194 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



Violette Hdtive (fig. 985). — Fruit medium, roundish ; 

 skin yellowish - green, dark purplish - red, mottled with 

 pale -brown dots, next the sun; flesh whitish, much 

 rayed with red to some distance from the stone, from 

 which it parts freely, melting, juicy, very rich, and ex- 



Fig. 1001.— Nectarine. Victoria. (§.) 



cellent. A good forcer. Late August or early Sep- 

 tember. 



White. — Fruit large, roundish, depressed on the sum- 

 mit; skin yellowish-green, tinged with red next the sun; 

 flesh greenish-white, parting freely from the stone, very 

 juicy, rich, and vinous. Late August. 



Six best Varieties for Early Forcing. 



Cardinal. 

 Early Kivers. 

 Lord Napier. 



Stanwick Elruge. 



Balgowan. 



J )rvden. 



Twelve best for Orchart 



(>r<{< r of 



\-houst Culture, in their 



rijx iiimj. 



Early Rivers. 

 Lord Napier. 

 Stanwick Elruge. 

 Balgowan. 

 Dryden. 

 Goldoni. 



Pitmaston Orange. 



Pine Apple. 



Spenser. 



Byron. 



Humboldt. 



A'ictoria. 



X'uu best for c 



at side Culture. 



Early Rivers. 

 Lord Napier. 

 Stanwick Elruge. 

 Dryden. 



Pitmaston Orange. 



Pine Apple. 

 Spenser. 

 Humboldt. 

 A'ictoria. 



Twelve best for Exhibi 



tion in order of merit. 



Early Rivers. 

 Lord Napier. 

 Pine Apple. 

 Dryden. 

 Balgowan. 

 Stanwick Elruge. 



Spenser. 



Byron. 



Pitmaston Orange 



Goldoni. 



Humboldt. 



Victoria. 



[W D 



CHAPTER VIIL 



THE APRICOT. 



Cultivation out-of-doors — Pruning and Training — 

 Disbudding — Thinning the Fruit — General 

 Treatment — Protection — Forcing — Pbopagation 

 — List of Varieties. 



The Apricot (Primus Armeniaca) is now re- 

 garded as indigenous in Dahuria, Mongolia, 

 Mandshuria, and Northern China. It is said 

 to have been cultivated by the Chinese two or 

 three thousand years before the Christian era, 

 at the beginning of which the Greeks and 

 Romans are supposed to have first received it. 

 It has long been cultivated in the north of 

 India and Thibet, and in these and other 

 regions it has become more or less natural- 

 ized, hence the statement that it is a native 

 of the temperate parts of Central Asia. Dr. 

 Bretschneider found it wild in the mountains 

 of Pekin, where it grew in abundance, and 

 produced red and yellow fruit 1^ inch in 

 diameter, with salmon - coloured, sour, but 

 edible flesh. This may therefore be accepted 

 as the wild progenitor of our garden Apricots, 

 which show a considerable range of variation, 

 and yet are reproduced true from seeds. 



" The Apricot is very distinct in foliage and 

 wood from all the other species of Prunes, and 

 the granular pulp of the fruit is another dis- 

 tinction. Its leaves, indeed, * more resemble 

 those of the Lombardy Poplar than any of its 

 own allies, but its near relationship to the 

 Plum and the Peach and Almond is proved 

 by the fact that it succeeds perfectly when 

 grafted on the Mussel or common Plum as 

 a stock, and either Peaches, Almonds, or Nec- 

 tarines may be grafted on the Apricot as a 

 stock" (Burbidge). 



Apricots appear to have been first introduced 

 into England from Italy in 1524 by Wolff, 

 gardener to Henry VIIL 



Cultivation Out-of-doors. 



The Apricot will succeed in any good free 

 garden soil or loam that is rather sandy than 

 otherwise; strong clay soils do not suit it, 

 neither does it thrive so well in heavy, close 

 loams as it does in those that are friable. In 

 any case the soil ought to be well drained. The 

 tree will grow rapidly in moist seasons; but 

 when it has attained a considerable size it is 

 apt to suffer from dryness at the roots; the 

 leaves then become weak for want of sap, 

 mildew ensues, and the tree is soon ruined. 



