INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 13 



union of stock and bud some distance above the base of the trunk. 

 (PL V, fig. 2; PL VII, figs. 1 and 2.) 



The flowering season is the deciding moment for the almond more 

 than for almost any other fruit, for it is the earliest flowering of all 

 our cultivated fruit trees, and consequently most subject to injury by 

 late frosts. Even in the sierras about Malaga a total loss of the crop 

 sometimes occurs in certain valleys as a result of a local late frost. 

 The flowering season for the Jordan begins in January or February, 

 as nearly as can be made out from the conflicting statements given, and 

 is not appreciably later for the other sorts grown near Alicante. 



The culture as carried on in Spain is simple enough, and seems to 

 consist, in most localities, of watching for the nuts to ripen and in beat- 

 ing them from the trees when the proper season has arrived, which 

 is in early August. (PL III, fig. 3.) The nuts are easily separated 

 from the dry, leather} 7 flesh, and are spread out on the rocks to dry, or 

 carefully piled in the courtyard for safe-keeping. (PL VII, fig. 3.) 

 When dried sufficiently they are cracked and the kernels taken from 

 them, packed in bags and boxes, and shipped by pack mule to the 

 nearest buyer. 



GUMMOSIS OF THE ALMOXD. 



In some of the almond orchards about Malaga, which were in rather 

 a poor condition, trees were found which were dying from a kind of 

 gummosis that manifested itself in a dying of the bark of the main 

 trunk, a withering and death of the tips of the twigs (PL VI, fig. 2), and 

 the formation of gum drops as large as a turkey egg on the trunk and 

 main branches. The fruit of the trees suffering from gummosis was 

 also affected. The shell was discolored in spots, and the kernel was 

 often spotted or the tip covered with a soft gum, which was more or 

 less slimy to the touch. Many trees were seen about the small town 

 of Casara Bonella which were doomed to a speedy death from this 

 disease. Whether or not this gummosis was the effect or the cause 

 of the trouble the writer is unable to say. It seemed to cause the 

 growers no alarm, and was considered by them as a well-known trouble, 

 its prevalence varying with the season. Specimens of the diseased 

 trunks have been submitted to an expert in the Department, and it is 

 possible the cause of the trouble may be discovered. 



POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING THE JORDAN ALMOND IN 



AMERICA. 



The principal difficult} 1 " in the successful introduction of the Jordan 

 variety of almond into America will be to find localities suited to 

 almond culture which are not subject to late frosts. The soil conditions, 

 if suited to the growth of other good varieties, will, in all probability, 

 fill the requirements put upon them by this superlative sort. Califor- 



