62 



HOCKINGS GARDEN MANUAL. 



Varieties: Soft Shell or Sultane, and the Jordan 

 are the sorts most cultivated. Another sort, however, 

 appears to deserve special attention in Queensland. It 

 is named " pistache," after the pistache nut, which it 

 resembles in shape and size. The fruit is smaller than 

 the Sultana, being about 1 J inches long. The shell is 

 tender, but not so easily broken between the fingers as 

 the tender-shelled. The kernel is sweet and well 

 flavored. It is highly esteemed in Provence and the 

 southern departments of France, where alone it attains 

 perfection. The climate of Paris is insufficient to 

 bring it to full maturity • and, as it requires a very 

 warm climate, it is well worth trying in some of the 

 northern coast districts of this colony, which have 

 proved too hot for the ordinary sorts. 



The oil obtained from the almond is of consider- 

 able use in the arts, and our fair readers are ac- 

 quainted with it under various names. Macassar oil 

 is merely oil of almond colored red with alkanet root ; 

 and the no less celebrated Russian oil is the same, 

 rendered milky by a small quantity of ammonia or 

 potash, and scented with oil of roses. Rowland's 

 Lotion, Milk of Poses, Caledonian Cream, Kalydor, 

 &c, are nothing but a solution of oxymuriate of 

 mercury in almond emulsion, with a proportion of 

 sugar of lead or white oxide of bismuth. 



Planting, <kc. : When convenient, it is better to 

 transplant early in the season — April, or early in May; 

 and, under ordinary circumstances, some young roots 

 will be formed in their new position, which will enable 

 the plant the better to withstand the effects of the dry 

 hot spring weather so general in Brisbane. If the 

 trees have to go any distance they should not be shifted 

 until the fall of the leaf — May, June, or July. The 

 pruning of standard almond trees will be the same as 

 the peach, which it greatly resembles in its growth. 

 The long straggling branches should be shortened, 



