[Illustration: Fig. 26.—Period of Effective Blossoming of Almonds—University Farm—1917.] Other varieties, such as the Texas, have been sufficiently tested to show them to be well adapted to most districts, but they are not to be recommended because of the difficulty experienced in marketing them at a profit in large quantities. The Texas has been planted extensively in California without sufficient justification. It was planted because of its value as a pollenizer, its precocious and prolific bearing, and its upright habit of growth. In small quantities it was sold in less exacting markets as a Drake, but in larger quantities there has been a good deal of objection to it on the part of the trade. As the bearing trees become older and bear heavier crops, the nuts tend to become smaller and the shells harder, which increases the difficulty of selling. From the standpoint of the grower as well as the market, the lateness in ripening is very objectionable. The California Almond Growers’ Exchange is finding it harder each year to satisfactorily market the rapidly increasing tonnage of this variety. It should, therefore, be avoided in new plantings. SIZE OF ALMONDS Records of fourteen varieties of almonds grown in the same orchard under similar conditions of soil and culture have been kept at the University Farm at Davis, for the years 1913 to 1916, inclusive. These trees are all of the same age, except the Texas, Peerless and Harriott, which are one year younger than the others. These figures show that there is a wide variation within varieties from year to year, not only as regards size, but proportion of shell to whole nut, and in the proportion of double kernels. Table X shows the variation in size from year to year, as indicated by the number of nuts per pound. Five-pound samples of each variety were used to determine the average size: TABLE X NUMBER OF ALMONDS PER POUND FOR YEARS 1913 TO 1916, INCLUSIVE Variety 1913 1914 1915 1916 Average Nonpareil 256 240 224 223 236 I.X.L. 149 149 159 150 152 Ne Plus Ultra — 163 179 169 167 Drake 189 132 131 130 145.5 Languedoc 226 220 185 213 211 Texas 182 171 165 173 173 Reams 138 123 143 148 140.5 Lewelling 154 150 158 139 150 Peerless — 118 127 134 124 Princess 270 241 190 252 238 California — 232 211 206 216 King — 246 234 244 241 Harriott — 175 151 176 167 Jordan — 76 70 75 74 The value of an almond for shelling depends not alone on its relative ease of cracking, but also upon the percentage of kernel to the whole nut as shown in table XI: