flowers. If the winter was kind,
the filbert bushes will be a riot of golden catkins, shedding their
pollen. If the catkins remain dormant when the pistillate flowers bloom,
they have been winterkilled, and the bent down reserves have to be
called up. These being protected during the winter, on being bent back
to their original position, will come into bloom in a few days,
pollenizing the waiting pistillate flowers. Bees eagerly seek this, one
of the earliest pollens. The now fertilized flowers, which always stayed
inside the buds, go back to sleep for about two months; they are safe
from the "North Easter," from late freezes, or from snow. When filberts
are grown naturally, that is with many shoots from the ground, it is
easy to harvest them by shaking the slender shoots. I hand hoed my
bushes for the first three years, and gave them a permanent mulch over
the whole area, adding some material each year.

I am inclined to believe that part of my success with filberts is due to
mulching. In the middle of summer, I apply a 4" cover of low grade hay,
and in the fall I again cover the ground with fallen leaves. Due to the
ideal conditions thus created (optimum temperature and moisture) for
soil bacteria and earthworms, this material is entirely digested. The
mulching material almost disappears by the middle of the next summer,
indicating vigorous biological activity. By this time a new layer of
mulch is spread, completing the cycle. Late in the fall a load of manure
is heaped in the middle of the plantation as an earthworm refuge. This
heap is scattered early in the spring. Light applications of wood ashes
and super-phosphate are given yearly, late in the fall.

In conclusion, I wish to state that selected varieties of filbert nuts
can be grown in the Northeast. Hybrids between the American and European
filbert are good growers and producers, although I find that the flavor
of the nut isn't as good as that of the pure _avellana_. I would advise
the planting of a dozen bushes by each of a great number of persons
further to prove the possibilities of growing this specific nut in the
New England area, also to promote the idea of growing both feed and food
on trees and bushes.

Report of Necrology Committee

C. E. SCHUSTER

Carl E. Schuster, horticulturist with the U. S. Department of
Agriculture stationed on the Oregon State College campus and generally
recognized as the nation's foremost authority on filbert pro