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 of an individual plant beyond its normal
seven or eight years.

The other American hazel, variously known as the beaked hazel, tailed
hazel or horned hazel, was named _Corylus cornuta_ by Marshall
(Arbustrum Americanum 37, 1785). Consequently, that is the name by which
it should be known instead of the name _Corylus rostrata_ which was
bestowed subsequently. This hazel has a much more northern range than
the common American hazel and I have seen it in Labrador and in Ontario
nearly to Hudson's Bay. On the Pacific coast it is said to reach a
height of thirty feet. Although spreading by stoloniferous roots like
the common American hazel, these roots are shorter, and it does not
extend rapidly enough to dominate the situation when growing in
competition with the common hazel.

The nuts, while very good, and sometimes of large size with
comparatively thin shell, lack quality, a very important element in any
nut. It is probable that this tailed hazel will be valuable for adding