332 LUTHER BURBANK 



as the almond blooms long before the peach. 

 The same thing is true, as might be expected, 

 of the peach; which, as we have elsewhere 

 seen, is scarcely separable botanically from the 

 nectarine. 



Most varieties of almond blossom very early 

 in the season, before nectarines or peaches are in 

 bloom. But where the trees are blossoming at 

 the same time in the same neighborhood the bees 

 are almost certain to mix them indiscriminately. 



It is not unusual in California where almonds 

 and peaches are growing in the same orchard, 

 and where peach seeds are planted, to have sev- 

 eral of the seedlings exhibit marked character- 

 istics of the almond ; or, contrariwise, to find that 

 a number of the almond seedlings show the char- 

 acteristics of the peach. 



This, of course, is perhaps sometimes annoy- 

 ing to the practical grower, but it suggests in- 

 teresting possibilities for the plant developer. 



Wishing to see just where the experiments 

 might lead, I have crossed the almond with the 

 nectarine, using great care to make sure that the 

 experiment was not vitiated by accidental pollen- 

 izing. In some cases I have used the old and 

 generally useless method of tying a sack over the 

 flower, which I do not usually consider necessary 

 in pollenizing if properly performed. 



