CULTURE OF THE APRICOT. 



559 



Ha, crimis and albtis, Standard Rose ; 12, 

 Herbaceous and Annuals ; 13, Mathiola an- 

 nua, sown in spring ; 14, Violets of sorts, 

 Standard Rose in centre ; 15, jEiiothera 

 macrocarpa ; 16, Campanula pyramidalis 

 and Lobelia fulgens mixed ; 17, Campanu- 

 la persifolia and Lobelia sple?idens ; 18, 



Mathiola annua, scarlet and purple, sown 

 in spring. 



Like the design figured at page 504 of 

 your journal, this will, also, I think, have 

 a charming and gay effect. 



WiM. W. Valk, m. d. 



Flushing, L. I., May 9, 1S49. 



NOTES ON THE CULTURE OF THE APRICOT. 



The apricot is looked upon generally as a 

 difficult fruit to grow ; and, comparatively, 

 little attention is paid to its cultivation. 



Yet, it is a fruit which deserves more 

 attention. Beautiful, and of agreeable fla- 

 vor, its greatest merit, perhaps, is that it is 

 in perfection at precisely that period when 

 there is little or nothing else in the way of 

 fine fruit. 



In this neighborhood the apricot is a 

 common fruit tree, and, in many cases, 

 bears regular and excellent crops. We 

 have a neighbor, about two miles distant, 

 who is a very zealous fruit grower, and 

 whose grounds occupy a table or flat, about 

 200 feet above the level of the Hudson. 

 He has for several seasons grown crops of 

 Moorpark and other finest apricots, as abun- 

 dant as we have ever seen peaches or ap- 

 ples, and of delicious flavor. His trees are 

 standard trees, grown in the open orchard, 

 with no unusual care. The soil is a deep 

 loam ; and the site is one that secures 

 him against spring frosts, while the curcu- 

 lio scarcely molests him. Mr. Dubois, of 

 Dutchess county, on the opposite shore of 

 the Hudson, also raises the varietj' known 

 as his " Early Golden" apricot, in the open 

 orchard, in great abundance. We saw, in 

 1846, two wagon loads of baskets of this 

 fruit going to market from his trees. 



There are two serious obstacles usually 

 experienced in growing this fruit tree. The 

 first, is the early season at which the blos- 

 soms expand, rendering them liable to spring 

 frosts; the second, is the fondness of the 

 curculio for the young fruit, and the diffi- 

 culty of preserving the crop against its at- 

 tacks. 



Regarding the first obstacle, we would 

 observe that there is a capital error com- 

 mitted by most cultivators in the position 

 which they usually give this tree. Being 

 considered a tender tree, it is almost inva- 

 riably placed in a warm and sheltered site, 

 open to the sun, — such as the southern side 

 of a building, wall, or fence ; or, at least, 

 some particularly sheltered slope or nook in 

 the garden. 



Directly the opposite aspect is the proper 

 one for this apricot. Wherever this tree 

 will bear the winter's cold, (that is, wher- 

 ever the peach can be cultivated, in the 

 northern states,) there is never any difficul- 

 ty in ripening either its fruit or wood in 

 midsummer. The heat and light of the 

 sun are fully sufficient for this, in any In- 

 dian corn district, without a southern ex- 

 posure. 



By all means, then, if the district is one 

 liable to spring frosts at the blooming sea- 

 son, put your apricot trees in a cool aspect. 



