6 BULLETIN 1282, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The Jordan almond may be cited as an example of a variety not 
profitable for American production. The kernel is large, smooth, 
and attractive, with sufficient oil content to make it popular with the 
confectionery trade. The nut has prestige also in the market. But 
extensive plantings of this variety in California have resulted in 
failure, because of its shy bearing habit. From the growers’ stand- 
point its production has been found impracticable, and large acreages _ 
have been grafted over or dug up. The Jordan has the additional 
disadvantage of having a small proportion of kernel to shell. It 
could be useful in the shelled- almond trade, except that it is a difficult 
nut to crack by methods in use in California, where hand cracking 
can not be resorted to profitably. 
The Texas almond serves admirably as an example of a variety 
suited to the grower, but not very satisfactory to the market. It 

Fic, 4.—Almonds on the tree, showing their habit of bearing 
“usually escapes frost because of its late blooming habit, produces 
abundant crops, is thrifty in growth, and is easily harvested; but 
because of its small size, the comparatively hard shell, and the 
slightly bitter flavor of its kernel, it is more difficult to dispose of in 
the shell than are the lar ger and more attractive nuts of the same 
general class, for example, the Drake. The kernel of the Texas is 
plump, attractive in appearance, and quite well suited to the manu- 
facture of confectionery products in which the slightly bitter flavor 
is not objectionable. In the future it may be possible to dispose of 
it profitably as a shelled almond, but at present the Texas variety 
must be classed as one partially failing from the market t standpoint. 
The large acreage of this variety in C alifornia now presents a difficult 
problem. 
The success of the almond industry in the future will depend more 
largely upon the character of the varieties grown than upon any 
