100 THE KANSAS APRICOT. 



Particular attention should be given to the location and exposure 

 of the apricot orchard. In the East, the best results are obtained if 

 the plantation stands upon elevated land near a large body of water, 

 for there the spring frosts are not so serious as elsewhere. Generally 

 a somewhat backward exposure, if it can be obtained, is desirable, in 

 order to retard blooming. Apricots will be sure to fail in frosty locali- 

 ties. The apricot should always be given clean culture. For the first 

 two or three years some hoed crop may be grown between the trees, 

 but after that the trees should be allowed the entire land, particularly 

 if set less than twenty feet apart. Cultivation should be stopped late 

 in summer or early in the fall, in order to allow the wood to mature 

 thoroughly. 



The trees are i^runed in essentially the same way as plums. The 

 fruit-buds are borne both upon spurs, and also on the wood of the last 

 season's growth, on either side of the leaf-bud. Each bud contains a 

 single naked flower. As the fruit begins to swell, the calyx ring is 

 forced off over the top ; and the injury from curculio may then be ex- 

 pected. When grown under the best conditions, the apricot may be 

 considered to be nearly or quite as productive as the peach. Like 

 other fruit-trees, it bears in alternate years, unless the crops are very 

 heavily thinned; but it can never be recommended for general or in- 

 discriminate planting. Only the best fruit-growers can succeed with 

 it. 



Apricots are to be considered as a dessert or fancy fruit, and there- 

 fore should be neatly packed, in small and tasty packages. The most 

 serious enemy of the apricot is the curculio — the same insect which 

 attacks the plum and peach. It seems to have a particular fondness 

 for the apricot, and, as the fruit sets very early, the crop may be ex- 

 pected to be destroyed unless the most vigilant means are employed 

 of fighting the insect. Spraying with arsenical poison is uncertain. 

 The insect must be caught by jarring the trees, in the same manner 

 as on plums and peaches, but the work must be even more thoroughly 

 done than upon those fruits. The jarring should begin as soon as 

 the blossoms fall, and continue as long as the insects are numerous 

 enough to do serious damage. It will usually be necessary to catch 

 the insects for three to six weeks, two or three times a week, or per- 

 haps even every day. The work must be done early in the morning, 

 while the curculio is indisposed to fly. The operation consists in 

 knocking the insects from the tree by a quick jar or shake, catching 

 them upon a white sheet or in a canvas hopper. The catcher com- 

 monly used in western New York is a strong cloth hopper mounted 

 upon a wheelbarrow-like frame, and running upon two wheels. The 

 hopper converges into a tin box, into which the curculios roll as they 



