ALMOND 415 
mined largely by the distance they are to be shipped. With the 
exception of winter varieties of apples and pears and a few kinds 
of grapes, it is best to dispose of fruit soon after it is gathered, 
unless it is kept for family use. 
If for winter use, the fruit should at once be placed in the 
cellar or fruit house in which it is to be stored, and there kept as 
near the freezing point as possible. There will be less danger of 
shriveling if the fruit is placed at once in closed barrels or 
other tight packages, but if proper ventilation is provided, it 
may be kept in bins with little loss. Even though no ice is 
used, it will be possible to maintain a fairly low temperature 
by opening the windows at night when the outside atmosphere 
is colder than that inside the building, and closing them during 
the day as the outer air becomes warmer. 
Fruit should be handled with great care at all times, for if 
the cells become broken by rough handling, the keeping quali- 
ties will be greatly injured. The illustrations (Figs. 187-189) 
show three types of fruit storage houses. 
Apples and winter pears may be packed in sand or leaves in 
the cellar (in boxes) and thereby be kept from shriveling. 
Almond, — The almond tree is seldom seen in the eastern states, 
but now and then one will be found in a yard and not bearing. The 
failure to bear may be due to frost injury or lack of pollination. 
The almond is about as hardy as the peach, but it blooms so early 
in the spring that it is little grown east of the Pacific slope. It is an 
interesting ornamental tree, and its early bloom is a merit when tho 
fruit is not desired. The almonds commonly sold by nurserymen in 
the east are hard-shell varieties, and the nuts are not good enough for 
commerce. The almond fruit is a drupe, like the peach, but the flesh 
is thin and hard and the pit is the ‘‘almond”’ of commerce. Culture 
asfor peach. 
The “flowering almonds” are bushes of different species from the 
fruit-bearing tree (p. 299). They are usually grafted on plum, and 
the stock is likely to throw up suckers and cause trouble. 
