ALMOND. 



ALMOND. 



" A soil yielding excellent pasture, from the 

 valley of the Avon, near Salisbury, aflbrded 

 one eleventh of coarse silicious sand, and the 

 finely divided matter consisted of 



Alumina 7 parts. 



Silica 1* 



Carbonate of lime ----- 63 



Oxide of iron ------ '2 



Vegetable, animal, and saline matter - 14." 



Another striking cause of the fertility of al- 

 luvial soils will come more properly wilder IH- 

 HiGATin \. (Miller's Dictionary.} 



ALMOND, Silver-leaved (Lat. Amygdalus ar- 

 gentea). A beautiful shrub originally from the 

 Levant. It grows from eight to ten feet hi^h. 

 and blows rose-coloured flowers in April. Its 

 leaves are covered on both sides with a sil- 

 very-coloured down, but they do not appear 

 till the llo \vers are gone. All the almond tribe 

 are hardy, and will bear any situation, it' the 

 soil is tolerably good. Propagate by grafting 

 upon the bitter almond or a plum . The 

 double dwarf ali/ntnd, Lat. Amt/gdalus pttmila, 

 is a smaller shrub, with pale, rose-coloured 

 double ilowers, blowing in May, and again in 

 September. The commun duwf almond, Lat. 

 Amyndulua nana, -i..\v> only three feet high, 

 and is a native of Knia. It Mow- its pink 

 ili.wers in March and April. Propagate by 

 S'-cd, or grafting upon the bitter almn.l oi 

 plum .-stocks. Trim away dead wood, hut 

 prune seldom; they rarely require pruning. 

 (L. Ju/tHxon.) 



ALMOND TREE (Amygdalus, Linnirus ; 

 a//<?/f/,Fr.). Derived by Menage from amandala, 

 a word in low Latin ; by others from Allentund, 

 a German, supposing that almonds came to 

 France from Germany. But the Spanish have 

 almendra / and perhaps amand, amandula, and 

 this, are all referable to amygdalum, as that is 

 to af*ir}J**iiY. (Todd's Johnson.) More than one 

 species, and several varieties of this well 

 known genus are cultivated in England, chiefly 

 for the beauty of their early spring flowers 

 The common almond tree (Amygdala* cum- 

 munis, Linnaeus) is a native of northern Africa, 

 and so late as the time of Cato had not been 

 introduced into Italy, as he calls the fruit 

 Greek nuts (nuca Graecte). It was introduced 

 into Britain about 1548. It will grow to the 

 height of twenty or thirty feet, dividing into a 

 head of numerous spreading branches. The 

 leaves very much resemble those of the peach 

 but they proceed from buds both above anc 

 below the flowers. There are also small glands 

 on the lower saw-toothing of the leaves. The 

 form of the flowers is not very different from 

 those of the peach, but they come out usually 

 in pairs, and vary more in their colour, from 

 the fine blush of the apple blossom to a snowy 

 whiteness. The chief obvious distinction is 

 in the fruit, which is flatter, with a leather-like 

 covering, instead of the rich pulp of the peach, 

 and the nectarine, and it also opens spontane- 

 ously when the kernel is ripe. The shell of 

 the almond is never so hard as a peach stone, 

 and is sometimes even tender and exceedingly 

 brittle. It is flatter, smoother, and the furrows 

 or holes are more superficial than those of the 

 peach stone. 



Varieties of the common almond. I. The nuts 



; principal di>tinetion being in the fruit, 

 iich ill Hers either as to its form, its size, or 



about an inch and a quarter long, with a hard 

 smooth shell ; the kernel not valuable. The 

 seedlings are used in France to bud peaches 

 upon. 



2. Bitter : fruit of a large size. 



3. Bitter: with a tender shell; fruit of a 

 large size. 



4. Bitter : with a hard shell ; fruit of a large 

 size. 



5. Sultan : fruit of a small size. 



6. Grand Sultan : fruit of a small size. 



7. Sweet: with a tender shell, or tender- 

 shelled Sultan ; fruit of a moderate size. 



8. Sweet : with a half hard shell. 



9. Sweet: with a hard shell. 



10. Long-fruited: hard-shelled; fruit of a 

 large size. 



11. IVaeh almond : fruit of a large size. 



12. Brittle: fruit of a moderate size. 



We are not certain whether the French va- 

 rieties, called, 1. Atnande douce d coyue dure ; 

 2. Amande douce d cwj\te tcndre , 3. Artutnde 

 des dur/tes , and 4. Amaiide princesse, coincide 

 with anv of the preceding. 



Th- whole of the varieties generally pro- 

 duce a profusion of blossoms, \\ hich vary a 

 little in colour from a line rose to a pale blush. 

 They closely re>emhle each other ill foliage, 

 the " 

 whicl 

 its ta>tf. 



In the south of Europe, as in France, Spain, 

 Portugal, and Italy, the almond is cultivated 

 'iiMvely as a standard fruit tree, the 

 varieties theie beinir very numerous. They 

 export the fruit to every quarter of the globe. 

 The kernel of the almond is the part used, and 

 when it is green, ripe, or dried, it furnishes a 

 most agreeable addition to the dessert. It is 

 also used to a very great extent in confection- 

 ary, perfumery, cookery, and medicine. 



The general purpose of introducing the tree 

 into gardens and pleasure grounds in England 

 is for the great beauty of its blossoms, which 

 are not only handsome, but being produced iu 

 such profusion as they usually are at so early 

 a period of the spring season, before the foliage 

 appears, become extremely conspicuous and 

 hisUy ornamental; a circumstance which 

 renders the tree a most desirable shrubby plant. 



The common almond, and its varieties, blos- 

 som earlier than the dwarf kinds, from which 

 circumstance the blossoms of the latter are 

 very rarely damaged by spring frosts, but the 

 other kinds, when planted in situations shel- 

 tered from the east winds, are generally pre- 

 served from sustaining damage. 



Propagation. All the species and varieties 

 are propagated by seeds, budding, grafting, 

 layers, and occasionally they will produce 

 suckers, which may be successfully planted 

 out. When stocks for budding or grafting 

 upon are wanted, or new varieties desired, 

 these are obtained by sowing the fruit stones, 

 though they may be budded or grafted on 

 mussel-plum stocks. 



The stones of the last season's produce 

 should be sown in October, upon a bed of light 

 rich soil, about three inches apart, and covered 

 four inches deep with fine soil. This is indis- 

 pensable ; for when the soil is left in lumps, the 



71 



