APRICOT 



APRICOT 



335 



ing of the tree; and the movement toward the light, dry 

 loams, by working upon the almond root, has failed be- 

 e.-iuse the attachment is insecure, and the trees are very 

 liable to be snapped off at the joining, even though they 

 may attain bearing age before the mishap occurs. The 

 apricot root itself is a favorite morsel with rodents, and 

 is for that reason not largely used. The mainstay for the 

 apricot, then, is the peach root, and the soils which this 

 root enjoys in localities sufficiently frost-free are, there- 

 fore, to a great extent the measure of the apricot area. 



Apricot trees are produced by budding on peach or 

 apricot seedlings during their first summer's growth in 

 the nursery row, from pits planted when the ground is 

 moist and warm, at any time in the preceding win- 

 ter. When there is a great demand for trees, planting 

 in orchard i> sometimes done with dormant buds, but 

 ordinarily the trees are allowed to make one summer's 

 growth in the nursery. The trees branch during the first 

 year's growth from the bud, and usually come to the 

 planter with a good choice of low-starting branches, 

 from which to shape the low-headed tree which is uni- 

 versally preferred. The method of securing such a tree is 

 identical with that already described for the almond, but 

 the treatment of the tree after reaching bearing age, in 

 its third year, is very different from the after-treatment 

 of the almond. The apricot is a rampant grower and 

 most profuse bearer. Unless kept continually in check 

 it will quickly rush out of reach, and will destroy its low 

 shoots and spurs by the dense shade of its thick, beautf ul 

 foliage. There is continually necessary, then, a 

 certain degree of thinning of the surplus shoots 

 and shortening of the new growth, to continue 

 the system of low branching, to relieve the tree 

 from an excess of bearing wood, and to avoid 

 small fruit and exhaustion of the tree, result- 

 ing in alternate years of bearing. In the coast 

 regions, where the tree makes moderate wood- 

 growth, it can be kept in good form and bear- 

 ing by regular winter pruning. In 

 warmer regions, where the tendency 

 is to exuberant wood-growth, the main 

 pruning is done in the summer, im- 

 mediately after the fruit is gathered. 

 This has a tendency to check wood- 

 growth and promote fruit-bearing, 

 and where the main cutting is done in 

 the summer, winter pruning is reduced to 

 thinning out shoots, to prevent the tree 

 from becoming too dense and to lessen the 

 work of hand-thinning of the fruit later 

 on. In addition, however, to the most 

 intelligent pruning, much fruit must be 

 removed by hand when there is a heavy 

 set of it, in order to bring the fruit to a size satis- 

 factory to shippers or canners, and to reach the highest 

 grades, if drying is practised. California apricot, 

 orchards are all grown with clean tillage, for the 

 main purpose of moisture conservation. In regions of 

 good rainfall and sufficiently retentive loams no irriga- 

 tion is required; good tillage will suffice for the pro- 

 duction of large fruit and perfection of fruit-buds for 

 the following year. As the trees are becoming older 

 and bearing larger crops the demand for moisture in- 

 creases, and the use of irrigation water is growing. In 

 most places, however, one irrigation is sufficient, and 

 that is given after fruit-gathering, to carry the tree 

 through the last half of its season's work. In the regu- 

 larly irrigated regions of the state, water is periodically 

 applied through the growing season, in such amount 

 and at such intervals as the local climate and soils 

 require. 



Although probably all the good varieties of the apri- 

 cot in the world have been introduced into California 

 in the last half-century, and scores of selected seedlings 

 of local origin have been widely tested, the varieties 

 that have survived the tests and are now widely grown 



are comparatively few in number. Most of the rejected 

 variet ies met this fate because of shy bearing, and those 

 which now constitute the bulk of the crop are very regu- 

 lar and full bearers, under rational treatment. A local 

 seedling, the Pringle, was for many years chiefly grown 

 for the earliest ripening, but this has recently been 

 largely superseded by another local seedling, the New- 

 castle, which is of superior size and about as early. 

 The European varieties, Large Early and Early Golden, 

 are fine in a few localities where 

 they bear well, and do better in 

 southern California than elsewhere. 

 The universal favorite is the Royal; 

 probably three-fourths of all the 

 trees in the state 

 are of this variety, 

 though recently the 

 area of the Blen- 

 heim has been in- /| 

 creasing largely. 

 The Hemskirk \?y,: 

 stands next to the 

 Blenheim in popu- 



283. A characteristic 

 branch of apricot 



larity. The Peach is largely grown in the Sacra- 

 mento Valley. The best apricot grown in California is 

 the Moorpark; in size and lusciousness, when well 

 ripened, it heads the list. It is, however, rather shy in 

 bearing, and is forsaken for this fault in most regions. 

 It shows the best behavior in the Santa Clara Valley, 

 and is there retained, in spite of frequent lapses, because 

 of the high prices which it commands at the canneries. 

 About a dozen other varieties are carried in small num- 

 ber by the nurserymen to meet limited local demands. 



Apricots for canning and drying are graded according 

 to size: Extra, not less than 2J4 inches in diameter; 

 No. 1, 2 inches; No. 2, \Y 2 inches; No. 3, 1 inch. The 

 first three grades must be sound, clean and free from 

 blemish, and No. 3 must be of good merchantable qual- 

 ity. The shippers and canners require well-colored but 

 only firm-ripe fruit, because both the long rail trans- 

 portation and the canning process require it; soft-ripe 

 fruit will neither can nor carry. For drying, riper fruit 

 is used, and yet over-ripeness has to be guarded against 

 to avoid too dark color. For canning, the fruit must be 

 carefully hand-picked; for drying, much is shaken 

 from the trees. The drying process consists in cutting 



