THE APRICOT. 329 



yellow; stalk one inch long, inserted in fleshy ring in narrow shallow 

 cavity. Flesh yellow, juicy, rich, quality good; clingstone. Tree 

 very hardy and a regular bearer. Russia. 



Yellow Egg (White Magnum Bonum, White Egg). Very large, 

 oval, narrowing at both ends, with an approach to pyriform at the top; 

 color yellow when ripe, with thin white bloom and numerous white 

 dots; stem an inch long, stout, inserted at top of fruit in folded border: 

 suture well defined. Flesh yellow, sweet when ripe; quality barely 

 good. Use, kitchen and market. Locally, seedling varieties are grown 

 quite similar in size and quality. Domestica. 



Yellow Gage (Prince's Yellow Gage). Medium to large, oval, 

 broadest at upper end; color golden yellow, clouded, and covered with 

 thick white bloom; stalk one inch long, in small round cavity. Flesh 

 yellow, rich, melting: pit free. Domestica. Long Island. 



Yellow Moldavka. Large, pear-shaped, with well-defined neck; color 

 bright yellow; suture distinct, terminating at the rounded apex; stalk 

 one inch long, stout, inserted at top of the neck. Flesh yellow, fine- 

 grained, juicy, subacid; quality nearly best; pit narrow and one and 

 a quarter inches long, free from flesh. Russia. 



THE APRICOT. 



Section No. 184 of Part I tells of the close relation of this beauti- 

 ful and excellent fruit to the Plum and Peach, and something of its his- 

 tory and possible improvement, and Section 149 discusses the pruning 

 of the Apricot and Peach. 



The fruit ripens after the early cherries and prior to the plums and 

 peaches, and it is a handsome and delicious fruit, only inferior to the 

 best, peaches; and as Downing says: "In the fruit-garden it is a highly 

 attractive object in early spring, as its charming flowers are the first 

 to expand. It forms a fine spreading tree about twenty feet in 

 height, and is hardy enough to bear as an open standard south of the 

 forty-second degree of latitude in this country." 



The cultivated varieties are developed from Prunus Armeniaca of 

 East Europe. The Japanese Apricot (Prunus Mume) is cultivated 

 mainly for its flowers, and the plum-like Black Apricot (Prunus 

 dasycarpa) has no varieties desirable for dessert or culinary use, 

 mainly on account of its fuzzy .skin and also fuzzy pit. The culti- 



