APRICOTS RAISING TREES. 



47 



PROPAGATION. 



The apricot is raised from seed, also increased by budding, and sometimes by 

 grafting. 



Seed. Some varieties reproduce themselves, or with slight variation, from the stone. 

 The Peach and Moorpark may be mentioned as possessing that characteristic, and 

 Oullins Early Peach was raised from the former; Early Moorpark, Hemskerk, and 

 Powell's Late are of Moorpark origin. Mr. Thomas Eivers raised the New Large Early 

 from Large Early, and Shipley's was raised by Miss Shipley, the daughter of a former 

 gardener to the Duke of Marlborough, at Blenheim. This has a decidedly hardier 

 constitution than the Peach and Moorpark Apricots, though it is not equal to them 

 in quality, and all the others named have better constitutions than their parents, 

 with little if any depreciation in the quality of the fruit. It is, therefore, desirable 

 to seek new varieties by cross fertilisation from acclimatised parents. Varieties 

 are wanted with the hardiness of the Breda and Shipley's, and the size, colour, and 

 quality of the Peach and Moorpark. In raising trees from seed, stones of the best 

 varieties and most perfect fruit should be selected. They may either be kept till 

 spring in flower-pots in alternate layers with damp sand, or sown as soon as the 

 fruit is ripe, in light, moderately rich soil in a warm situation. Place the stones 6 

 inches asunder in drills 2 inches deep, and the rows 1 foot apart, covering with sandy 

 soil, and in the autumn spread 2 or 3 inches thickness of dry litter or cocoanut fibre 

 refuse on the surface as a protection against frost. In the following autumn the 

 seedlings should be taken up, the tap root cut back to about 6 inches, then planted in 

 rows 1 yard apart and 2 feet between the trees. A more desirable plan of testing 

 seedlings is to treat them as single cordons trained to walls with suitable aspects, lifting 

 the trees annually so as to induce early fruiting. They will also fruit in the third or 

 fourth year after budding on plum stocks, grown as upright cordons in pots in orchard 

 houses, or trained diagonally to walls. For trees to be grown in pots, or planted out 

 under glass, seedling apricots answer admirably as stocks. 



Budding. Seedling stocks do not answer for apricots in any but warm soils, and 

 plum stocks on which apricots are budded are advised to be raised from stones as 

 more healthy than stocks increased by layers. The Brussels stock is the best for trees 

 that are to cover large surfaces, also for those to be budded for standards to occupy the 

 upper part of high walls. The Peach, Eoyal, and Blenheim succeed on that stock, but 

 Moorpark and other varieties named do not. The Moorpark grows best on the Mussel 



