THE ALMOND. 583 



and water, or with clear water, and a hard brush. The chermes is the 

 cause of the leaves rising into unsightly red blister-like tubercles, and 

 can only be destroyed by the use of tobacco -water, which, after it has 

 token effect, may be washed off with clear water. For the other insects 

 mentioned, washing abundantly with lime or soot-water, or even with 

 common clear water, will in general keep them under. In order to destroy 

 the eggs of insects which may be deposited on the branches, many 

 gardeners wash them over after the spring pruning with a mixture of 

 lime-water, so thick as to act like whitewash, and form an incrustation 

 on the shoots, which prevents or retards the hatching of the eggs by 

 the exclusion of air ; others use a mixture of soft-soap, sulphur, lime, 

 and soot, which destroys the eggs ; and some use soft-soap and sulphur 

 alone. In general, however, where the trees and soil are in a good 

 state, and their treatment proper, the free use of clear water will 

 answer the purpose of all other washes. Woodlice, earwigs, the large 

 blue fly, and wasps, attack the fruit when it is ripening, and may be 

 trapped by means of bundles of bean-stalks or reeds, flower-pots 

 partially stuffed with hay, and glasses or bottles of sugared water. 

 (See the Chapter on Insects.) 



The essential points of peach-culture are : Use a strong loam for 

 the border ; never crop it ; add no manure ; keep the trees thin of 

 wood by disbudding and the early removal of useless wood ; shorten 

 each shoot according to its strength, at the spring pruning ; elevate 

 the ends of the leading branches so that they may all form the same 

 curvilinear inclination with the horizon ; and, what is of the utmost 

 importance in the culture of the peach, at all times keep the trees in a 

 clean and healthy state. 



Forcing the Peach and Nectarine. See p. 476. 



The Almond. 



The almond (Amygdalus, L. ; Amandier, Fr.; Mandelbaum, Ger.), is 

 a deciduous tree, a native of Persia and other Eastern countries, closely 

 resembling the peach, and supposed to be that fruit in its unimproved 

 state. There are several kinds the common or sweet almond (A. 

 communis, L.), and the bitter almond (A. c. amara, Dec.), also what 

 is called the large-fruited and the thin-shelled. A white and a scarlet 

 double flowering almond have also been lately introduced. Both 

 kinds are cultivated in the south of Europe, and in the Levant. The 

 kernels are much used in cookery, confectionery, perfumery, and 

 medicine. The varieties best deserving culture are, the tender-shelled, 

 the fruit of which is small ; the sweet, which is larger ; and the 

 Jordan, which is also large and sweet. These and all the other 

 varieties are propagated by budding on the plum, and sometimes on 

 seedling almonds for dry situations. The trees are commonly grown 

 as standards, and as such will ripen fruit in fine seasons as far north 

 as York ; but at Edinburgh they require a wall. In Britain, the tree 

 is more valued for its blossoms than for its fruit ; but nevertheless, in 

 every suburban garden, where there is room, there ought to be a tree 

 or two for the latter purpose, as well as several for the former. 



