FRUIT CULTURE IN FRANCE 
145 
to England, Russia, Turkey, and the United States to the value 
of 3,000,000 francs. 
The Avignon Aiwicot owes its chief market value to its being 
an early fruit and a crop which can be depended upon. In 1881, 
after the disasters caused by the severe winter, the Apricots from 
the South were of enormous value. The first consignments from 
Tarascon were sold at the extraordinary price of 200 francs per 
100 kilos., but they afterwards fell to 100 francs, 80, 60, 40, and 
even 30 francs. The lowest average value in any one season 
has been 45 francs. One of the clever working proprietors of the 
province sold the produce of 1 hectare of Apricots for 1,950 francs, 
gathered at the expense of the buyer. 
The Apricot Bouge-hdtif, arriving first, is generally sold 
retail at 100 francs per 100 kilos. The Amande-douce Apricot 
is mostly bought up by the confectioners. With regard to the 
Pcclie variety, which we rank among the best, its late ripening 
diminishes its trade value. In the Vaucluse department this 
variety, being much exposed to the frosts, is not much cultivated. 
The cost of the gathering, packing, and carriage of Apricots, 
either to market or to the railway station, is reckoned at 3 francs 
per 100 kilos., without the basket. In the provincial district of 
Senas, which prospers by its early fruit, an orchard composed 
of 30 Apricot trees produced more than 2,000 francs' worth in 
one gathering. At Boulbon the fruit nets 100,000 francs ; at 
Barbentane the immense bush Apricot trees produce 300 kilos, 
of fruit each. The inhabitants of Barbentane, Boulbon, and 
Chateaurenard in six weeks send off fifty waggon-loads of Apri- 
cots, Cherries, Potatos, and Peas. The gardens here are shel- 
tered from the high winds by fences made of reeds, or by hedges 
of Pear trees ; whilst the orchards are protected by avenues of 
Plane trees, or more often by rows of Cypress. 
Trente, in the South, is very favourable to the cultivation of 
Apricots; the variety grown there is called the Apricot dio 
Midi. 
In the orchards in the department of Var, Apricot trees are 
planted at intervals of 8 metres. On the 15th June the sale 
commences with the Boyal variety, a good fine-flavoured fruit 
for eating fresh ; then comes the Blanc Commun variety, with a 
strong greeny-white skin, which makes it more suitable for 
preserving; then the Peche-precoce, the Boucaraude, and the 
