all and young and are being given special
care, but may not be perfectly hardy. They grow well.

The Jones hybrid filberts stand from six to eight feet high, except
those planted recently. This year they have a fair crop. The catkins
came thru the winter in good shape for the most part. My two European
filberts, which have lost their identity, but are either Italian Red,
Cosford, or Medium Long, (one of the three perished) usually suffer the
loss of their catkins and occasionally lose a branch or two to
winter's icy fingers.

To me, the filberts are fascinating at all times of the year. When the
snow is deep and the cold bites deep, their tight little catkins always
hold forth the comfortable promise of spring. When spring does come the
thrill of the tiny red blossoms and lumbering catkins is as real and
enduring as the promise of a crop of the shiny nuts is fickle. Then, of
course, after the last tiny blossom has faded and the last catkin has
withered, the leaves push forth. To me, these tiny leaves are a sight
comparable to the opening and unfurling of the various varieties of the
grape. Then enters the element of suspense, between the time of leafing
out and the time when the little nut clusters appear.

My bushes are all growing together on a rise of ground near an old barn
foundation. The ground is rich and they love it. Each bush is individual
and distinctive as are their nuts--some tucked far in the husk, some
bulging out in a precarious fashion, some fat and round, others long and
narrow. They're interesting. I can let the butternuts, bitternuts and
hickories pass, the heartnuts, chestnuts, and pecans can wait until I am
sure they will bear here. The walnut will grow up along with the other
trees--blending into the landscape, but the filberts, like Zombie, call
attention to themselves every day of the year.

Somebody said recently that the emphasis in England is in being, and in
our country in becoming. I imagine our land stopped being with the
disappearance of the Indian and the primeval forest and is now in the
process of becoming something else. What that something else is we don't
know, and each generation carries a new set of values, but we all know
that to become something better, trees must and will figure in the plans
of all generations--better and more useful and more disease resistant
trees. It is significant that nut trees lead in these requirements.

Biology, Distribution and Control of the