stem diameter of 18 inches. The nuts of the wild tree are small, with a thick and hard shell. It also grows in the mountains of Karabagh, but does not occur in the Talysch district. (A.H.)
Cultivation
The Turkish hazel was first cultivated in western Europe by Clusius, who obtained it from Constantinople in 1582. Linnæus states that in 1736 the finest specimen known was a tree in the Botanic Garden at Leyden, which had been planted by Clusius. It was apparently first cultivated in England about the year 1665 by John Rea,[1] who states that he had then "many goodly trees of the filbeard of Constantinople." He grafted these upon ordinary hazel stocks.
The Turkish hazel is now a rare tree in England, seldom to be got from a nursery, though perfectly hardy and easy to grow from seed, which it ripens in most seasons in the southern half of England. I have raised many from a tree at Tortworth Court, and the Earl of Ducie has done the same. The seed usually germinates in the following spring if sown when ripe, but if kept till spring, sometimes not until the next year. The seedlings, on my soil at least, have more inclination to become bushes than to make a single stem, but, if cut down two or three years after planting, will throw up strong suckers which may be trained into a tree, and should be planted in half-shady places or in an opening in a wood, as they are liable when young to be injured by spring frosts.
Remarkable Trees
No other place can show so many fine trees as Syon, where there are in the grounds at least five, all apparently of about the same age. The largest of these stands near the east bridge over the lake, and is about 75 feet high, with a bole about 30 feet long and 6 feet 9 inches in girth. Near the gardener's house is another fine tree more spreading in habit, about 70 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, which is probably not the same as one figured by Loudon, which was then 61 feet high. This has been figured by the Hon. S. Tollemache as the Hazel.[2]
At Bute House, Petersham, Henry measured a well-shaped tree which, in 1904, was 56 feet by 6 feet 7 inches.
At Corsham Court there is a remarkable tree about 50 feet high, which divides near the base into two stems, one of which is quite decayed, and the other, which has the appearance of having originated as a sucker from it, is quite sound and 6 feet 8 inches in girth. Lord Methuen tells me that he can remember this tree as formerly producing fruits which were sent up to table, but now it no longer bears any nuts.
At White Knights I saw a grafted tree from which seedlings had sprung up in the shrubbery, and one of these, growing at the base of a stump, is 10 feet high at about ten years old.
At Arley Castle there is a good tree which, in 1904, was by Mr. Woodward's measurement 60 feet by 5 feet 7 inches.
