PART SEVEN : NUTS 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 



THE ALMOND 



Two nuts have arisen to large commercial importance in Cali- 

 fornia : the English walnut and the almond. Other nuts than these, 

 except peanuts, have never attained great acreage, although sev- 

 eral have succeeded and promise to become popular. 



The production of almonds during the last decade has been as 

 follows, in tons of 2,000 Ibs. : 



1910 3300 1916 . . 3400 



1911 1700 1917 4000 



1912 3000 1918 5168 



1913 1000 1919 7000 



1914 2250 1920 5500 



1915 3500 



Almonds are chiefly grown in a commercial way in the interior 

 valleys of central California, although there are extensions into the 

 more northerly counties of the Sacramento Valley. On the coast 

 there is large acreage in the Paso Robles region of San Luis Obispo 

 County, and in southern California the largest production is in the 

 Banning district of Riverside County. The production rapidly 

 increased because of successful marketing through the California 

 Almond Growers Exchange during the practical exclusion of Euro- 

 pean almonds by the war, but in 1920 California almonds were 

 made almost unsalable at profitable prices by importations which 

 will be reduced by restoration of a protective duty, and because of 

 a better understanding of the natural conditions required for suc- 

 cessful operations with the almond tree.* The numbers of trees 

 now growing in California and a valuation of the product are given 

 in Chapter VI. 



Vicissitudes of the Almond. The almond has an interesting 

 history in California, but it can be outlined in a few sentences. The 

 importation of the best European varieties began very early, and 

 a number of them had been planted in 1853. They proved irregular 

 bearers, though the trees grew thriftily and in some cases showed 

 fruit very soon after planting. The barren almond trees were 

 largely grafted into prunes or made into firewood and the con- 

 clusion was reached that to secure regularity and abundance in 

 fruiting, locations for almond orchards must be sought with the 

 utmost care, and that the secret of success lay in the location. After 

 that local seedlings seemed to demonstrate their value in regular 

 crops, and in characteristics and qualities superior to foreign kinds. 



*A vry satisfactory publication is "The Almond in California," by R. H. Taylor: Bul- 

 letin 297 of the University Experiment Station at Berkeley. 



