CHAPTER VIII 



THE ALMOND 



THE almond, Amygdalus, is so closely related to 

 the peach that some botanists believe the latter to 

 represent an offshoot from the wild almond by culti- 

 vation and selection rather than a separate species 

 of tree. Almond nuts are nitrogenous nuggets of 

 such value that the extension of almond culture in 

 this country is certain to be profitable. At the pres- 

 ent time the tree is grown in a large way on the 

 Pacific slope only. Varieties with soft-shelled nuts 

 were developed in warm parts of the Old World, and 

 consequently are not hardy very far north. Some 

 of the hard-shelled varieties will probably be found 

 to range quite as far north as the peach. The almond 

 as a drupe is like the peach, but the soft part of the 

 fruit in the almond constitutes little more than a 

 thick skin. The beauty of an almond tree when in 

 flower has led to its introduction as an ornamental 

 tree in the form of varieties which are not particu- 

 larly valuable for their nuts. Early blossoming of 

 the almond exposes it in the north to the danger of 

 late spring frosts. As one of the oldest of cultivated 

 nut trees it demands, like the peach, a good deal of 



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