of the Rush variety
growing on Dr. MacDaniels' place in Ithaca were pollinated with pollen
of several varieties of _Corylus Avellana_ that was brought from Geneva.
Additional crosses were made at Ithaca in 1931 and 1933. In 1932 the
pollinations were made at Geneva, using a Barcelona tree covered with a
tightly woven cloth. No pollinations have been made since 1933.

In the spring of 1932, 535 seedlings were received from Willard G.
Bixby, of Baldwin, Long Island, N. Y., which had resulted from crosses
made by C. A. Reed of the United States Department of Agriculture, at
Baldwin. Including these U.S.D.A. seedlings and those resulting from the
breeding work at Geneva, 1,999 seedlings have fruited.

The nuts from these crosses were stratified in sand in a cold frame, dug
up, and planted in the greenhouse in early March. After one
transplanting they were moved to the nursery to grow for two years, when
they were moved to the seedling orchard. The nuts from one year's
crosses were planted directly in the nursery but germination was low due
to drought.

The seedlings were spaced 10 x 5 feet in the orchard. This spacing was
satisfactory if the trees came into bearing the fourth year, but if
unfavorable weather eliminated the first or second crops the trees
became too crowded to permit satisfactory fruiting. Usually, however,
the trees fruited sufficiently to make it possible to evaluate them and
remove the inferior trees so that the better seedlings would have enough
room to remain for several additional crops.

During the first few years the orchard was clean cultivated until cover
crops were sown in August. In later years the orchards were not
cultivated but nitrogen fertilization was substituted. Satisfactory
growth was maintained, but the grass and weeds made harvesting more
difficult. No pruning was done except at planting time as the seedlings
were all evaluated before pruning was needed. Suckers were removed
around the young trees, but as they became older this was not done and
some of the plants now have several stems.

Evaluating the Seedlings

The nuts were harvested in the fall after they had dropped, or, with the
later maturing seedlings and those which tended to cling to the tree,
they were harvested by picking or shaking them from the tree. As soon as
practicable the nuts were husked and the crop of each tree weighed and
recorded. Samples of nuts of every seedling fruiting were placed on
paper plates, e