CHAPTER VII. 



THE APRICOT. 



The native country of the Apricot is unknown. 

 It is found wild in countries remote from each 

 other, but whether introduced to any of them, 

 or whether indigenous to all, is a matter we are 

 entirely ignorant of. Thunberg states it to be a 

 low-spreading Japanese tree; Grossier, that it 

 covers the mountains to the west of Pekin ; 

 Professor Pallas, as indigenous to the mountain 

 range of the Caucasus ; while Regnier and Sick- 

 ler assign it a parallel extending between the 

 Niger and the Atlas, and others give Armenia 

 for its place of birth — a circumstance which 

 Linnseus availed himself of, by naming this 

 species of prunus Armeniaca. Lamark, in 

 " Illustrations des Genres," has founded a genus 

 under the title of Armeniaca, and dubbed the 

 apricot Armeniaca vulgaris. The native country 

 given in the " Hortus Britannicus " is the Le- 

 vant, and the date of its introduction into Bri- 

 tain, 1548. It appears to have found its way into 

 Italy at an early period, and from thence was 

 brought into England some time prior to 1 560, 

 as we find it noticed as being cultivated in 1562 

 on the authority of Turner, in his " Herbal ; " 

 and again, Hakluyt asserts that it was brought 

 into England from Italy by Wolfe, a French 

 priest, and gardener to Henry VIII. 



The apricot is evidently a native of a warm 

 country as well as its near ally the peach, and 

 hence requires the warmest situations we can 

 give it, so as to bring its fruit to full perfection. 

 Daily experience proves this, as several sorts of 

 peaches will thrive in very cold parts of our 

 island, where the apricot, although it will live, 

 seldom ripens its fruit. In connection with 

 want of sufficient climate, we may state that few 

 varieties have been raised from seed in Europe, 

 compared with even the peach ; while we know 

 the Chinese possess many, few of which have 

 been introduced here ; and it is probable that in 

 such countries as we have named above many, 

 and possibly some very superior sorts, do exist, 

 which may have escaped the eye of travellers. 

 Were we, however, to reason a priori, the intro- 

 duced Musch-Musch from Upper Egypt has not 

 excelled our old and excellent Moorpark ; and it 

 remains yet to be proved whether the far more 

 recently received Early sweet-kernelled Kaisha, 

 and some others from Syria, may come up to 

 the anticipations formed of them. It may, how- 

 ever, prove with them as with the far-famed 

 VOL. II. 



Stanwick nectarine — deficiency of climate may 

 unfit them for open-air culture here. 



In regard to the number of sorts, the follow- 

 ing data may be more amusing than instructive. 

 Parkinson names six as grown in his time, 1629; 

 Rea, seven in 1720 ; Gordon of Fountainbridge, 

 near Edinburgh, seven in 1774 ; the Luxem- 

 burg Fruit Catalogue, fifteen in 1800 ; the 

 Fruit Catalogue of the Horticultural Society in 

 1842, seventeen ; many of the nursery cata- 

 logues fourteen ; while that of the Messrs Law- 

 son of Edinburgh extends to seventeen. 1 n " The 

 Fruits and Fruit Trees of America " Downing 

 describes sixteen, and Mr Rivers gives fifty-nine. 



The best classification we have seen is that of 

 Thompson, who divides the whole into two 

 classes — viz. 1st, those with bitter kernels ; 2d, 

 those with sweet kernels ; and these again into 

 sections — viz. fruit small; fruit large; flesh 

 parting from the stone; flesh adhering to the 

 stone; channel of the stone closed up; channel 

 of the stone pervious. 



Propagation. — The apricot, like the peach, is 

 propagated by seed when the object is to obtain 

 new or improved varieties ; and the same pro- 

 cess is followed in both. It is occasionally in- 

 creased by grafting, but more generally by bud- 

 ding, on the mussel or plum stock in the case of 

 ordinary varieties; but as regards the Moor- 

 park, an apricot stock is preferred by many, who 

 say, that trees so wrought are exempt from a 

 peculiar disease to which that fine variety is 

 liable — a dying away of whole branches, for 

 which no very satisfactory cause has been as yet 

 assigned. Apricots intended to be planted as 

 standards or riders are usually budded on the 

 St Julian plum-stock, because that stock, being 

 strong, produces excellent stems. The operation 

 of budding should be performed from the mid- 

 dle of June to the latter end of July ; later in 

 the season they do not succeed so well. The 

 buds of apricots should, if dwarf trees are in- 

 tended, be inserted 6 or 8 inches from the 

 ground; riders, or dwarf standards, at the height 

 of from 4 to 5 feet. It is often the practice to 

 rebud — that is to say, when one variety is bud- 

 ded on a stock, to bud the same or another 

 variety upon the shoot so produced. The in- 

 tention of this is to have dwarf trees ; but its 

 advantage is not very apparent, unless it be with 

 a view to produce trees for pot-culture. 



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