THE ALMOND. 13 



the bud. Leaves three to four inches long, tapering, 

 finely serrate, with few or no glands at the base of the 

 blade, as seen in many varieties of the common peach. 

 Fruit clothed with a fine dense pubescence in both peach 

 and almond ; but in the latter the pulpy envelope be- 

 comes dry and fibrous at maturity, cracking open irreg- 

 ularly, allowing the rough and deeply indented nuts to 

 drop out ; while in the peach the pulpy part becomes 

 soft, juicy and edible, the reverse of the almond. The 

 nectarine is only a smooth-skinned peach. 



History of the Almond. As with most of our 

 long-cultivated fruits and nut trees, very little is now 

 known of the early history or origin of the almond, and 

 even its native country has not been positively deter- 

 mined, although it is supposed to be indigenous to parts 

 of Northern Africa and the mountainous region of Asia. 

 Theophrastus, who wrote a history of plants about three 

 centuries before the Christian era, mentions the almond 

 as the only tree in Greece that produces blossoms before 

 the leaves. From Greece it was introduced into Italy, 

 where the nuts were called nuces grcecce, or Greek nuts. 



Columella, about the middle of the first century of 

 our era, was the earliest Roman writer to mention the 

 almond as distinct from the peach. From Italy this 

 nut was slowly disseminated, making its way northward 

 mainly through France, reaching Great Britain as late 

 as 1538 (Hortus Kewensis). But its cultivation has 

 never extended in Britain, beyond sheltered gardens and 

 orchard houses, owing to the cool and otherwise uncon- 

 genial climate, and the same is true of Northern France 

 and other regions to the eastward in Europe. But in 

 the south of France, also in Italy, Spain, Sicily, and 

 throughout the Mediterranean countries, both in Europe 

 and Africa, the almond thrives, and has long been ex- 

 tensively cultivated. These nuts are an important arti- 

 cle of commerce, immense quantities being exported by 



