16 THE XUT CULTURIST. 



ing with the almond in the more elevated regions of the 

 northern line of Southern States, also in Maryland, Del- 

 aware and southern New Jersey, near the seacoast, or 

 other large bodies of water, which, as is well known, 

 have considerable influence in retarding the early bloom- 

 ing of fruit trees, as well as warding off late spring and 

 early autumn frosts. 



It is scarcely reasonable to suppose that a region 

 of country as extensive as that of one-half of the Middle 

 and all of the Southern States, with a range of climate 

 admitting of the successful cultivation of such hardy 

 fruits as the apple and pear, and from these down to the 

 pineapple and cocoanut, should not yield a locality or 

 localities admirably adapted to the cultivation of the 

 half-hardy almond tree. It is no doubt true that there 

 are extensive regions in the South where late spring- 

 frosts are exceedingly troublesome, and sometimes dis- 

 astrously so, to fruit growers ; but even these have their 

 limits, as shown in the vast quantity and variety of 

 fruits annually produced in the Southern States. But 

 great local variations in climate are natural to all coun- 

 tries in the temperate zone, and we frequently find the 

 most favorable and the unfavorable for fruit culture 

 within a few miles of each other. 



If there are not thousands and tens of thousands of 

 acres of land located in favorable positions between Vir- 

 ginia and Florida, adapted to produce the commercial 

 almond in some of its varieties, then we must confess 

 that the study of climatology is of little use to the 

 pomologist. Furthermore, all the varieties of the so- 

 called hard-shelled almonds which thrive in our north- 

 ern States are not worthless, neither are the kernels 

 of all of them "bitter," and even if they were, they 

 would still be worth cultivating, else we would not 

 import such vast quantities from Morocco to supply the 

 demand. 



