THE ALMOND 335 



hybrids to rapid growth is something that we 

 have seen manifested in many other cases. It is 

 a rather common result when species that vary by 

 just the right amount are hybridized. The 

 hybrid walnuts furnished the typical illustration 

 of this on the most spectacular scale. 



The fruit of these almond-peach hybrids varied 

 widely on different trees. Sometimes the fruit 

 was leathery like that of the almond, but in other 

 cases it was edible and quite peachlike. In a 

 few cases the pulp was so fully developed that 

 it might be considered a fairly good peach. The 

 seed covering was usually in the shape of an 

 almond and smoother, thinner, and generally 

 more elongated than the peach stone. It was 

 hard-shelled and corrugated, but had not the 

 texture of the peach stone. The meat within was 

 generally sweet or slightly bitter. 



Thus the fruit of this hybrid might be said 

 to be fairly intermediate between the fruits of 

 the parents, yet on the whole the flesh of the 

 peach and the stone of the almond, respectively, 

 tended to be prepotent. This is what would be 

 expected, when we recall that the flesh is 

 the specialized modern development in the case 

 of the peach, and that the seed is similarly 

 specialized and developed in the case of the 

 .nimond. 



