LUTHER BURBANK 
It is nothing unusual in California where 
almonds and peaches are growing in the same 
orchard, and where peach seeds are planted, to 
have one third of the seedlings turn out to show 
marked characteristics of the almond; or, contrari- 
wise, to find that a number of the almond seed- 
lings show the characteristics of the peach. 
This, of course, is sometimes annoying to the 
practical orchardist, but it suggests interesting pos- 
sibilities for the plant developer. 
Wishing to see just where the experiments 
might lead, I have crossed the almond with the 
nectarine, using great care to make sure that the 
experiment was not vitiated by accidental pollen- 
izing. In some cases I have used the old method 
of tying a sack over the flower, which I do not 
usually consider necessary in pollenizing if prop- 
erly performed. 
Hybridizing experiments of this type have been 
carried on somewhat extensively for at least fif- 
teen years. I have thus produced a_ hybrid 
almond-nectarine that has an absolutely smooth 
skin, with nothing of the roughness and comatose 
condition usually found in the almond. The 
hybrid reproduced the color and quality of the 
flesh of the white nectarine parent as well as its 
smooth skin. And as the almond quality of seed 
and stone was fairly reproduced, the combination 
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