A process of early selection has been applied within the almond cultivar breeding programme conducted at IRTA Mas Bové. Progenies are raised in the nursery at high density spacing (about 3-4 x 0.3 m), without further transplanting, and seedlings presenting undesirable characters are quickly removed from the field. Several traits, such as leafing date, vigour, growth habit and branching, can be observed during the second year. Some other characters like blooming date, early cropping, nut traits, self-fertility and disease sensibility can also be assessed when the seedlings are young. The process over the past ten years is reviewed (18,171 seedlings from 313 crosses were managed). The average percentage of conserved seedlings at the end of the second year was 44 per cent, in the third year it was reduced to 12 per cent, in the fourth year to 5 per cent and only to 0.5 per cent in the fifth year.