THE ALMOND 337 



In the matter of the fruit, the second-genera- 

 tion hybrids are equally variable. There are 

 some specimens that tend to reproduce the 

 almond qualities and others that tend to repro- 

 duce the peach qualities. And as might be 

 expected there are yet others that combine the 

 quality of the two fruits. The best of these bear 

 fruits that are obviously peaches, even peaches of 

 good qualities, yet that have at their center what 

 would be at once recognized as an almond nut, 

 with characteristic shell and seed. 



In a word, these are almonds grown inside the 

 peach a combination of obvious interest. 



But this anomalous fruit, notwithstanding its 

 interest, did not present commercial possibilities 

 that could at the moment be realized. The 

 peaches that thus bear almonds are not generally 

 so far of the best quality as compared with recog- 

 nized varieties of the best commercial peaches. 

 Neither, on the other hand, were the almonds 

 borne by these peaches of a quality to enable 

 them to compete in the market with the best 

 varieties of commercial almonds. 



There is no reason to doubt that a continuance 

 of the experiment in which selection was made 

 among the best specimens of this hybrid fruit, 

 together with further hybridization in which the 

 strains of the best peaches and the best almonds 



