DISEASES OP THE APRICOT 



IRRIGATION OF THE APRICOT 



251 



Whether the apricot shall be irrigated or not is answered in 

 the chapter on irrigation. In many locations, with proper priming, 

 thinning and cultivation, perfectly satisfactory fruit can be grown 

 with the usual rainfall. In others a single winter irrigation will 

 satisfy all the needs of the tree; in others a single irrigation just 

 after fruit picking and summer pruning will carry the tree through. 

 It is a fact, however, that as the trees advance in age some supple- 

 ment to the average rainfall is often desirable and in dry years irri- 

 gation is the saving of two crops. Some idea of the amount of 

 water used can be had from the chapter on irrigation. The fol- 

 lowing account by Mr. Neff applies to his practice in Orange 

 County, which is an average situation as to rainfall and atmospheric 

 humidity, and is as good a general statement as could be made : 



If rains are copious, winter irrigation may be dispensed with during the 

 first two or three years after planting the orchard, but when the trees reach 

 the age for bearing fruit the rain water should be supplanted by irrigation 

 water until the soil is thoroughly wet 5 feet deep, and in order to have this, 

 at least 20 inches of water, including rainfall, must be put on the land. Three 

 irrigations should be given the trees during the first summer, but it is not 

 necessary to wet more than a strip 5 or 6 feet wide along the tree rows. The 

 orchard should have three irrigations during the second summer and a strip 

 12 feet wide should be watered, as the roots are reaching farther and the trees 

 require a greater amount of water. The irrigation for the first two years 

 should always be done before the trees show any want of water, so as to keep 

 them growing vigorously. 



All the space between the trees should be watered the third year and after- 

 ward ; but two irrigations will be sufficient for the summer. The best time for 

 the summer irrigation of bearing apricot trees is when the fruit is about half 

 grown, which is usually about the second or third week in May. 



If well watered at this time the fruit grows to its largest, and has time 

 to ripen slowly as the ground gradually dries, until it has all the sugar which 

 will go into the fruit. An orchard in full bearing that has been well watered 

 in the winter should now have as much as full 100 inches of water for two 

 hours on. each acre (equal to four acre-inches). 



The second irrigation should be given as soon as possible after the summer 

 pruning is done, in order to start the trees growing and develop the fruit buds 

 for the next year. This will not require so much water as the irrigation in 

 May, but ought to be as much as 100 inches of water for one hour on each acre. 



DISEASES OF THE APRICOT 



Though the apricot tree, as has been said, is regarded as one 

 of the healthiest fruit trees, it is subject to some maladies. Trees 

 perish from being set in unsuitable situations, and in these cases, 

 if the evil be stagnant water in the soil, or penetration to alkaline 

 subsoil, the root shows it. Sometimes, however, a branch or a 

 whole tree withers and dies without apparent cause early in the 

 summer, and while the root is still sound. The disease is evi- 

 dently acute, but its cause is not known, nor a remedy proposed. 

 It is an old trouble of the apricot, and not peculiar to California. 



The so-called "gum disease" sometimes causes injury to trees. 

 The best treatment is to cut away the diseased part down to 



