478 GENERAL REVIEW. 



itself previously been grafted on the White Pear Plum. Lind- 

 ley, in his ' Orchard and Kitchen Garden/ remarks that neither 

 the Brussels nor the Brompton Plum stocks should be used for 

 Apricots, as the trees grow well only for a year or two, and 

 then die off. Now, nearly all the Apricot- trees grown in our 

 gardens are grafted on the Muscle Plum, while some nursery- 

 men adhere to the Myrobalan, and others have equal faith in 

 the Brussels stock. In French and Belgian nurseries the St 

 Julien Plum is used as a stock, as is also the Black Damson, 

 both propagated from seeds, and the Myrobalan Plum from 

 cuttings. Some of the Continental nurserymen, however, value 

 the seedling Apricot as a stock, and others the seedling Almond. 

 I wrote to Mr Charles Lee of Hounslow, who, perhaps, under- 

 stands fruit-tree stocks as well as anybody does understand 

 them at the present time, and he tells me that he is now inves- 

 tigating, or rather demonstrating, this vexed question of stocks 

 in his nursery. " We have," he writes, " numerous experiments 

 going on, but these take a long time to eliminate first, as to 

 the taking of the bud ; second, as to the free and healthy growth 

 of each kind ; and lastly, as to the average fertility and durability 

 of the scion on the different stocks when the tree has got into 

 a bearing state. Nothing but long practice in a variety of soils 

 and situations can settle these matters." Grafting or budding 

 may be performed in March and April, and the stocks which 

 miss can be shield-budded in July or August. M. Baltet 

 observes, that " where it is desired to obtain a tall standard 

 Apricot on a low Plum stock, the latter should be first budded 

 close to the ground with some variety of Plum allied to the 

 Apricot, such as Reine Claude de Bavay, St Catherine, or 

 other vigorous stock, which will serve as an intermediate stem, 

 and on this the Apricot can be budded in at least two years' 

 time." It does not appear to be well known that Apricots 

 come tolerably true from seed, and bear large and regular crops 

 of fine fruit grown on their own roots, and the trees so raised 

 are more fertile and healthy than grafted specimens. Seedlings 

 fruit the fourth or fifth year, and it is rare to see a decayed 

 branch on seedling trees. For a valuable paper describing 

 seventeen of the best Apricots, see 'Trans. Hort. Soc./ 1835, 

 p. 56. 



Prunus salicifolius is a half-hardy Mexican species, bearing 

 succulent fruits resembling Apricots, and these are sold in 

 Mexican markets under the name of Capulinos. It is worth 

 attention as an orchard-house tree, and it might possibly be 

 useful to the hybridiser. It has been introduced to the Jardin 

 des Plantes (see * Revue Hort.,' 1866, p. 400). According to 



