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.
No species of chestnut now available through the usual nursery channels can be recommended at the present time for planting in the northernmost zone except for experimentation along somewhat doubtful lines. The American sweet chestnut appears likely soon to be wiped out by blight. No chestnuts from the Old World, either European, Japanese or Chinese, have yet been found which are entirely hardy and otherwise satisfactory at this latitude. The European chestnut is quite as fatally subject to blight as is the American. The Japanese is mostly of too low degree of palatability to offer much promise, and horticultural varieties of Chinese chestnut are not yet available. Varieties of the Chinese hairy chestnut, Castanea mollissima, apparently of much promise, are now being developed, but trees are unlikely to become available for foundation stock to nurserymen for several years.
The Persian (English) walnut, Juglans regia, and the Japanese walnut, J. sieboldiana, are both planted to some extent throughout the entire east and north, but neither promise to assume special prominence in this zone. Fine appearing trees in small numbers or occasional orchards of the former may be seen in many places. These are usually near large bodies of water, as within a mile or so, or two or three at most, of the shores of the lower Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes of New York, Long Island Sound, and various rivers and other smaller bodies of water within this general section. They are also to be found near buildings, especially in villages and small towns, but as orchard trees, or even single specimens out in the open, they are almost never met with except possibly while very young.
The Japanese walnut is likewise little more than a novelty in this region. It is probably somewhat more hardy than is the foregoing, but it is not its equal in desirability. It grows rapidly under favorable environment, often becomes a handsome ornamental, comes into fruit while young, and bears freely but seldom heavily. The nuts are small, variable in character, and not particularly popular on the market. In flavor the kernels resemble butternut, but are much more mild. The nuts of this species are of two distinct types, the larger being shaped like a guinea egg, having a rather thick shell, and of doubtful merit. The other, known as the heartnut, is small as a rule, distinctly heartshaped, and easily opened with a knife by splitting the shell in half. A number of varieties are available through nurserymen.