APPLE 



APRICOT 



333 



districts will be employed in this production much more 

 largely than at present. The greatest apple district 

 of the state now is the Pajaro Valley, including parts 

 of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, centering at 

 Watsonville, which shipped about 6,000 carloads of 

 apples in 1912. The county next prominent in apple- 

 growing is Sonoma; Santa Cruz and Sonoma Counties 

 have about one-half of all the trees in the state, while 

 many other counties have good apple orchards in less 

 total acreage; in fact, from San Diego on the south to 

 Siskiyou on the north, localities exist which afford the 

 elevation or the coast exposures that favor the pro- 

 duction of good winter apples, and planting is pro- 

 gressing in all these districts. 



Extent. 



The number of apple trees in California in 1913 is 

 about 2,500,000, occupying, as nearly as can be calcu- 

 lated, 30,000 acres of land. The varieties of chief com- 

 mercial importance, in order of ripening, are: White and 

 Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, Yellow Bellflower, Yellow 

 Xewtown, Esopus, White Pearmain, W r inesap and Rome 

 Beauty. Many other winter varieties have been planted 

 recently in different districts, but their relative impor- 

 tance cannot be predicted. E. j. WICKSON. 



APRICOT. Rosaces. A tree and fruit somewhat 

 intermediate between the peach and the plum, grown 

 largely in California and in special localities in the 

 East. 



The apricot tree is a round-headed grower, with 

 dark, somewhat peach-like bark, and very broad or 

 almost circular leaves. The fruit, which usually ripens 

 in advance of both the peach and plum, is peach-like in 

 shape and color, with a smoother skin, rich yellow flesh 

 and large flat smooth stone. The flesh is commonly 

 less juicy than that of the peach, and, as a rule, per- 

 haps, of higher quality. The apricots are of three 

 species, all probably native of China or Japan. (1) The 

 common apricot of Europe and America is Prunus 

 Armcniaca: fr. variable, but smooth at maturity, red or 

 yellow, the sweet and firm flesh free, or very nearly so, 

 from the large, smooth, flat stone: tree with a round, 

 spreading top, and a reddish, cherry-like or peach-like 

 bark: Ivs. (Fig. 279, right) ovate or round-ovate, with 

 a short point and sometimes a heart-shaped base, thin 

 and bright green, smooth or very nearly so below, as are 

 the gland-bearing stalks, the margins rather obtusely 

 and mostly finely serrate: fls. pink-white and borne 

 singly, sessile or very nearly so, preceding the Ivs. (Fig. 

 280). The Russian apricot is a 

 hardy but smaller-fruited race of 

 this species. (2) The Japanese 

 apricot, in Japan grown for flow- 

 ers rather than for fruit, is Prunus 

 Mumc: fr. small, yellowish or 

 greenish, the flesh rather hard and 

 dry, and adhering tightly to the 

 pitted stone: tree like the common 

 apricot, but with a grayer or 

 greener bark and duller foliage: 

 Ivs. grayish green, generally nar- 

 rower ("Fig. 279, left) and long- 

 pointed, more or less hairy along 

 the veins below and on the shorter mostly glandless 

 stalk, thick in texture and prominently netted beneath : 

 fls. fragrant, borne singly or in 2's, and sessile (with- 

 out stalks) ; more lately intro. into this country, chiefly 

 under the name of Bungoume plum. (3) The third 

 species is the purple or black apricot, Prunux d/mycarpa, 

 which is little cult.: fr. globular and somewhat plum- 

 like, with a distinct st., pubescent or fuzzy even at 

 maturity, dull dark purple, the sourish soft flesh cling- 

 ing to the plum-like fuzzy stone: tree round-headed, 

 with much the habit of the common apricot, with Ivs. 

 ovate and more or less tapering at both ends, thin, dull 



279. Apricot leaves. 



P. Mume on left; 

 P. armeniaca on right. 



280. Flowers of the 

 apricot. 



green, on slender and pubescent, mostly glandless, 



stalks, finely appressed-serrate and hairy on the veins 



below: fls. large and plum-like, blush, solitary' or in 2's, 



on pubescent stalks J-^in. or more 



long, and appearing in advance of 



the leaves. See Prunus for related 



species. The apricot-plum, Prunus 



Simonii, is discussed under Plum. 



The plumcot is a hybrid of plum 



and apricot, accounted for under 



Prunus. L. jj. B. 



East of the Mississippi the apricot 

 is not grown commercially to great 

 extent, although it is a popular fruit 

 for the home orchard and garden. 

 As a commercial crop, it does not 

 seem to be increasing in favor. 

 There are two important reasons 

 for this: the loss of the fruit by 

 spring frosts because of the very 

 early season of bloom, and the great 

 liability to curculio attack. Pos- 

 sibly the apricot has not yet been 

 given a thorough test. Its value 

 may be more appreciated and the 

 difficulties of its culture lessened 

 when the fruit has received greater 

 study and attention. 



The apricot is as hardy as the peach and thrives in 

 similar localities and under the same general cultivation 

 and treatment, but demands very strong soil. The 

 ideal land for this fruit seems to be one that is deep and 

 dry, and loamy or gravelly in character. The rolling 

 loamy lands that are well adapted to apples seem to 

 be well suited to the apricot, if the exposure and loca- 

 tion are correct. The apricot is particularly impatient 

 of wet feet, and many of the failures are due to reten- 

 tive subsoils. The kind of soil has an important bearing 

 also on the stock to be used. 



Particular attention should be given to the location 

 and exposure of the apricot orchard. In the East the 

 best results are secured if the plantation stands on 

 elevated land near a large body of water, for there the 

 spring frosts are not so serious as elsewhere. Generally 

 a somewhat backward exposure, if it can be had, is 

 desirable, to retard blooming. Apricots will be sure to 

 fail in frosty localities. 



The apricot should always be given clean culture. 

 For the first two or three years, some hoed crop may be 

 grown between the rows, but after that the trees should 

 be allowed the entire land, particularly if set less than 

 20 feet apart. Tillage should be stopped late in sum- 

 mer or early in fall to allow the wood to mature thor- 

 oughly. It is best to raise a cover-crop in the latter 

 part of July or in August to hasten this maturity and 

 also to protect the roots and to improve the physical 

 properties of the soil. 



The trees are pruned in essentially the same way 

 as plums. The fruit-buds are borne both on spurs 

 (two are shown in Fig. 281) and also on the wood 

 of the last season's growth on either side of the leaf-bud, 

 as shown in the twin and triplet buds above a in Fig. 

 281. Each bud contains a single naked flower (Fig. 

 280). As the fruit begins to swell, the calyx-ring is 

 forced off over the top (Fig. 282) and the injury from 

 curculio may then be expected. The fruit is often 

 borne so close together as to appear to be in clusters 

 (Fig. 283). 



When grown under the best conditions, the apricot 

 may be considered to be nearly or quite as productive 

 as the peach. Like other fruit trees, it bears in alter- 

 nate years, unless the crops are very heavily thinned. 

 It can never be recommended for general or indiscrimi- 

 nate planting. Only the best fruit-growers can succeed 

 with it. Apricots are to be considered as a dessert or 



