34 THE NUT Ct'LTURIST. 



our rules must be equally flexible and variable. If the 

 season is favorable, and the trees bloom freely and fruit- 

 sets abundantly, we may proceed to prune as soon as 

 the embryo nuts are as large as peas, but only cutting 

 back some of the largest bearing shoots, and thinning 

 out others here and there, just enough to equalize and 

 evenly distribute the crop through the head of the tree. 

 But in case the frost or cold of winter has destroyed 

 the crop for the season, then as soon as this is discov- 

 ered, prune and cut back all the shoots and branches 

 sufficient to insure a vigorous growth of young bearing 

 wood for the ensuing year. Under this system of prun- 

 ing we fix the time as after blooming in the spring, in 

 order to have our work correspond to circumstances and 

 conditions, and where there is a crop in prospect the 

 pruning is comparatively light ; but if there is to be no 

 fruit, or but little, then one should aim to produce an 

 abundance of bearing shoots for the following season. 

 In other words, we prune severely in non-bearing years, 

 whether they occur alternately or otherwise ; but this 

 system is only applicable to trees like the almond and 

 peach, which produce their fruit on the shoots of the 

 preceding year's growth. 



VARIETIES OF THE ALMOND. 



Almonds are usually divided into three groups, viz. : 

 Bitter, hard-shelled, and soft, or paper-shelled. In 

 each there are many varieties, although they are 

 rarely known in market except by the general name 

 of the group to which they belong. If they are soft, 

 hard or bitter, this is sufficient designation for commer- 

 cial purposes, with, perhaps, the addition of the name 

 of country in which they were grown, or that of the 

 city or seaport from whence exported. 



Bitter Almond, Amygdalus communis amara. 

 The varieties of this group are not specifically distinct, 



