CHAPTER XII. 



THE ALMOND, QUINCE, MEDLAR, &c. 



§ 1. — THE ALMOND. 



The Almond is a native of Barbary, China, and 

 Persia, and most Eastern countries. From Persia 

 it has long been introduced into all the coun- 

 tries westward, and certainly into England in 

 1548. This early introduction is, however, 

 doubted by some. Dr Turner, who wrote his 

 " Herbal " in 1645, nearly a century afterwards, 

 says, " Almond trees grow much in hygte Ger- 

 many beside Sypre, in a cytie called Newstat, 

 and great plenty e in Italy e, and some growe in 

 England, but I have hearde of no greate store 

 of the fruyte of them that growe in England." 

 It has always been cultivated largely in Asia, 

 and is mentioned in Scripture as one of the 

 charms of the fertile land of Canaan. And 

 at even an earlier period it is spoken of by 

 Jacob, when he sent his sons the second time 

 to Egypt to buy corn : " Take of the best 

 fruits of the land, and carry down the man a 

 present ; a little balm, and a little honey; spices 

 and myrrh, nuts and almonds." As a fruit- bear- 

 ing tree in this country it is of little value, 

 ripening only scanty crops in the most favour- 

 able situations. As, however, it is sometimes 

 cultivated for its fruit, it demands a place here. 

 As an early spring flowering ornamental tree, 

 few equal it in beauty, particularly in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London, where it forms one of our 

 most interesting town trees, enlivening the 

 cheerless aspect of early spring with its peach- 

 coloured blossoms almost earlier than any other 

 tree of equal beauty. There are only a very 

 few places in Scotland where it exists as a stan- 

 dard tree, much less producing its blossoms. 

 There are two distinct varieties — nay,botanically 

 speaking, species of the almond, — the common, 

 or sweet almond, Amygdcdus communis, and the 

 bitter almond, Amygdalus amara. The former 

 is sometimes treated as a wall tree, and pruned 

 and trained as peaches are, to which it is natu- 

 rally closely allied {vide Peach.) " From its 

 tender habit," Rogers remarks, " and the liabi- 

 lity of its flowers being killed by frost, it 

 seldom bears ; and even when it does 3 the pro- 

 duce is far inferior to imported fruit. The tree 

 should be planted on a south aspect, and re- 

 quires a good rich loamy soil fully 18 inches 

 deep, and on a dry subsoil. As the tree 

 approaches a bearing state, it will be observed 



to produce numerous spurs, which, as they are 

 generally thickly set with blossom-buds, should 

 be carefully preserved. Those spurs bear the 

 best fruit ; but as the latter are liable to be too 

 much crowded together, they must be timeously 

 thinned." The almond not only resembles the 

 peach in its general habit, as to manner of 

 growth, form and colour of flower, and foliage; 

 it is also subject to the same diseases and attacks 

 of insects, which are to be prevented by the 

 same means as are advised for the peach. The 

 oil of almonds has some repute in medicine ; in 

 the arts it is often employed, and in the manu- 

 facturing of nostrums, oils for the hair, lotions 

 for the face, &c, it cuts a conspicuous figure. 

 Perhaps the inventors of those popular and 

 fashionable cosmetics are indebted to Pliny for 

 the first idea, as he states that a decoction of 

 the roots of the bitter almond tree supples the 

 skin, prevents wrinkles, and gives a fresh and 

 cheerful colour to the countenance. Another very 

 important virtue is ascribed to the fruit of the 

 bitter almond — namely, the preventing or reliev- 

 ing intoxication. Plutarch relates that Drussas' 

 physician, who was the greatest bacchanalian of 

 his age, took at every cup five bitter almonds to 

 allay the heat and the fumes of the wine, owing 

 to which he never became intoxicated. 



The varieties cultivated in Britain are the 

 sweet and the bitter almond; of the former there 

 are several sub-varieties, the most esteemed 

 being the Sweet Jordan, having a tender shell 

 and large sweet kernel. As an ornamental tree, 

 the variety Macrocarpa is in greater repute, on 

 account of its splendid and very large blossoms. 

 The French cultivate eight varieties, the climate 

 being congenial to the tree. The almond is 

 largely cultivated in our nurseries for stocks on 

 which to work the peach and nectarine, the 

 late Mr Knight and others being of opinion 

 that the finer kinds of nectarines, when budded 

 on the almond stock, are less liable to be at- 

 tacked by mildew than when on the stocks in 

 ordinary use. The French nurserymen use the 

 sweet hard-shelled variety {Douce a coque dure) 

 as a stock for the peach on dry soils. Several 

 other varieties of almonds are noticed in works 

 on fruits, but as none can be regarded as valu- 

 able additions to our home-grown desserts, we 

 think them undeserving of further notice here. 

 Many botanists are of opinion that the almond 



