


ALMOND VARIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES o7 
face light brown, smooth, wavy, with short, round, wide, very slight depressions. 
Ventral streak dark brown, wide, medium to long, sides from middle to apex 
gently curving until they come to a point at the apex. Base end of ventral 
streak frequently pointed. 
Kernel: Doubles frequent; size medium to large (% by zs by 2 to 13 by 2 
by 2 inches). Generally does not quite fill shell, plump and wide, flattening 
and wrinkling when drying, but not so much as in the I. X. L. Shape ellip- 
tical or ovate-elliptical. Edgewise view, long-ovate. Dorsal edge thinner than 
ventral. Ventral edge thick, rounding. 3ase usually quite round, but fre- 
quently dorsal shoulder bulging. Apex well filled, wide, thick, round, with 
small distinct point. Pellicle light to dark brown in color, tough, heavily 
pubescent; pellicle fold on apex half of ventral edge thin and small. Flavor 
pleasantly and mildly sweet. Quality fair. 
Distinguishing characteristics —Nut ovate, rather plump, quite wide; ventral 
edge characteristically sharply curved, nearly in the form of a circle, wing 
moderately prominent; dorsal edge much curved; texture of outer shell 
crumbly; kernel plump and well filled at tip, pubescent, base rounding, doubles 
common, 
This nut resembles in shape the Henley, I. X. L., Smith, and Trembath. It 
is more plump than the Henley, the dorsal edge curves more, the shell is more 
crumbly, the kernel is longer, and the apex less tapering. 
The Batham is easily distinguished from the I. X. L. by the following three 
points: The nut is more plump; the base always slopes dorsally, never ven- 
trally; the dorsal shoulder of the kernel is always round—never square and 
humped, as in the I. X. L. 
The Batham is distinguished from the Smith as follows: The nut is some- 
what more plump, the shell is lighter in color, the kernel is more plump, 
smooth, and with dorsal shoulder round; in the Smith the dorsal shoulder of 
the kernel is commonly square and humped, and a deep irregular crease is often 
present in the sides of the kernels. 
The Batham nut closely resembles the Trembath in shape, but the latter is 
more flat and has the wing much more pronounced at the apex. 

COMMENTS 
The chief points in favor of this nut are its late and long-blooming habit 
(blooms a few days later than the Drake), which enables it to escape early 
frost injury in the spring, and its heavy-bearing habit. Points against it are 
that 17 per cent of its kernels are doubles, that the pellicle is heavily pubescent, 
and that the outer shell is easily chipped in handling. The kernel is plump, 
of good appearance, and resembles the Nonpareil somewhat in shape, but on 
the whole is inferior to that variety. The unshelled nut is not so attractive in 
appearance as the I. X. L. Growers state that the nuts of the Batham are 
difficult to harvest if attempts are made to knock them from the trees before 
they are thoroughly ripe; otherwise there is no difficulty in harvesting. The 
nuts ripen a few days ahead of the Drake. The Batham nut is superior to the 
Drake, but inferior to the Nonpareil and I. X. L. Commercial plantings of 
the Batham almond are confined to the Chico district, where this variety 
escapes many of the spring frosts which frequently injure the early-blooming 
varieties in the locality. The variety has not been widely advertised, and only 
a few trees have been planted in other sections. 
5. BIDWELL (BIDWELL’S MAMMOTH) 
Origin.—A seedling variety originated on the Bidwell ranch, at Chico, Calif., 
in 1881. The original tree is not now in existence. At one time the variety 
was widely planted in California. While a few trees still remain in various 
other sections, at present most of the trees of this variety are in the Chico- 
Durham districts. 
Description 
TREE 
Upright (ratio of height to width of head, 1:1). Very vigorous grower. 
Round topped head as a rule. Trunk very stocky and vigorous, irregular in 
shape; when propagated on peach stock grows somewhat faster than the root; 
bark rough, exfoliates in small patches. 

