APRICOT. 



167 



deed it is so trifling that very few could detect it. It possesses 

 the same characters and ripens at the same time, but the wood 

 has not the eyes so closely set on it, nor is the foliage so heart- 

 shaped. One grand essential to the production of fine Apri- 

 cots is to thin out the fruit well, not allowing it to remain 

 within two or three inches of each other. There are about 

 ten other varieties of the Apricot, but all inferior, so far as 

 has been tested by us, to those now described. 



Culture. — This tree rarely succeeds well in this country 

 unless protected by a wall or fence : not that it does not grow 

 as a standard, like other fruit trees, but in that position it 

 rarely matures a crop, except in city gardens, the early Spring 

 frosts destroying the blossoms. It should be placed on an 

 east, west, or north aspect, avoiding a south. It requires a 

 good, rich, sandy, loamy soil. The Curcuiio appears to be 

 particularly fond of the fruit. 



Pruning may be entirely dispensed with after the tree is 

 formed, merely keeping the branches within bounds, and train- 

 ing the shoots in any required direction. As a standard, in 

 city gardens, it is both useful and ornamental, being the first 

 tree in bloom of the season, having a large, shining, green 

 foliage, and generally producing a good crop. 



Propagation. — It is too frequently budded on the Peach 

 stock by nurserymen. On such it is short-lived, not constitu- 

 tionally so, but the stock on which it depends for life fails in 

 a few years, unless the Borer be prevented from attacking it. 

 The best, and indeed the only stock that should be used, is 

 the Plum, on which it should be budded in July or August, 

 and on it will grow half a century. Very good fruit can be 

 raised by planting the stones, in the same manner as the 

 Peach. 



8 



