Book I. 



APRICOT. 



719 



Clingstones arranged in the order of their ripening. 



Late Newington (Lang. P. t. 29. For. 2.); 

 red and yellow color ; ripens in the 

 middle of September; excellent rich 

 juice 



Brugnon, Italian (Lang. P. t. 29. 

 For. 5.); deep-red and pale-yellow 

 color ; ripens the beginning of Sep- 

 tember; rich flavor 



Red Roman, Brugnon Musqu^ (Dull. 

 n. 26. For. 6.); large size; dark-red 

 and yellow color ; ripens in Septem- 

 ber ; replete with rich juice 



Golden (Lang. p. t. 29. For. 9.) ; medium 

 size ; soft red and yellow color ; ripens 

 in the beginning of October; poignant 

 rich flavor 



Early Pavie (For. 57.) 



Late Genoa (For. 57-) , 



Early Newington (For. 57.); above 

 medium size; ripens the end of Au- 

 gust ; deep-red color ; pulp super-ex- 

 cellent ; and, according to Miller, one 

 of the best flavored of nectarines, or of 

 any known fruit in the world 



Roger's seedling. (For. 77.) 



4519. Selection of sorts. Forsyth recommends for a small garden — 



Fairchild's early " | Elruge | Scarlet | Newington | Red Roman | Temple's. 



4520. Those in the Dalkeith garden are as follows ; such as are marked (IT.) being 

 planted against a hot-wall : — 



(H.) Red Roman 

 (H.) Dutilly's 



(H.) Elruge 

 (H.) Brugnon 



(H.) Temple 

 (H.) Murry 



Fairchild's 

 (H.) Scarlet 



(B.) Clermont 



4521. Insects. " On account of the smoothness of the skin of the nectarine," For- 

 syth says, " it suffers much more from the wood-louse (Oniscus asellus), ear- wigs, &c. 

 than the peach ; it will, therefore, be necessary to hang up a greater number of bundles 

 of bean-stalks about these than about any other fruit-trees. Wasps are also very destruc- 

 tive to nectarines, and the trees are very liable to be infested with the red spider." 



Culture, &c. This is in all respects the same as the peach. 



Subsect. 3. Apricot. — Prunus Armeniaca, L. ; Armeniaca Vulgaris, P. S. (Lam. III. 

 t. 431.) Icos. Di-Pentag. L. and Rosacea, J. Mahis Armeniaca of the Ancients. 

 Abricot, Fr. ; Abricosenbaum, Ger. ; and Albicocco, Ital. 



4522. The apricot is a low tree, of rather crooked growth, with broad roundish- 

 pointed leaves, glandular, serrated, and the petiole commonly tinged with red. Linnaeus 

 remarks, that the vernant leaves are convoluted, that is, not folded flat together, like 

 those of the cherry, but rolling upwards, more or less. The leaves of many apricot-trees 

 have a disposition to this at all times. The flowers are sessile, of a white color, tinged 

 with dusky-red ; fruit round, yellow within and without, firmer than plums and most 

 peaches, enclosing a smooth compressed stone, like that of the plum. The flowers ap- 

 pear in April, on the shoots of the preceding year, and on spurs of two or more years' 

 growth, and the fruit ripens in September. From its trivial name, it is generally sup- 

 posed to have originated in Armenia, but Regnier and Sickler assign it a parallel be- 

 tween the Niger and the Atlas ; and Pallas states it to be a native of the whole of the 

 Caucasus, the mountains there, to the top, being covered with it. Thunberg describes 

 it as a very large, spreading, branchy tree in Japan. Grossier says that it covers the bar- 

 ren mountains to the west of Pekin, that the Chinese have a great many varieties of the 

 tree, double-blossomed, which they plant on little mounts for ornament, and dwarfs in 

 pots for their apartments. It appears from Turner's Herbal, that the apricot was culti- 

 vated here in 1562 ; and in Hakluyt's Remembrancer, 1582, it is affirmed, that the apricot 

 was procured out of Italy by Wolfe, a French priest, gardener to Henry VIII. The 

 fruit seems to have been known in Italy in the time of Dioscorides, under the name of 

 Prcecocia, probably, as Regnier supposes, from the Arabic, Berkoch ; whence the Tuscan, 

 Bacoche or Albicocco ,- and the English, Apricock : or, as Professor Martyn observes, 

 a tree, when first introduced, might have been called a prcecox, or early fruit ; and gar- 

 deners taking the article a for the first syllable of the word, might easily have corrupted 

 it to apricocks. The orthography seems to have been finally changed to apricot about the 

 end of the last century; as Justice, in 1764, writes apricock ; and Kyle, of Moredun 

 in 1782, apricot. 



4523. Use. The fruit is used in a raw state at the dessert, and is esteemed next to the 

 peach ; it is also made into marmalades, jellies, and preserved. Grossier says, that lo- 

 zenges are made by the Chinese, from the clarified juice, which, dissolved in water, yield 

 a cool refreshing beverage : oil may be extracted from the nut, and the young shoots 

 yield a fine golden cinnamon-color to wool. 



4524. Varieties. Parkinson, in 1629, enumerates six ; Rea, 1720, seven; the Lux- 

 emburg catalogue, in 1800, fifteen ; and the British catalogues enumerate about the same 

 number. 



Masculine, Early Red Masculine; an 

 old variety, mentioned by Parkinson 

 in 1629 (Dvh. n. t. 1. & For. 1.1 ; 

 small size;' roundish form ; greenish- 

 red color ; ripens in the end of July ; 

 the pulp tender, with a tart tastej 

 the tree a good bearer, and the fruit 

 esteemed for its earliness and tart taste 



Orange; mentioned by Rea in 1702 

 (For. 2.); large size; deep-yellow 

 color ; ripens in the end of August ; 

 the pulp dry and insipid; fitter for 

 tarts than for the table ; excellent for 

 preserving 



Algiers mentioned by Rea in 1702 



. (For. 3.) ; flatted oval form ; straw- 



color ; ripens in the middle of August ; 

 the pulp juicy and high-flavored ; and, 

 according to Miller, earlier than the 

 orange 



Roman ; mentioned by Rea in 1702 

 (Lang. P. t. 15. and For. 4.) large 

 size; round form; deep-yellow color ; 

 ripens in the middle of August ; the 

 pulp not very juicy 



Turkey; mentioned by Rea in 1702 

 (Lang. P. t. 15. and For. 5.) ; large 

 size; globular form ; very deep yellow 

 color; ripens in the end of August; 

 the pulp firm and dry 



Breda ; brought from Africa to Breda, 

 • and thence to England in 1/02 



(For. 6.) ; large size ; round form ; 

 deep-yellow color; ripens in the end 

 of August; the pulp soft and juicy; 

 the tree a great bearer ; an excellent 

 fruit, especially if grown on stand- 

 ards, to which this sort, is particularly 

 adapted 

 Brussels ; mentioned bv Rea as brought 

 from Brussels in 1702 (Pom. Aunt. 

 t. 57. and For. 7-); medium size; 

 inclining to an oval form ; red, with 

 dark spots, and greenish -yellow color; 

 ripens in the end of August; the pulp 

 not liable to be mealy, or doughy ; 

 brisk flavor ; the tree a great bearer ; 

 and held in great esteem on account 



