, is found
over a wide range of territory and abundantly in many places between
Canada and the southern extremity of the Appalachians, and from the
central Mississippi valley to the Atlantic coast.

This species bears nuts of excellent quality for the most part, but of
rather small size and thick shell, excepting in individual plants. The
common American hazel, while valuable for hybridizing purposes, will
probably never be cultivated to any great extent, because of its habit
of growth.

The characteristic life history in the Eastern States is as follows: A
hazel plant bears a few nuts in its third year, a fairly large crop in
its fourth year, a heavy crop in its fifth year, a very few nuts in its
sixth year and it dies at the seventh or eighth year of age. Meanwhile,
the plant has been sending out long stoloniferous roots which have
surrounded the original plant with a chaplet of progeny, each one of
which follows the life course of the parent.

One hazel plant when left free to its own devices may increase in this
way rapidly enough to drive cows out of a pasture lot. I have trimmed
off stoloniferous roots experimentally from a number of hazel plants,
for the purpose of throwing all of the strength into the original
stocks, hoping, thereby, to prolong their lives. This, however, appears
not to be effective, as the stocks died at their appointed time.

Like many other wild plants, not yet subjected to processes of
cultivation, the common American hazel does not respond very readily to
cultivation, and too much attention on the part of the horticulturist
leads it into confusion.

Some years ago I expended about six weeks in making a study of fruiting
hazels and examined many thousands of bushes in Rhode Island,
Connecticut and eastern New York state, including Long Island.

In the regions visited, the native hazels are so abundant as to be
considered a pest. Out of all the bushes examined, I saved but three for
purposes of propagation. The best one of these for size, quality and
thinness of shell, I have named the Merribrooke, and young plants of
this variety will be sent to any member of the Association who wishes to
cultivate them. Bushes of this particular wild variety have had a
reputation among the boys of the locality for more than a hundred years,
according to legends of the neighborhood. I have recently budded
specimens of this variety upon stocks of the Byzantine hazel, in the
hope of prolonging the life