720 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



PART III. 



of Ks bearing to well in standards, or 

 large dwarf* 



Moor Park ; Anson's, Temple's, Dun- 

 more's Breda, and Peach Apricot; 

 brought from the Netherlands by Sir 

 Tho* More, say in 1700 (Hook. 



P. t. 9. and For. 8.) ; ripens in the 

 end of August; fine fruit; according 

 to Nicol, preferable to all other apri- 



PeTch Apricot; Apricot of Nancy; 

 brought from Paris by the Duke 

 of Northumberland, in 1767 (Duh. 



n. 10. and For. 9.) ; very large size ; 

 ot August ; the fruit 



4. t. 3. and For. 



Angoumols (Duh. 



Blotched-leaved (Pom. Franc, i. 34. and 



For. p. 5.) 



Breda, Graver's (For. p. 5.) 

 Great (For. p. 5.) 



Holland \Dnh. 5. t. 4. and Far. p. 5.) 

 Orange, rloyal 

 Persian 



Portugal (Duh. 6. t. 5. and For. p. 5.) 

 Provence (Duh. 6. t.4.) 

 Transparent 

 Violet. 



ripens in the end < 



is the finest and largest of all the 



apricots, and differs from the Moor 



Park chiefly in the leaves 

 Black Peach; introduced by Sir Joseph 



Banks in 1800 (Pom. Franc, i. 36. 



and For. 10.); black-skinned ; ripens 



in the beginning of August ; and of 



good flavor 

 Alberge (Pom. Franc, i. 39. and For. 



p. 5.) ; the only variety whose seeds 



produce the same fruit as the parent 



4525. Choice of sorts. Those grown in the Dalkeith gardens are 



Moor Park | Breda, early | Masculine, early | Brussels, early | Orange, early. 



4526. Propagation. New varieties are procured from the seed as in the peach, and approved sorts are 

 perpetuated by budding, generally on muscle or plum stocks. The Brussels and Breda, when intended 

 for standards, are budded on the St. Julian plum, which produces a strong clean stem ; but for the rest, 

 any stock will do, provided it be free and thriving. Knight (Hort. Trans, vol. ii. p. 19.) recommends bud- 

 ding the Moor Park on au apricot-stock, which he has found prevents the trees of this sort from becoming 

 diseased and debilitated, which they generally do on plum-stocks. Budding apricots is generally per- 

 formed early in the season, from the middle of June to the end of July. For dwarfs, the bud is inserted 

 six or eight inches from the ground ; and the sorts are sometimes twice budded, or one variety budded on 

 another, which is said to keep the trees in a more dwarf state. For riders or standards, they are budded 

 on plum-stocks four or five feet high. Miller prefers half standards, budded about three or four feet from 

 the ground ; the trees so produced, being less liable to suffer from high winds. 



4527. Choice of the plants. Abercrombie prefers trees of two or three years' growth from the bud, and 

 fit for immediate bearing. Forsyth makes choice of those plants which have the strongest and cleanest 

 stems : and if he can such as have been headed down, of two or three years' growth, as they will bear and 

 fill the walls much sooner than those which have not been so treated. He says, " make choice of trees 

 with one stem ; or, if they have two, one of them should be cut off; for by planting those with two stems, 

 the middle of the tree is left naked, and, of course, one third of the wall remains uncovered." 



4528. Season of planting. Abercrombie says, the best season is from the fall of the leaf until February 

 or March. Forsyth says, the best time is in August, when the leaf begins to fall. 



4529. Final planting. The Breda and Brussels are occasionally planted as standards or espaliers in warm 

 situations ; and in these states, in fine seasons, produce more highly flavored fruit than on walls. The other 

 varieties are generally planted on walls, which, Miller and Forsyth say, should have an east or west aspect ; 

 for, if they are planted full south, the great heat causes them to be mealy before they are eatable. The 

 borders should not be less than six or eight feet wide, and two or two and a half feet deep. The soil a light 

 rich loam, perfectly dry below. Forsyth says, " the borders may be three feet deep." " Standard apri- 

 cots," Abercrombie observes, " do not come into bearing under a considerable number of years, some- 

 times ten or twelve ; but then the fruit, in a congenial situation, is abundant and of the finest flavor. So, 

 when the prevailing fault of a particular sort is mealiness, and yet it cannot be expected to ripen on even a 

 dwarf standard, the medium course of training the plant to a trellis almost touching a south wall, will im- 

 prove the flavor." 



4530. Mode of training. The fan method is very generally adopted with this tree: 

 Forsyth prefers the horizontal manner, and Harrison also trains horizontally, but " so as 

 to let the branches have an elevation to their extremities of 20 degrees, varied, however, 

 according to the luxuriancy or weakness of the tree." With young trees he proceeds to 

 fill the wall by heading down, twice a year, in the same manner as with the apple and 

 pear. The result produces a tree (Jig. 493.) not essentially different from Forsyth's 

 engraving. (2V. on Fr. 2V. chap, xxiv.) 



493 



4531. Mode of bearing. The varieties of the apricot, in general, bear chiefly upon 

 the young shoots of last year, and casually upon small spurs rising on the two or three 



