DECIDUOUS TREES. 447 



its spreading branches, and the permanence of its form, in which 

 the peach tree is sadly deficient. 



For fruit the varieties known as Dubois' Golden Peach, Moor- 

 park, and Breda, are highly esteemed, and the latter is noted for the 

 beauty of its leaves and growth. The apricot, having a smooth 

 skin like the plum, is also subject to the attacks of the curculio, but 

 not to so great an extent ; and the objections to having plum trees 

 on a lawn, will apply with less force to the apricot, while its su- 

 perior dignity of form as a low tree will entitle it to room that 

 ought not to be given to the former. The common apricot grows 

 to nearly the same dimensions as the apple tree. 



The Siberian Apricot, A. siberica, is a smaller variety than 

 the above, bearing about the same relation to it that the crab does 

 to the apple tree. Formerly much cultivated in England for its 

 very early blossoms, but of less value in most respects than the 

 cultivated sorts. 



THE PLUM TREE. Prunus. 



Although the fruit-bearing plum trees are occasionally very 

 pretty, they have not such beauty as to recommend their culti- 

 vation for ornament alone. And as the fruit is more uncertain in 

 most parts of the country than that of other fruit trees, in conse- 

 quence of the ravages of the insect curculio, which punctures the 

 green fruit, causing it to drop prematurely, and thus not only de- 

 stroys the crop, but covers the ground under the tree by the falling 

 of the unripe and decaying fruit. Other fruit trees will yield a better 

 return for the space they occupy and the attention they require. 



The Chinese Double-flowering Plum. Primus sinensis. — 

 A small shrub but recently introduced into this country, which has 

 already become a great favorite, and will probably prove superior 

 to the old flowering almond, blooming at the same time, in April 

 and May. Flowers semi-double, red above, and white underneath, 

 profusely covering the branches. 



