456 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



FRUITS — VARIETIES AND CULTURE. 

 ALMOND. — (Amygdalus comm unis.) 



The Almond is a native of Asia and Northern Africa. 

 It is a tree of medium size, nearly allied to the peach in 

 habit and general appearance. The leaves are similar to 

 the peach, having glands like some varieties of the latter 

 fruit, and flowers of similar shape, but much larger and 

 more ornamental, varying in color from pure white to a 

 fine blush. The chief difference is in the fruit, the stone 

 of the almond being flatter, not so hard, and covered with 

 a woolly skin that opens spontaneously when the kernel 

 is ripe. 



In Southern Europe the almond is much cultivated, 

 and large quantities of nuts exported. The kernel is the 

 part used; the sweet varieties, whether green or dry, form 

 a very nutritious article of food, and a most agreeable 

 addition to the dessert. Almonds are used in confection- 

 ery, cooking, perfumery, and medicine. The bitter 

 almond is the kind used in perfumery and flavoring; it 

 contains prussic acid, which, though a violent poison, is 

 not thought injurious in the small quantities required 

 for these purposes. 



Cultivation. — A warm, dry soil is most suitable for the 

 almond, which is cultivated exactly like the peach, and 

 is subject to the same diseases; it may be budded on the 

 almond, peach, or plum stock. The almond cannot be 

 successfully cultivated in the middle or northern portions 

 of the South. The varieties are: 



Common Almond. — Nuts one and one-fourth inch long, 

 hard, smooth, compressed, and pointed, with a kernel of 



