108 THE OECHAED AND FKTJIT GARDEN 



lateral branches are perfectly horizontal, alternate, and 

 parallel with each other. 



The following winter the branches must be shortened 

 to six inches, and they will give three shoots each, which 

 in May or June may be trained in, six inches apart from 

 each other ; all unnecessary shoots must then be re- 

 moved, and in after years the same cutting back and 

 training in must be pursued. Pruning must be regulated 

 by the fact that the apricot bears on the last year's 

 shoots. The Moor Park only produces mostly on two 

 or three years' old spurs. 



The summer pruning of apricots should begin in 

 May, by nipping off all the young shoots that point out- 

 wards, or that are irregular or misplaced. These should 

 not on any account be torn off roughly or carelessly, 

 but taken off with a sharp thumb-nail or knife, with a 

 clean, neat cut, down to the branch, but not close enough 

 to it to injure the bark. Over-vigorous shoots may be 

 stopped in June, and so induced to put out fertile 

 laterals. 



Winter pruning had better be done when the leaves 

 have fallen, although any time before March will do. 

 Avoid amputation of large limbs, but cut out naked 

 shoots, and get their places filled by good young branches. 

 Leave a leading shoot at the end of each branch, and 

 shorten vigorous young shoots back to the good, well- 

 ripened wood, cutting away the unripened spray. This 

 is done to encourage laterals for future fruiting, and to 

 give sap to the bloom-buds. Cut off gross, out-standing 

 spurs, but lateral spurs may be left: they sometimes 

 produce blossom-buds, almost always doing so in the 

 Moor Park apricot. All decayed or imperfect bits 

 should, of course, be pruned. 



The fruit should be thinned as soon as it is large 

 enough to be used for tarts, which will be in May, or 

 early in June. The thinning may be done twice, and, 

 after the second time, the apricots should be about five 

 inches apart. 



Since the apricot flowers in March, and sometimes 

 even earlier still, the bloom often wants protection, or the 



