  We present a study of dense structures in the L1495 filament in the Taurus
Molecular Cloud and examine its star-forming properties. In particular we
construct a dust extinction map of the filament using deep near-infrared
observations, exposing its small-scale structure in unprecedented detail. The
filament shows highly fragmented substructures and a high mass-per-length value
of M_line=17 Msun/pc, reflecting star-forming potential in all parts of it.
However, a part of the filament, namely B211, is remarkably devoid of young
stellar objects. We argue that in this region the initial filament collapse and
fragmentation is still taking place and star formation is yet to occur. In the
star-forming part of the filament, we identify 39 cores with masses from
0.4...10 Msun and preferred separations in agreement with the local Jeans
length. Most of these cores exceed the Bonnor-Ebert critical mass, and are
therefore likely to collapse and form stars. The Dense Core Mass Function
follows a power law with exponent Gamma=1.2, a form commonly observed in
star-forming regions.
