HORTICULTURE. 



20.} 



Apricot. 



95. The Apricot tree (Prunus Armeniaca, L. ; Icosan- 

 drta Momogynia; Armeniacttr, Juss.) i* said to be a na- 

 tive of the whole of the Caucasus, the mountains al- 

 most to the top being covered with it. It is supposed 

 to have been introduced into this country in the reign 

 of Henry VIII. 



96. In 1629, Parkinson describes six varieties. At 

 least ten varieties are now commonly cultivated. Se- 

 veral of these have bean known since the days of Par- 

 kinson, particularly the Masculine ; and others are 

 mentioned by Rea in 1702, such as the Roman and the 

 Orange. 



Masculine. Transparent. 



Moorpark apricot. Peach apricot. 



Orange apricot. Breda. 



Royal orange. Brussels. 



5. Roman. 10. Turkey apricot. 



The Maiculine i* generally first ripe. It is a small 

 rosntdish fruit, red next the sun, and, when ripe, of a 

 sntniah yellow on the other side. It ha* a quick high 

 flavour, but in general i* rather tartisb. The tree is a 

 good bearer. 



The Breda is a large roundish fruit, becoming of a 

 deep yellow when ripe ; the flesh soft and full of juice, 

 astd of an orange colour within. It is considered as 

 among the best of the apricot*, and the tree i* a liber. 

 al bearer. 



The Moorpmrk i* a large fruit, flat shaped, of a deep 

 yellow colour, and very high flavoured. Nicul declares, 

 that one Moorpark is worth three of any other kind of 

 apricot; and it i* esteemed by many the richest of 

 the stone-fruit kind. The tree require* a good soil 

 i then. It is regarded aa of 



English origin, and it receives various name* in dmVr- 

 ent part* of the country, such a* Lord Dunmore's apri- 

 cot, the Anson apricot, and the peach apricot. It takes 

 it* name from Moorpark in Hertfordshire, a place cele- 

 brated by Sir William Temple in hi* account of Eng- 

 lish gwrbn* at the dote of the 17th century. (Miscel- 

 ctneoo* Work*, voL ii.) 



97. The stocks commonly prefetied for apricot* are 

 those of the muscle phm ; but Mr Knight ha* obser- 

 ved, that they succeed better, and are more durable, 

 on stock* of their own kind, that is, on apricot stocks: 

 this be found to be the case, hi particular, with the 

 Moorpark apricot. The apricot being an early tree, 

 the boddmg i* penormed any time from the and of 

 Jane to the end of July ; the bad is inserted about six 

 or eight inches from the grand. The apricot M some- 

 times twice budded ; that is, one variety is budded on 

 another. The tree is said in this way to be kept more 

 dwarf. When apricot tree* are wanted a* rideri, or 

 tuufumj tree*, to fill the wall, they are of course bud- 

 ded on stock* four or five feet high. The beat plant* 

 for dwarf* are such as have two strong branches, expand- 

 ing as widely a* possible from each other, and in. 

 at an angle of about XT. But it very frequently hap. 

 pen*, that there is only one main shoot, and thu i* 

 beaded down to six or eight inches, to obtain a supply 

 of lateral wood. October is the best time for planting. 

 and the end of February for heading down. The 

 young shoot* are laid in horuonully, or nearly o, and 

 are not shortened till November following. 



The fruit bring produced partly on spurs, but chief- 

 ly on young wood of the farmer >er, during summer 

 care i* taken to pick wood-buds from these spurs, and 



to lay in and protect a sufficiency of new wood for next 

 season. In June, the superfluous and fore-right shoots , 

 can be displaced with the finger and thumb ; late in 

 the season a knife must be used. The young shoots 

 cut off, it may be mentioned, may be used for dyeing a 

 fine cinnamon colour. Some good fruit, it must be ob- 

 served, however, is produced from the curzons or spurs 

 upon two-year-old shoots. The shape of the buds in- 

 dicates those likely to be fruitful, and which of course 

 are to be preserved. The winter pruning is done any 

 time from October to March. Not only all decayed 

 and very old wood is as much as possible removed, 

 but some of the most naked parts of the bearers of the 

 two last years are cut out, so as to make room for a sup- 

 ply of new wood. The retained shoots are commonly 

 shortened a little, and are always cut next a wood-bud, 

 which i* to act as a leader. The full grown apricot tree is 

 managed much in the same way as the peach ; but its 

 late or autumn shoots do not agree with being shorten- 

 ed ; when wanted a* bearers therefore, they are laid in 

 at full length to the wall. The small and subordinate, 

 or late shoots of the apricot, are more apt to be destroy- 

 ed by frost than those of the peach tree. On this ac- 

 count, the pruning is often delayed till the end of Ja- 

 nuary, when it can be seen which shoots are alive, and 

 which have perished. 



98. When the fruit is over-crowded, it is thinned, 

 but cautiously, in the early part of summer. In the 

 beginning of July it is finally thinned, and the best of 

 the thinnings may then IK- used for tarts. Some gar- 

 deners recommend thinning the Moorpark to a fruit to 

 every foot square, and the smaller kinds of apricots to 

 a fruit to every eight inches ; but, in general, the thin- 

 .s not carried so far. As the fruit approaches ma- 

 tnrity, it is nailed close in to the wall, in order to iu 

 gaining a* much reflected heat a* possible. In this 

 country, apricot* begin to ripen in the end of July, and 

 they continue till peaches be ready. Before the intro- 

 duction of the new style, they were (ometimes ready 

 early in July, and hence received the name of Mala 

 prtrcocm, to which epithet our English name may be 

 traced. 



Apricot tree* are generally placed against an east or 

 west wall ; the beat of a full south wall being apt to 

 render them ifltaly before they become ripe. In the 

 northern part* of the island, however, a south-east 

 or south- wrst aspect answers best In some of the 

 warmer district* of England, several varieties of the 

 apricot, particularly the Moorpark/ transparent, Bre- 

 da, and Brussels, are frequently planted aa espalier 

 tree*, the horisontal branches being tied to the rail, but 

 the bearers left loose. Occasionally some of these, es> 

 peciaHy the Breda and Brunsel*, are tried in the form of 

 dwarf standard* ; and in fine seasons, they yield the 

 highest flavoured fruit. 



When an apricot tree has been greatly mismanaged, 

 it may be cut down very much, as it sets out stronger 

 branches than a peach tree, and these may soon be 

 trained so as to fill the former space. The strong branch- 

 es of this tree are very apt to throw out gum at places 

 where any accidental hurt has been received : the usual 

 remedy is to cut out the diseased part, filling up the 

 space with pitch and rosin melted together, or merely 

 with a little tar, or any sort of mild paint. 



Apricots are seldom forced, a* they do not in general 

 answer expectation in this way. Thr Moorpark, how- 

 ever, is sometimes seen on the flued wall along with 

 peach tree* ; and dwarf or espalier plants of the early 

 dine and Brussels, arc occasionally introduced into 



Fruit 

 Garden. 



