272 BUI^LETIN 71. 



lands which are well adapted to apples seem to be well suited to 

 the apricot, if the exposure and location are right. The apricot 

 seems to be particularly impatient of wet feet, and I am inclined 

 to regard many of the failures with these trees as due to retentive 

 subsoils. Wickson* thinks that some of the failure with this 

 firuit in California ' ' has been chiefly because they do not thrive 

 under the summer irrigation system." I am convinced, also, that 

 much of the uncertainty concerning the proper stocks for the 

 apricot arises from too little consideration of the effects of differ- 

 ent soils. 



Particular attention should be given to the location and exposure 

 of the apricot orchard. In this state, the best results are obtained if 

 the plantation stands upon elevated land near a large body of water, 

 for here the spring frosts are not so serious as elsewhere. Gener- 

 ally, a somewhat backward exposure, if it can be obtained, is de- 

 sirable, in order to retard blooming. Apricots will be sure to fail 

 in frosty localities. 



The apricot should always be given clean culture. For the 

 first two or three years some hoed crop may be grown between 

 the trees, but after that they should, in general, be allowed the 

 entire land, particularly if set less than twenty feet apart. Culti- 

 vation should be stopped late in summer or early in the fall, in 

 order to allow the wood to mature thoroughly. The trees are 

 pruned in essentially the same way as plums. 



The question of the best stocks for the apricot is in dispute. 

 It is commonly said, in this state, that the apricot is less success- 

 ful upon its own roots than upon either the peach or plum. It is 

 evident that it must be some unnatural or uncongenial condition 

 which renders a tree unprofitable or short-lived upon its own 

 roots ; and I am inclined to believe that this condition is a cold, 

 hard or poorly drained soil. "For deep, rich, well-drained, 

 loamy soils, the apricot on its own root makes a magnificent 

 tree," says Wickson.* " When it is desired to grow the apricot 

 in moister and heavier soils, or where a light soil is underlaid by 

 .a heavy, retentive subsoil, recourse should be had to the plum 

 root." " Budded on the peach root, it may be grown successfully 



* California Fruits, 249. 



