96 THE KANSAS APRICOT. 



In cultivation it is often propagated by budding upon plum stocks. 

 There are a considerable number of varieties, some of them with sweet 

 kernels which may be eaten like almonds. The wild apricot of the 

 West Indies is the Mammea armeniaca; that of Guiana, the Cuur- 

 oupita guianensis. 



Standard Dictionary definition: A fruit allied to the plum, of an 

 orange color, oval shape, and delicious taste; also, the tree {Prunus 

 armeniaca) which bears this fruit. By cultivation it has been intro- 

 duced throughout the temperate zone. 



APKICOTS. 



(From Downiog's "Fruit and Fruit-trees of America." 



Armeniaca vulgar ie.'i, of botanists: Ahricot'er, of the French; Aprikosen- 

 baum, of the German; Albercoco, of the Italian; Atbaricoque, of the Spanish. 



The apricot is one of the most beautiful of stone-fruit trees, easily 

 known by its glossy, heart-shaped foliage, large white blossoms, and 

 smooth-skinned golden or ruddy fruit. In the fruit-garden it a highly 

 attractive object in early spring, as its charming flowers are the first 

 to expand. It forms a fine spreading tree of about twenty feet in 

 height, and is hardy enough to bear as an open standard south of the 

 forty-second degree of latitude in this country. The native countries 

 of this tree are Armenia, Arabia, and the higher regions of central 

 Asia. It is largely cultivated in China and Japan ; and, indeed, ac- 

 cording to the accounts of Grosier, the mountains west of Pekin are 

 covered with a natural growth of apricots. The names by which it is 

 known in various European countries all seem to be corruptions of 

 the original Arabic term Berkoche. 



Uses. — A very handsome and delicious dessert fruit, only inferior 

 to the peach, ripening about midsummer, after cherries and before 

 plums, at a season when it is peculiarly acceptable. For preserving 

 in sugar or [canning], for jellies or pastries, it is highly esteemed, 

 and, where it is abundant, it is also dried for winter use. In some 

 parts of Germany, the free-bearing sorts — the Turkey, Orange, and 

 Breda — are largely cultivated for this puri^ose. 



Cultivation. — This tree is almost always budded on the plum stock 

 (on which in July it takes readily), as it is found more hardy and 

 durable than upon its own roots. Many nurserymen bud the apricot 

 on the peach, but the trees so produced are very inferior in quality, 

 short-lived, more liable to disease, and the fruit of a second-rate flavor. 

 Budded on the plum they are well adapted to strong soils, in which 

 they always hold their fruit better than in high, sandy soils. Apricots 

 [trees] generally grow very thrifty, and soon make fine heads, and pro- 



