AMYGDALUS, ALMONDTREE. 121 



instead of being elevated, the pit has a sharp & very prominent ridge on this side. The 

 stalk inserts into a shallow cavity bordered by several small folds. 



The pit, like that of other almonds, consists of two parallel plates. The inside one 

 is thin & quite firm. The outer plate is thicker, but it's sufficiently fragile that rubbing of 

 the almonds against each other during a somewhat long shipment reduces it to a powder. 

 This plate forms long after the inside plate. If the husk of the fruit is removed around 

 mid-August, it's hardly noticeable & it comes off with it. It's this slow formation that 

 keeps it from hardening. The pit contains a sweet almond. 



This almond tree is one that most deserves cultivation, even though its flowers are 

 somewhat prone to drop off. The older trees often produce fruit with a quite hard pit, but 

 much less so than that of the common almond. 



III. Bitter ALMOND, softer pit 



ALMOND TREE, soft pit & bitter almond. 



This almond tree is a variety of the preceding one, differing from it only in the 

 taste of the almond & by its flower that is fourteen to fifteen lignes in diameter. The 

 flower looks more like that of the common almond tree than that of the lady almond tree, 

 but it opens up at the same time as the flower of the latter. 



IV. Sweet ALMOND, smaller fruit, softer pit, 



ALMOND TREE with small fruit & soft pit. Sultana almond. 



The principal difference between this almond tree & the lady almond is the 

 smaller size of its fruit. It's common in Provence. Another species of almond tree is 

 highly regarded there; 



