APRICOTS. 



It is hoped that the reader may be favorably impressed with the 

 usefulness and value of the apricot by what is recorded here. The 

 thirty-five Kansas growers who are quoted are scattered over our state, 

 and while all fear late spring frosts yet all declare it a nice fruit for 

 family use and the surplus is always salable at good prices. Califor- 

 nia has over three million trees, and California apricots are known the 

 world over, either fresh, canned, or evaporated. They form a hand- 

 some tree for shade, being very dense, and the acid of the fruit is 

 surely good for the human system in hot weather. Why should Kan- 

 sans depend on California for apricots? I have eaten as fine apricots 

 in Marion county, Kansas, as I ever saw come from California. If I 

 did not know that Kansans are honest from living thirty years among 

 them, I could readily believe that the best apricots, wrapped carefully 

 and boxed nicely, were grown and packed within the borders of our 

 state. Apricot trees are not costly, can be obtained at any nursery, 

 should be set about eighteen feet apart, with same care as peaches, being 

 trimmed to a stick. As they grow, head them back annually. Culti- 

 vate well for six or eight years, until well grown. They do best on 

 strong land. Moorpark and Early Golden are probably best, unless 

 some Kansas seedling ( Superb, Home, Remer or others ) may be more 

 hardy. Many small plantings should be tried in our state. If our 

 horticulturists say they will grow apricots, they will. — Secretary. 



WHAT AN APRICOT IS. 



Century Dictionary definition: A roundish, pubescent, orange- 

 colored fruit, of a rich aromatic flavor, the produce of a tree of the 

 plum kind, Prunus armeniaca, natural order Rosace.e. Its si^ecific 

 name is due to the belief that it is a native of Armenia, but it is now 

 supposed to be of Chinese origin. It grows wild in the Himalayas 

 and northwestern provinces of India, where its fruit is gathered in 

 great quantities. It was introduced into England in 152-1, by the 

 gardener of Henry VIII. The tree rises to the height of from fifteen 

 to twenty and even thirty feet, and its flowers appear before its leaves. 



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