988 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



with plenty of ventilation on all favourable occasions ; in fact, 

 air must be admitted as freely as possible when the trees are in 

 blossom, otherwise the flowers will not " set," and the fruit will 

 be conspicuous by its absence. Forcing, as the word is under- 

 stood amongst gardeners, is seldom, if ever, a success with Apricots. 

 To ensure good crops the trees should be brought on gradually, 

 and no fire-heat employed except to keep out frost. Syringing 

 with tepid water once or twice daily in bright w^eather is advisable, 

 closing the house with a nice sun-heat in the afternoons. When 

 the trees are in blossom, syringing should be discontinued, the 

 floors only being damped ; but immediately the fruit is set the 

 practice should be resumed. As the young shoots advance those 

 growing inwards or badly-placed may be rubbed ofl" ; and as the 

 other shoots attain a length of 6in. or Sin. the point should be 

 pinched out, repeating the process as often as may be necessary 

 during the growing season. In this way sturdy wood, covered 

 with fruit-buds, is ensured. Thinning of the fruit should be 

 done early, taking care not to over-crop, and feeding the roots, 

 weekly with diluted liquid manure. If insect foes appear they 

 may be easily ousted by means of XL All Vaporising Insecticide 

 without any risk of damage to the trees. 



A very good compost is four-fifths of good fibrous loam 

 and one-fifth of old mortar or plaster refuse, broken brick, or 

 broken oyster-shells, all w^ell mixed together, and rammed firm in 

 the process of potting, and with good and free drainage. Practi- 

 cally all the varieties of Apricot answer under pot culture, but 

 Breda, Oullin's Early, and Shipley are extra prolific, and the new 

 Precoce de Boulbon promises to be a valuable acquisition for 

 growing in pots. 



For the imheated wall-case the trees are usually planted out in 

 prepared, well-drained borders, not more than 2ft. deep. These 

 should be made of fibrous loam, somewhat heavy in character if 

 convenient, and with a good proportion of plaster refuse ; chalk, 

 wood-ashes, or broken brick should be incorporated to keep the soil 

 from becoming impervious to water and air. No manure should 

 be applied to the border for a year or two, as it would induce a 

 gross growth liable to gum later on ; indeed, as a rule no 

 fertilising matter is necessary until the trees commence to fruit 

 freely. A mixture of loz. of muriate of potash, 2 0z. of super- 

 phosphate, and 20Z. of fine bone-meal to each square yard of 

 border will prove an excellent manure if applied w^hen the fruits 

 are the size of small peas. Diluted liquid manure from cattle, given 

 occasionally, is also advantageous ; but over-feeding must be 

 avoided, as that does as much harm as under-feeding. The trees 

 may be in the form of cordons or fan-shaped, and the system of 

 training and stopping is the same as already described wdth trees 

 of that form in the section on " Hardy Fruit." Immediately the 

 fruit is gathered, every inducement should be given to the trees 



