ON THE APRICOT AND THE LOOUAT 



The Mananites have brought many varieties of 

 this species to America, and some of them are 

 classed in the eastern states as good. The best of 

 them, however, could never be compared in size 

 or quality with our improved Persian varieties. 



There is also a fruit known as the black apricot, 

 classified by some botanists as Prunus dasycarpa, 

 which is allied to the apricot and which crosses 

 readily with it, although it may more properly be 

 regarded as a plum; being in fact a variety of 

 Prunus ceresafera, as has been abundantly proved 

 by numerous seedlings and hybrids produced on 

 my own grounds. 



Hybrids of this fruit with the apricot and with 

 the Japanese apricot and Japanese plum have been 

 made in various combinations. Here, again, I 

 shall have occasion to go more into detail in 

 another chapter. I mention these various hy- 

 brids here to illustrate further the possibilities of 

 development of new races of apricots, or of alto- 

 gether new fruits, through various hybridizations 

 in which the apricot is one parent. 



To mention only one other quality of the pres- 

 ent apricot that is in great need of improvement, 

 we may note that the fruit usually grows lopsided 

 and has a tendency to ripen on one side while 

 the other is partly green. There is great call among 

 apricot growers, and especially from canning 



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