316 



SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



Fio 



139. Moor- 

 park. 



tending from base to apex; skin leiiion-yellow, fluslied and dotted ■with 

 bright reddish-orange; very juit-y, sweet and rich; of best quality; stone 

 free from the flesh, round-oblong, rough ; kernel bitter. 



490. Moorpark (Fig. 139) is probably the 

 most widely grown of all apricots. The merits 

 of the variety are chiefly in the fruits, wliicli 

 are large, handsome, and of best quality. 

 The trees have several faults: they are 

 tender to cold; uncertain and irregular 

 bearers; and the crop ripens unevenly. 

 Moorpark is an old English variety, but is 

 said to have been introduced from France to 

 England at an early date. 



Tree very large, with long strong shoots, tender to cold, sometimes very 

 productive, but often shy and uncertain and not always healthy. Fruit 

 large, more than 2 inches in diameter, round with truncate base and com- 

 pressed sides; cavity small; suture shallow^, dividing the fruit into unequal 

 halves; color deep orange with brown dots; flesh deep orange, firm, juicy, 

 sweet, rich; best in quality; stone free, large, rough, thick, kernel slightly 

 bitter. 



491. Hemskirke (Fig. 140).' — This variety is a strain of 

 Moorpark, which it surpasses in hardiness 

 of tree. The tree resembles that of Moor- 

 park in wood and foliage, but is a more 

 regular bearer; unfortunately it does not 

 hold the crop well. The fruit, also, re- 

 sembles that of Moorpark, but ripens evenly 

 on both sides, as Moorpark often does not. 

 The variety is widely grown in California. 

 It is an old English sort. 



Tree large, spreading, very hardy and "healthy, regular and productive 

 bearer. Flowers large, nearly pure white. Fruits midseason; large, nearly 

 2 inches in diameter, round or round-oblate, sides compressed, bulged on 

 one side of suture near the apex; suture distinct; apex mucronate ; color 

 orange with brown spots, blushed toward the sun; skin thick, adhering; 

 flesh golden-orange, tender, juicy, rich; very good in quality; stone oval, 

 small, free; with a pervious channel; kernel bitter. 



492. Royal (Fig. 141) is now the leading apricot in the 

 great apricot-growing regions of California. In quality of 

 fruit, it is somewhat inferior to Moorpark, but the trees do 



Fig. 



140. Hems- 

 kirke. 



