140 NECTARINE. SWEET ALMOND. 
151. The NECTARINE is a smooth-skinned variety of 
the peach, but of richer and more delicious flavour. 
The culture and management of the two kinds are 
exactly the same ; and in all the circumstances of their 
growth, wood, leaves., and flowers, they precisely re- 
semble each other. 
152. The COMMON or SWEET ALMOND is a soft 
and pleasant-flavoured kernel, contained in a nut which is of 
flattish shape, and has a tender shell with numerous small holes 
on the outside. 
The almond tree (Amygdalus communis, Fig. 46) is usually 
twelve or fourteen feet high. Its beautiful pink flowers of 
jive petals grow in pairs t and appear early in the spring. The 
leaves are somewhat oval, pointed, and delicately serrated at the 
edges. 
Our shrubberies contain no tree the flowers of which 
are more beautiful than those of the almond; and these 
flowers appear in March and April, a season when few 
other parts of the vegetable creation have recovered 
from their wintry state. Though known to the an- 
cients from the most remote periods of antiquity, the 
almond tree has only been cultivated in England since 
the year 1562, and this almost wholly on account of the 
elegant appearance of its flowers ; as the climate of 
Great Britain is not sufficiently warm for the fruit to be 
perfected with us. 
The almonds that are consumed in this country are 
imported, sometimes in the shell, but much more com- 
monly without, from France, Spain, Italy, and the 
Levant; and they are packed in casks, boxes, and 
bales. The province of Valencia had formerly great 
celebrity for its almonds ; but the cultivation of the 
trees in that part of Spain has for several years been 
much neglected. 
The chief uses of sweet almonds are in confectionary 
and cooking. They are also eaten with raisins in des- 
serts after dinner ; but they should be well chewed, as 
every piece that is swallowed entire is indigestible. By 
pressure, they yield a considerable proportion, some- 
