APRICOTS IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 



I. CULTIVATION OF THE APRICOT. 



It is a prevalent notion that the apricot tree is too tender to be 

 grown in New York State. It will surprise many to learn that the 

 fruit is considerably grown in the State, there being one plantation 

 of many hundred trees. The apricot is as hardy as the peach, and 

 it thrives in the same localities and under the same general 

 cultivation and treatment. There are three chief reasons, I 

 think, why the apricot has remained in comparative obscurity in 

 the horticulture of Western New York : i . Ignorance of the 

 fruit ; 2. Loss of crop by spring frosts, because of the very early 

 season of blooming of the apricot ; 3. The fondness of the cur- 

 culio for the fruit. To these may be added the fact that we have 

 not yet arrived at an understanding of the best stocks upon which 

 to bud the apricot ; but this difficulty may be expected to dis- 

 appear as soon as greater attention is given to the fruit and our 

 nurserymen begin to propagate it extensively. Aside from the 

 above difficulties, there are probably no reasons why apricots 

 should not be grown in Western New York as easily as plums or 

 peaches. 



The apricot is a fruit somewhat intermediate between the peach 

 and the plum. The tree is a round-headed, spreading grower 

 with dark somewhat peach-like bark, and very broad or almost 

 circular leaves. The fruit, which generally ripens in advance of 

 both the peach and plum, is peach-like in shape and color, with 

 a smoother skin, rich yellow flesh and large flat, smooth stone- 

 The flesh is commonly less juicy than that of the peach, and, as 

 a rule, perhaps, of higher quality. 



The ideal soil for the apricot seems to be one which is deep and 

 dry, and of a loamy or gravelly character. The rolling loamy 



