THE APRICOT 273 



Fortunately it is barely possible to make such 

 a cross. Reference has already been made to the 

 new fruit called the Plumcot that I produced a 

 good many years ago by making use of this par- 

 ticular combination. A full account of the 

 methods involved and the difficulties overcome in 

 producing this very unusual hybrid will be given 

 in a subsequent chapter. 



It will then appear that the Plumcot is 

 to all intents and purposes a new species 

 of fruit. 



It combines the qualities of the plum and the 

 apricot, but in itself it is neither plum nor 

 apricot. 



So while the plumcot has exceptional qualities 

 of its own, it does not solve the particular prob- 

 lem with which we are at the moment concerned 

 We are seeking, not a new fruit, but an apricot 

 having a particular quality that the present 

 apricot lacks. 



And the question of the moment is whether 

 there is a probability that after blending the 

 strains of the Japanese plum with its hardy blos- 

 soms and the apricot with its peculiar qualities 

 of fruit, it may be possible in subsequent genera- 

 tions to reassemble the qualities in such a way 

 that we would have an apricot retaining all the 

 fruit qualities of its apricot ancestor, but combin- 



