THE ALMOND 341 



This form of peach-almond has considerable 

 merit as an ornamental tree, and it will probably 

 prove of value as an acquisition for the garden 

 and dooryard. Even though a peach that bears 

 an edible seed has no greatly added commercial 

 value, owing to the small size of the seed, such a 

 fruit with large seed of thinner shell, and with 

 peach flavor, should certainly be appreciated. 



Improving the Almond 



All this has to do with the production of a 

 compound fruit in which the almond seed is only 

 an accessory. It remains to say a few words 

 about the almond itself as a commercial nut. 



The importance of the subject will be obvious 

 when we record that last year five thousand five 

 hundred tons of almonds were produced in Cali- 

 fornia alone. When it is further recalled that 

 numberless unsuccessful attempts have been 

 made to establish almond orchards in various 

 >varmer regions of the United States, and that 

 the failure of these orchards has been due almost 

 exclusively to a single remedial defect, the 

 importance of the almond from the standpoint 

 of the plant developer will be more clearly 

 understood. 



The one great defect of most varieties of 

 almond is that they bloom so early that their 



