The Almond. 119 



The nuts are dried by exposure to the sun on platforms 

 or trays, or in large orchards, by artificial heat. Three 

 days of sun exposure, or 6 or 7 hours drying at 200° F., 

 cures them sufficiently so that the meats remain fnish sev- 

 eral months in a dry, cool place. 



The nuts are commonly marketed in sacks holding 

 about 120 pounds. Some growers grade the nuts according 

 to size. The prices received by growers range from 4^ to 

 20 cents per pound. 



\X2, Introduced walnuts. Three other species of wal- 

 nuts, iiz.^Juglans Sieboldiana, J.cordiformis and J. Mand- 

 sJmrica, have been introduced into the United States from 

 eastern Asia, but are not yet grown commercially. The first 

 two promise to be valuable in California. Several hybrids 

 between different species of walnuts have been reported. 



D — THE ALMOND 



1^3. The almond {Primus Amygdalus) resembles the 

 peach in habit of growth, and the nut is the pit of a peach- 

 like fruit, in which the fleshy part is thin and hard and 

 splits at maturity. The almonds are divided into two 

 classes — the bitter and the sweet. The sweet class includes 

 hard-shell and soft-shell types, of which the latter pro- 

 duce the edible almonds of commerce. 



It4. Cultural range. The successful culture of the al- 

 mond in North America is limited to a few comparatively 

 small districts in California, Utah and Arizona. The tree 

 is nearly as hardy as the peach tree, but the flowers open 

 so early that they are almost invariably destroyed by frost, 

 except in the districts noted. The most successful almond 

 orchards in California are on "bench" or hillside situ- 

 ations, far enough from salt water to escape fogs, and with 

 aspects that are little subject to spring frosts. 



