THE APRICOT. 



597 



rally budded on the muscle plum, or on any other variety ; but the Breda, 

 when intended for a standard, is budded on the St. Julian plum, which pro- 

 duces a strong clean stem. The Moorpark is sometimes budded on an 

 apricot stock ; and when it is wanted to have very dwarf plants, some recom- 

 mend budding one variety on another that has been previously budded on a 

 mirabelle plum. As the apricot is a very early plant, budding may be com- 

 menced sooner than in the case of the peach. The nursery culture is the 

 same as for that tree, and the plants remove equally well after being three or 

 four years trained. 



1520. — Final planting^ pruning^ S^c, In the warmer parts of the country, 

 an east or west aspect is preferred to the south, the heat of which brings 

 forward the blossom too early, and renders the fruit mealy. Where the fruit 

 is only wanted for tarts, it may be grown as a standard or as an espalier. 

 It would well repay to give standards a winter pruning in order to regulate 

 the branches, and moderately shorten the young shoots to prevent their 

 becoming naked as they elongate, a tendency which both standard apricots 

 and peaches have in this climate. The blossom is produced chiefly on the 

 young shoots of the last year, but partly also upon spurs which rise on the two 

 or three years old shoots. The fan method of training is generally preferred ; or 

 the horizontal manner, with the branches elevated so as to form an angle of 22^" 

 with the horizon. We mention 22^" rather than 20°, because experience has 

 taught us that the parts into which a right angle is divided, look best when they 

 are halves, quarters, or thirds. The reason seems to be that the relation of 

 these divisions to a right angle is more easily ascertained by the eye. In 

 almost every other respect, what has been advanced respecting the pruning, 

 training, and general management of the peach, will apply to the apricot. The 

 chief point of difference in the treatment required for the two trees Ls founded 

 on the precocity of the apricot, which has given rise to the following re- 

 marks, the scientific and experienced author of which will be readily recog- 

 nised by our readers. " In consequence of the tree blossoming so early, its 

 blossoms, particularly in the case of young trees, are extremely liable to 

 drop off in setting. This is not to be wondered at, when it is considered that 

 the ground is frequently at the time (March) in as cold a state as at any 

 period of the whole season, neither the sun s heat nor the warm rains having 

 reached so far below the surface as to wami the soil in contact with the 

 roots ; and thus whilst the latter are in a medium perhaps a little above 

 freezing, the tops, exposed to a bright sun against a wall, are at that period 

 of the season occasionally in a temperature as high as 90° or 100° Fahr. 

 The injurious effects of this disparity must be sufficiently obvious to every 

 one, and the only remedy to be adopted is to have a very complete drainage 

 below the roots, and the whole soil of the border, not retentive, but of a 

 pervious nature. If it could also be kept perfectly dry previous to the com- 

 mencement of vegetation, and then only allowed to receive the rain when 

 warm, avoiding the cooling effects of melting snow and hail, the tree would 

 thus be placed under circumstances comparatively more natural." (Penny 

 Cyc, vol. X., p. 500.) Thatching the border, therefore, for the sake of the 

 roots, and covering the branches with netting of hay ropes, may very pro- 

 perly be adopted with the apricot, in all low, cold, moist situations (838). 

 Naked stems or branches of apricot trees trained against a wall are apt to 

 be scorched to death in summer, and hence limbs or whole trees are some- 

 times lost. In order to prevent this, it is advisable to train shoots so as to 



