246 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Recently a measure of success with the apricot has been 

 attained in irrigated sections of eastern Washington, Idaho and 

 Utah. If winter temperatures are low enough to keep the tree 

 dormant and yet not to injure fruit buds and frosts are absent after 

 growth begins, success ought to be attainable. 



STOCKS AND SOILS FOR THE APRICOT 



Because of the success with which the apricot can be budded 

 on various stocks, it has a wide range in adaptation to different 

 soils. Budded on the peach root it may be grown successfully on 

 the light, warm, well-drained loams in which the peach delights. 

 The peach root is, in fact, largely used for the apricot. It gives 

 the tree quick growth and early fruiting, and the fact that the 

 gopher does not like the peach root is a consideration with some 

 planters. In growing stocks, pits of a strong-growing yellow peach 

 are believed to yield more uniform and thrifty seedlings. 



For deep, rich, well-drained, loamy soils, the apricot on its own 

 root makes a magnificent tree. Apricot roots for budding are easily 

 secured. The pits sprout as readily as corn. Sometimes, where 

 cutting and drying are done in the orchard, the ground the next 

 spring w r ill be almost covered with a volunteer crop of seedling 

 apricots. These little plants, taken up and set out in nursery rows 

 in March, are ready for budding in June or July. Large numbers 

 of trees are sometimes secured in this way. In the upper San 

 Joaquin Valley there are situations in which the apricot seems 

 more productive on its own roots than on the peach, and in the 

 moister parts of the San Fernando and tributary valleys in south- 

 ern California the apricot root has recently advanced in popularity. 

 It is, however, rather more sensitive to soil-drouth than the peach 

 root. 



When it is desired to grow the apricot in moister and heavier 

 soils than- have been described, or where a light soil is underlaid 

 by a heavy, retentive subsoil, recourse should be had to the plum 

 root. Only a non-suckering plum stock should be used. For this 

 purpose the Myrobalan has been considerably used. Some growers 

 complain- that the root has a dwarfing effect on the tree, and object 

 to its use. The manner of securing Myrobalan stocks has been 

 described in the Chapter on propagation. 



Apricot on Almond. The almond should as a rule be rejected 

 as a stock for the apricot. Hundreds have tried it, and found that 

 the scion never made a good union with the wood of the stock, 

 but was knit to it only by the bark, and is, therefore, easily broken 

 off by the wind. It may grow well and sometimes gets to be two 

 or three inches in diameter before it breaks off, thus wasting much 

 time for the orchardist. W T hole orchards worked in this way have 

 been a loss and disappointment. 



