By Mr. Robert Thompson. 



G7 



on the side next the wall, and is subject to crack in wet seasons. Stone large, compressed, 

 obtuse, more rugged than in the Roman Apricot ; it has a very distinguishing charac- 

 ter, which is in the greatest degree peculiar to this sort : a large bundle of fibres passes 

 from the base to the apex of the stone, nearly along the edge, but covered by the stony 

 matter, excepting at either extremity ; leaving a perforation through which a pin may 

 be introduced. This has been observed by the French in regard to the Abricot Peche, 

 as well as by many in this country in the case of the Moorpark. The kernel is bitter, 

 but not so much so as in the Roman Apricot. 



The Moorpark Apricot is said to have been imported from the 

 continent by Lord Anson, and planted at Moorpark. Hence it ob- 

 tained the name, by which it is most generally known in this country, 

 as also that of Anson's and Imperial Anson. The place where the 

 originally imported plant grew in the garden at Moorpark, is oc- 

 cupied at present by a tree of the Orange Apricot, which is now of 

 considerable size. By another account it is stated to have been 

 imported from the Netherlands in the beginning of the last c en- 

 tury by Sir Thomas More, and planted at Moorpark. Its origin 

 being thus traced out of this country, it must be supposed to have 

 been one of those cultivated by the French ; for although it is 

 stated to have been imported from Holland, yet no Apricots are 

 described by the authors who treat of fruits in that country, which 

 they do not acknowledge having received from the French. It agrees 

 perfectly with the Abricot Peche, or Abricot de Nancy, of the latter 

 in every essential and peculiar character, as far as I can dis- 

 cover; but that there is a slight difference, is at the same time 

 asserted by some, although what that slight difference may be has 

 never yet been clearly stated. Forsyth mentions in his Treatise, 

 p. 4, that the " Peach Apricot, the Abricot de Nancy of Duhamel, 

 was introduced from Paris by His Grace the Duke of Northum- 

 berland, in 1767. It is the finest and largest of all Apricots, and 

 is generally thought to be the same as the Moorpark ; but upon a 

 minute examination the leaves will be found to differ." In what 



