50 



the second and third primings. The result is that a well 

 managed apricot tree shows very few clear Y joints any- 

 where. The arms of the Y come out askew to each other, 

 one of the pair starting always a little lower down on the 

 branch it springs from than does its mate of the same 

 season. 



We said the apricot is over lavish in its growth and 

 fruit. Therefore, bearing in mind that abundant foliage 

 means abundant elaborated sap, permit a fair show of short 

 laterals to push out from the main branches, and do not look 

 upon them as gourmands consuming the strength of the tree. 

 Crush the soft end with the thumb and finger when they 

 have advanced 4 or 5 inches, and let them make what 

 foliage they will. It is advisable to keep the fruit-buds 

 as near the main stem as possible ; you may always be 

 certain of the quality of the fruit produced there. The 

 second years' formative pruning is generally best made to 

 an inside bud all round. This has the effect of throwing 

 the growth of the tree inward, and as a natural consequence 

 the whole weight of the head, and also the considerable 

 additional burden of fruit in its season is held much more 

 perpendicularly over the main trunk than would be the case 

 had the outside bud been encouraged and the arms allowed 

 a wider angle of expansion. It is surprising how greatly 

 the leverage of the dead weight upon the forks of the limb 

 may be relieved by this forecast. Branches with which 

 no care has been taken are liable to split away from their 

 holding at the fork, owing to the comparative brittleness 

 of the quick-growing apricot wood, and an unsightly scar 

 and ill-balanced tree results. Nor is the matter much 

 mended if the owner, detecting the dangerous leverage 

 that threatens to terminate in the splitting of a principal 

 fork, helps the tree with an iron hoop bracing the limbs of 

 the fork together. Such makeshifts may save the branch in 

 a high wind, but they are confessions of bad management 

 and of not knowing one's business properly. The fruit is 

 borne on the wood of the previous year, and as the habit 

 of the apricot is to rush out into needlessly long shoots, 

 these must be shortened back sharply every winter and 

 more sparingly in summer. All ill-placed interfering 

 branches, and weak watershoots have to be sacrificed. 



