4 TREATISE ON 



instead, they cover them with a board loaded with large stones. If this operation is carried 

 out in December or January, there is enough moisture in the ground to germinate the 

 almonds, which will be ready for planting in April. 



Alternatively (& this is the more usual practice) others put a two-inch layer of 

 thick moist sand & a layer of almonds in a bucket, small basket, a cask broken out at one 

 end, or other container. They place it against a wall with a southern exposure; when there 

 are severe frosts, they cover it with litter or put it inside a conservatory, cave, or cellar. 

 They take care to inspect the almonds from time to time, to wet them a little if the sprouts 

 don't begin to appear by February, or to keep them drier if the sprouts are too long. It's 

 essential that they germinate before being planted, but that they don't get too far along, 

 because it's very hard then to get them out of the sand & to plant them without breaking a 

 lot of the plumes or newly formed stems, or at minimum the roots & coma, if they've 

 already developed. Of course, almonds already spent after forming these structures can't 

 produce any new ones. 



Nurserymen put almonds & other pits in sand only from the 1 st to the 1 5 th of 

 January. If sand is not available, friable soil can be used. 



At the beginning of April, furrows two-&-a-half to three feet apart are marked by 

 lines on the area prepared for seeding. In good weather the almonds are taken out of the 

 sand and the radicle is cut or pinched to make a good starting point for roots, rather than 

 allowing it to form a taproot that would make it very difficult & uncertain for the trees to 

 take root again after transplanting. They're placed in a hamper & brought to the location 

 where they're to be planted. Some gardeners make holes with a peg twenty or twenty-four 



