentlemen, I do not suppose that any one of us, at the present time, would be fully capable or prepared to answer this question intelligently or positively, as the planting of the hazel, for commercial purposes, has not been tried long enough, at least not in the eastern or middle states, to warrant a positive opinion on the subject. A great deal depends upon the variety planted, also the location where the planting is done. Much observation and experimenting is still required.
I have growing on my ground in western New York, near Rochester, several hundred trees or bushes, 6 to 8 years old, about 20 varieties, most of them German varieties, a few from France, and a few from England. They have been bearing nuts the last four seasons, and all have reached maturity perfectly. The smaller and medium sized nuts appeared to bear a little better than the larger varieties. The varieties received from France have, so far, not done well with me, as the German varieties. They are poor bearers. In the fall of 1917, I gathered from each 5 to 6 year old tree, of the German variety, about a pound and a quarter of the medium sized nuts, while hardly a pound from the larger fruited varieties (same sized plants) ripened well. I was then under the impression that the hazel not only could but should be planted in large numbers for commercial purpose. In the fall of 1918 my crop of nuts was very much less, and I had expected even a better harvest than in 1917, which certainly was discouraging to me. The plants themselves were growing beautifully, but most of the staminate blossoms or catkins were frozen, and, consequently, very little pollenizing was accomplished, and very little fruit the result. Such and possibly other occurrences, from time to time we may expect and look for, and should be ready to investigate thoroughly, before we can advocate or recommend the planting of the hazel extensively.
It really seems strange that while the hazel generally is at home in the northern latitudes, it should partly freeze when the thermometer reaches say about 12 to 18 degrees below zero, and, as I had never noticed that before, it then occurred to me that possibly another reason could be found, why so many of the catkins were frozen.
Through my investigation in the spring of 1918, I have come to the conclusion that the unusually wet season in our vicinity of western New York throughout 1917 caused the hazel plants to grow until the real cold weather was upon them, which gave the wood a very poor chance to ripen, particularly the terminal buds, where a great many of the catkins had formed, and caused not only them to freeze but also a certain part of the wood. Only the lower and more protected catkins came through the winter alright and caused what little pollenizing was done, hence the very light harvest in the fall of 1918.
Should the results of my investigation prove true, and the continuance of the wet weather prove the main cause of freezing so many catkins, then it seems to me there is nothing to be alarmed about, and the planting of the European hazel, at least in this vicinity, for commercial purposes could be conscientiously recommended, and should be done, the sooner the better. We do not expect our apple or pear orchards to bear an abundant crop every year, and we should not expect it of our hazel orchards. Something will occasionally happen to them as well as to other crops, otherwise we run no risk whatever.
My trees or bushes, several hundred in number, planted in 1912 and later, have stood all kinds of weather, extreme cold, very hot, continuous wet, and still are growing most beautifully at the present time. They gave a very satisfactory crop of nuts this last fall, 1919, in spite of severe freezing weather on April 25th and 26th when the mercury dropped to 12 to 15 degrees, and all hazel bushes in full bloom. At the present time the prospect for a good crop of nuts next season is certainly very bright.
Neither fungus, blight, or other diseases of any kind, or troublesome insects have so far been detected. In planting the hazel for commercial purposes, I should recommend 12 feet distance between the plants each way, as they require abundant sun and air. At the same time, there is an opportunity to use the land between the rows for several years to come, as low growing crops like potatoes, strawberries, beans, beets, carrots, etc., could be grown there to great advantage, and the cultivation of these crops would be amply sufficient for the hazel plants.
Now the selection of varieties to be planted for the commercial hazel orchard is a very important part of the undertaking, and should be well considered. To plant several varieties is absolutely necessary on account of pollenizing, as staminate and pistillate flowers, though on the same plant, do not always appear together in proper condition on all plants; in fact it has been proven in my orchard that sometimes plants bring forth a great many pistillate blossoms and not a single staminate one on them, and still a good crop of nuts were grown on them. Here the pollination must have taken place with the pollen from other nearby plants conveyed to them by wind or insects. One particular plant of the zellernut type grown in one of my city lots during the last season was very well filled with pistillate blossoms and not one catkin on it, and still it ripened a fairly good crop of perfect nuts, where the nearest plants filled with staminate blossoms was at least 30 feet from it. Here it is shown and proven that a number of varieties is a necessity.
But what varieties we shall choose, will undoubtedly be an open question for some time to come, and, no doubt, a great deal of experimental work will have to be done to finally select the right varieties for the different localities, the variation of temperature and location has very much to do with the proper selection of varieties. I have among my varieties some I could recommend and again others that are not at all satisfactory, at least not so far, and it requires more close observation before the very best of them can be picked out or selected.