ock, now has abandoned its use. The
grafted filbert tops did not seem to survive and bear as consistently as
those on their own roots, after a period of several years in orchards.

PLANTING IN VIRGINIA. In a letter dated May 17, 1948, addressed to R.
C. Moore, Assistant Horticulturist, V.P.I., H. J. Pettit, Assistant
Secretary of the Planters Peanut Company, Suffolk, Virginia, reported
that some years ago they planted several thousand trees of filberts,
which they obtained from the states of New York and Oregon. From their
experience it appears that late spring frosts destroyed the flower
parts, which developed early, with the result that the yields were too
low to be profitable. Hence, the filberts were removed and the land
otherwise utilized. Mr. H. F. Stoke, however, in the Roanoke area has
not found lack of hardiness as serious as the problems of diseases and
insects of filberts.

An important nursery in Maryland has provided information to the effect
that during this past 1947-48 season it sold for planting in Virginia a
total of 34 filbert plants in lots of from one to ten. Its 1947-48
catalogue lists varieties of filberts for sale as follows: Barcelona,
Daviana, Du Chilly, and American hazel.

Dr. H. L. Crane, Principal Horticulturist of the USDA, writes in a
letter dated July 27, 1948, that he knows of no substantial plantings
being made anywhere in Virginia. He has observed a few bushes or trees
scattered about the homesteads, particularly in the northern or more
mountainous part of the state. In most cases the performance of these
filberts has not been entirely satisfactory because of leaf scorch
during the summer, due apparently to high temperatures or unfavorable
moisture conditions or to the winter killing of the catkins, or in some
cases winter injury of the shoots. The largest plantings in Virginia
that have yet come to the attention of the V.P.I. Department of
Horticulture are those of Mr. Stoke in the Roanoke area.

Dr. Crane has observed the planting of a few bushes of the American
hazelnut in Virginia. Their performance has been somewhat better than
has been that of the European filbert, especially as to hardiness, and
these American hazelnuts have borne more satisfactory crops of nuts than
have the European filberts. The nuts produced by the native varieties,
however, are small in size, thick shelled, and the kernels are small and
lack quality. Observations by Dr. Crane, which have been made in th