156 



ALMONDS. 



LADIES' THIN-SHELL. Pk. cat. 

 Amandier des Dames, N. Duh. 



This variety is principally characterized by the shell, which 

 is far more tender, and is easily broken between the fingers ; 

 the almond enclosed in it is sweet and very delicate ; the 

 leaves are only of moderate size, supported by large petioles ; 

 the flowers are of medium dimensions, the petals but half as 

 broad as they are long, rather deeply hollowed at the summit, 

 of a lively red at the base, and sometimes entirely red on the 

 outside, and white within. This tree blossoms later than the 

 other kinds, and its first leaves expand at the same time as the 

 flowers, whereas the other varieties expand their flowers before 

 the development of their leaves ; the stone is formed, like that 

 of other almonds of two parallel coverings, the interior one of 

 which is thin and rather hard, and the exterior one thicker, 

 but so easily broken that when transported to a considerable 

 distance the friction of the almonds against one another 

 reduces it to powder ; it does not attain its formation until a 

 long time after the interior covering, so that if about the 

 middle of August the skin of the fruit be taken off*, it will be 

 found scarcely apparent, and will detach itself with the enve- 

 lope ; and it is this backwardness in its formation which 

 prevents it from becoming hard. This is one of the varieties 

 that most deserve to be cultivated, although Duhamel men- 

 tions that in France its flowers are a little subject to be 

 blighted. The same author also states that old trees some- 

 times produce almonds with a rather hard shell, but far less so 

 than those of the common almonds. 



SULTAN. Pr. cat. 

 Sweet Sultan, Pr. cat., 26th ed. | Amandier Sultane. N. Duh. 



The principal diflference between this and the Ladies' 

 almond, consists in the size of the fruit, which is smaller in 

 the present case. This variety is common in Provence, where 



