THE KANSAS APRICOT. 103' 



come to the planter with a good choice of low-starting branches from 

 which to shape the low-headed tree, which is universeilly preferred. 

 The method of securing such a tree is identical with tliat already de- 

 scribed for the almond, but the treatment of the tree after reaching 

 bearing age, in its third year, is very different from the after-treatment 

 of the almond. The apricot is a rampant grower and most profuse 

 bearer. Unless kept continually in check it will quickly rush out of 

 reach, and will destroy its low shoots and spurs by the dense shade of 

 its thick, beautiful foliage. There is continually necessary, then, a 

 certain degree of thinning of the surplus shoots and shortening of the 

 new growth to continue the system of low branching, to relieve the 

 tree from an excess of bearing wood, and to avoid small fruit and ex- 

 haustion of the tree, resulting in alternate years of bearing. 



In the coast regions, where the tree makes moderate wood growth, 

 it can be kept in good form and bearing by regular winter loruning. 

 In warmer regions, where the tendency is to exuberant wood growth, 

 the main pruning is done in the summer, immediately after the fruit 

 is gathered. This has a tendency to check wood growth and promote 

 fruit bearing, and where the main cutting is done in the summer 

 winter pruning is reduced to thinning out shoots, to prevent the tree 

 from becoming too dense and to lessen the work of hand thinning of 

 the fruit later on. In addition, however, to the most intelligent prun- 

 ing, much fruit must be removed by hand when there is a heavy set 

 of it, in order to bring the fruit to a size satisfactory to shippers or 

 canners, and to reach the highest grades, if drying is practiced. Cali- 

 fornia apricot orchards are all grown with clean tillage, for the main 

 purpose of moisture conservation. In regions of good rainfall and 

 sufficiently retentive loams no irrigation is required; good tillage 

 will suffice for the production of large fruit and perfection of fruit- 

 buds for the following year. As the trees are becoming older and 

 bearing larger crops the demand for moisture increases, and the use 

 of irrigation water is growing. In most places, however, one irriga- 

 tion is sufficient, and that is given after fruit gathering, to carry the 

 tree through the last half of its season's work. In the regularly 

 irrigated regions of the state water is periodically applied through the 

 growing season, in such amount and at such intervals as the local 

 climate and soils require. 



Though probably all the good varieties of the apricot in the world 

 have been introduced into California during the last half century, and 

 scores of selected seedlings of local origin have been widely tested, the 

 varieties which have survived the tests and are now widely grown are 

 comparatively few in number. Most of the rejected varieties met their 

 fate because of shy bearing, and those which now constitute the bulk 



