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FRUIT GARDEN. 



this merit over the latter, that it will ripen fully 

 in seasons when the Moorpark does so only im- 

 perfectly, and hence is better adapted to colder 

 localities. Brought into notice by the late Mr 

 Lee of the Hammersmith nursery. 



Kaisha, new early. — Of the merits of this 

 new fruit we can from experience say nothing, 

 as it has not as yet fruited with us. It was in- 

 troduced by John Barker, Esq., from his garden 

 at Betias near Seudia, in the Pachalik of Aleppo, 

 and first fruited in 1848 by Mr Warmington of 

 Kensington. It is certainly earlier than any of 

 our established sorts, having ripened in Mr 

 Warmington's garden on the 12th of July, on 

 the open wall, alongside of trees of the Moor- 

 park and Turkey apricots, which at the same 

 time were quite hard and green. The following 

 description of the fruit exhibited before the 

 London Horticultural Society is thus given in 

 the Journal of the Society, vol. iv., p. 189: 

 "The fruit is roundish, 5 \ inches in circum- 

 ference; rather deeply and acutely channelled 

 on one side near the base, the channel becoming 

 less, till only like a shallow indented line as it 

 approaches the summit, where it terminates in 

 a slight depression formed round the base of 

 the style. The fruit is semi-transparent; skin 

 slightly downy, pale citron - coloured where 

 shaded, tinged and marbled with red next the 

 sun; flesh tender, juicy, of a clear citron colour, 

 parting freely from the stone, sugary, and deli- 

 cious, like well- refined lump-sugar, combined 

 with apricot flavour; stone small, roundish ; 

 kernel sweet like a nut. A valuable early variety 

 for the dessert, and pFobably excellent for pre- 

 serving ; if it be employed for this purpose, the 

 transparency of its flesh will exhibit a new fea- 

 ture amongst apricot preserves. By its clear 

 citron-coloured flesh it may be distinguished 

 from the orange-fleshed varieties hitherto known 

 in this country, some of which have likewise 

 sweet kernels, such as the Breda, Musch-Musch, 

 and Turkey. It is earlier than either of these. 



Large early. — Flowers large ; fruit medium 

 size; form oblong, somewhat compressed; colour 

 pale orange where shaded, bright orange with a 

 few reddish spots next the sun ; suture deep ; 

 kernel bitter; stone impervious; flesh of the 

 same colour as the skin, parting freely from the 

 stone; flavour rich and juicy. Ripens next after 

 the Masculine, and hence our third earliest, ad- 

 mitting the Kaisha to be the earliest of all. 

 Synonyms — Gros Precoce, Gros d' Alexandrie, 

 Grosse Fruhe, De St Jean, Be St Jean rouge. 



Masculine red.— We notice this sort on ac- 

 count of its earliness. It possesses no other 

 merit. It is no doubt hardy, but its fruit is 

 very small and indifferent in flavour. Where it 

 will succeed as a standard it may be planted for 

 culinary uses ; but where requiring a wall, it 

 should give place to the Kaisha or the Large early. 



Masculine white. — Scarcely differing from the 

 last, except in colour, and being a day or two 

 earlier; our remarks above are equally applicable 

 to this sort. 



Moorpark. — Flowers large; fruit large, about 

 h t\ inches in circumference each way ; form 

 roundish, compressed on the sides ; colour 

 orange where shaded, brownish red marked 



with many dark specks on the side next the 

 sun ; flesh bright orange, separating freely from 

 the stone ; flavour rich and luscious ; kernel 

 bitter ; stone singularly perforated and rugged. 

 " This pervious passage," Mr G. Lindley re- 

 marks, " has not been noticed by any of our 

 writers till lately, nor is it readily discovered; 

 its aperture is in a small groove on the thin 

 side near its base, a pin inserted into which and 

 pushed forward will open its farther orifice, and 

 thus effect a passage through the stone." The 

 best apricot in cultivation. Mr G. Lindley 

 asserts that this fruit was introduced and culti- 

 vated by Sir W. Temple, in his garden at Moor- 

 park, prior to 1700, for in that year that great 

 man died. Hooker, in his " Pomona London- 

 ensis," claims the merit of its introduction for 

 Lord Anson, by whose name it is sometimes 

 called. Rogers, we think with more reason, 

 doubts its introduction by either, or even by 

 Lord Dunmore, who also at one time resided at 

 Moorpark, and whose name it also sometimes 

 bears, giving in support of his opinion the fact 

 that this fruit is not mentioned by Miller in his 

 folio edition of 1748 ; nor is it mentioned by 

 Grey of the Fulham nursery, who published his 

 catalogue ten years afterwards. And he (Grey) 

 had at that time one of the finest collections of 

 fruit trees in the kingdom, and was not likely 

 to overlook or remain ignorant of such a fine 

 fruit as the Moorpark apricot. Another account 

 says, and we think with some probability, that 

 the original tree was brought from the Nether- 

 lands about the middle of the last century by 

 Sir Thomas Moore, and planted at Moorpark, 

 then the residence of Lord Dunmore. A diffi- 

 culty of far greater consequence than that of its 

 mere introduction presents itself in drawing a 

 line of distinction between this variety and that 

 cultivated under the name of the Peach apricot. 

 So small is the shade between them that we 

 may venture to call it a " distinction without a 

 difference." The tree introduced under the 

 name of the Peach apricot is distinctly stated 

 by Forsyth, in his " Treatise on Fruit Trees," to 

 have been brought from Paris by the Duke of 

 Northumberland in 1767, where it is still known 

 as the Abricot peche, and described as such by 

 Duhamel and all the highest pomological autho- 

 rities in France, where the Moorpark is only 

 known as a name in nursery catalogues. Mr G. 

 Lindley says, in reference to this difference," The 

 Peach apricot is supposed by some to be the same 

 as the Moorpark, and indeed it has all its leading 

 characters ; but an extensive cultivation of it 

 for more than twenty years has convinced me 

 to the contrary. Its wood is similar, but more 

 gross, less firm, and the tree more tender." Rogers 

 denies the difference in toto. Hooker, in " Po- 

 mona Londonensis," t. ix., and Loudon, in 

 " Encyclopaedia of Gardening," makes them 

 synonymous. Forsyth, p. 4, says : " It is gene- 

 rally thought to be the same as the Moorpark, 

 but upon a minute examination the leaves will be 

 found to differ." Downing, in " Fruit Trees of 

 America," p. 157, says: " It very much resembles 

 the Moorpark, but the two are readily distin- 

 guished by the eye when standing near each other." 

 But our greatest of all pomological authorities 



