(50) A group of Merribrooke hazels. Some years ago I devoted several weeks to examining hundreds of hazel bushes in this part of the country, where they are a pest, and I also visited other hazel localities at a distance. Among all the bushes examined the best nut was found on my own property and I learned later that this particular bush had been known among the boys of the locality for a century. The nut is of large size for an American hazel, thin shelled, of high quality. This group consists of transplants of root progeny from the parent bush.
(51) A Horn hazel (_Corylus cornuta_, commonly wrongly designated as _Corylus rostrata_). A species fairly abundant in Connecticut, and I transplanted these bushes because they happened to have a tremendously long involucre. The nut of the horn hazel is not of such good quality as that of the common American hazel, and I have not succeeded in making hybrids between this and other hazels as yet. The hazels are very ancient in descent and each species likes to retain particular identity.
(52) A number of stocks of red birch, white birch and scrub oak grafted with European hazels and chinkapins, but the grafts all died. The grafting was done as an experiment in the hope that we might possibly utilize our waste lands which are covered with birch and scrub oak by grafting these trees with hazels and chinkapins. Some of the grafts lived for such a long time and put out such long shoots that the experiment will be tried again next year. It would not seem worth while, excepting for the fact that it was a bad spring for grafting anyway, and hazels did not even catch on hazels, though they caught freely last year. The Japanese do grafting on stocks widely different from the scions, but we have not developed that particular feature in this country as yet.
(53) Asiatic tree hazels (_Corylus colurna_). This species makes a tree as large as the common oaks and bears heavily. The nut is about the size of that of the common American hazel. The tree is very beautiful, and I am using it for grafting stock and for hybridizing.
(54) Sprouting cages. A double row of galvanized wire cages sunk four inches into the ground and about four inches free above ground, filled with sandy loam and used for sprouting any nuts which are to be employed in experimental work. Each cage is fitted with a cover of galvanized wire, the purpose of which is to keep out rodents which are so destructive to planted nuts. In these cages there are now a large number of hybrid nut trees growing, and they will be transplanted to permanent sites or to the garden for culture next spring.
