Gardening for Amateurs 



The Apricot must have a warm wall. 

 A south aspect is best, and the next 

 best is south-west. It does not do so 

 well when exposed to the south-east, 

 because the Apricot is the earliest of 

 all hardy fruit trees to blossom ; there 

 would be danger of injury from frost and 

 cold winds. The Apricot likes deep, some- 

 what heavy loam that is well drained ; like 

 most other fruit trees, it will succeed in 

 ordinary, well-cultivated garden soil, although 

 a barrowload of good loam ought to be used 

 about the roots of each tree. The Apricot 

 dislikes fresh manure in contact with its 

 roots, therefore it is wise to use bone-meal 

 instead ; add | gallon of this and 1 peck of 

 lime to the soil of each tree before plant- 

 ing, and mix all together. 



Plant as soon as the leaves fall in autumn. 

 The directions previously given are applic- 

 able. The form of training which suits the 

 Apricot best is the fan-shaped. 



Pruning. Spur pruning is the best sys- 

 tem to adopt with the Apricot. Summer 

 ^,s well as winter pruning must be attended 

 to. It is a great mistake to cut out large 

 portions of branches from an Apricot tree, 

 for the malady known as gumming is 

 likely to set in. Whenever there is space, 

 train in young stems, and if the spurs 

 (side shoots bearing fruit buds) become 

 unduly long and bare, cut them back 

 partially. 



As the trees come into bloom in early 

 spring, when the weather is often winterly, 

 it is necessary to protect them. The best 

 way is to have a portable wooden coping 

 fixed to the top of the wall ; it should be 

 16 inches wide, and made to slope like a 

 roof. Hang three folds of old herring netting 

 from the edge of the coping to the ground ; 

 this will be found sufficient protection in 

 ordinary seasons. In bad weather this may 

 remain down day and night, but on fine days 

 it must be pulled up and the trees fully 

 exposed to sunshine and warm air. When 

 danger from frost is over, the netting must 

 be removed. 



In a dry summer the trees ought to have 

 weak manure water occasionally if they are 

 carrying heavy crops. They benefit by a 

 top dressing or mulch of decayed manure 

 3 inches deep applied in spring. 



The Apricot, as a rule, bears a good crop of 

 fruit. Start thinning in good time, say when 

 the fruit is the size of peas, pulling off the 

 smaller ones first, and finishing after they 

 have done stoning and are the size of small 

 walnuts. Avoid over-cropping, or the fruit 

 will be small and the quality poor. 



The Apricot succeeds fairly well when 

 planted in a cool orchard house, but will not 

 withstand forcing like the Peach, for example. 



VARIETIES. The best for general planting 

 is Moor Park. Frogmore Early, which is 

 ripe at the end of July, is rather small but 

 sweet. Hemskirk is a fairly early variety, 

 large, and of good flavour. Blenheim is a 

 prolific and desirable variety, ripening imme- 

 diately after Frogmore Early. 



The chief disease that attacks the Apricot 

 is canker. An abnormal swelling of the 

 branches takes place, decay subsequently 

 following. The disease first attacks the 

 vigorous branches, therefore the grower 

 should endeavour to prevent the growth of 

 such as these. The best way of doing this 

 is by lifting and replanting the trees every 

 second year during the first few years. 



Blackberry. Those who know the Black- 

 berry only as a wild fruit of the hedgerows 

 would be surprised at the size and quality 

 of those grown in good soil and given correct 

 treatment. And the cultural details are so 

 simple that everyone can carry them out. 

 Although the Blackberry will thrive in 

 almost any soil and position, the best fruits 

 are obtained only when the plants have 

 plenty of space in which to grow, and are in 

 deeply dug and manured soil. They form 

 an admirable screen for hiding odd corners 

 or for training over a rough trellis or fence. 

 It is necessary to keep the bushes full of the 

 stems of the previous summer's growth, for 

 it is these that bear the finest fruits ; with 

 this end in view pruning should take place as 

 soon as the fruit is gathered, the stems that 

 have borne a crop then being cut out and 

 the new stems tied in to take their place. 

 A good variety of the common Blackberry 

 is probably as valuable as any for garden 

 cultivation, though the Parsley - leaved 

 Blackberry (Rubus laciniatus) is also ad- 

 mirable. The deeply-cut leaves of this kind 

 are in themselves attractive, and it rarely 

 fails to yield an immense crop of fruit. 





