THE ALMOND 845 



best varieties it is perhaps as soft and thin as 

 desirable. If it becomes too soft, it is liable to 

 injury in shipping, and thus the appearance of 

 the nuts is marred and their market value 

 impaired; also being subject to destruction by 

 birds before it is harvested. Perhaps, however, 

 selective breeding may advantageously be car- 

 ried out with an eye to the whitening of the shell 

 of the nut. At present it is necessary to bleach 

 the shells after the nuts are thoroughly dried, 

 first with low pressure steam and then with the 

 fumes of sulphur. Such bleaching is necessary 

 to meet the demands of the consumers. 



It would obviously cheapen production and 

 save a good deal of trouble if a variety could be 

 produced that would have the desired color of 

 shell in the natural state. Another defect is that 

 the almond tends to cling to the tree too tena- 

 ciously, requiring unnecessary labor. All almond 

 growers would appreciate improvements in these 

 two respects. 



My own experiments of late have been in all 

 the directions mentioned, and I have good reason 

 to suppose that I now have better almonds than 

 any heretofore grown. 



It is clear, then, that there are various direc- 

 tions in which the almond may profit by the 

 attentions of the plant developer. The steady 



