THE APRICOT IN FRANCE. 



203 



said that the yield of fruit is at all uniform in quantity or 

 quality. Sixty pounds weight of fruit may be considered about the 

 average yield per tree, and estimating the price at an average of 

 30 francs per 100 lbs., each tree will at this rate produce an 

 income of 18 francs ■; but it almost invariably happens that 

 besides fruit of ordinary size there are a certain number of first- 

 class fruits, and even some few extra choice samples, which with- 

 out the least trouble will realise half a franc per pound. It 

 follows, therefore, that without any exaggeration one may con- 

 sider the sum of 20 francs to be the average value of the 

 fruit produced by a tree in full bearing. Growers who sell their 

 crops on the trees, which is very often done, of course do not 

 realise such a large income as this ; but, on the other hand, they 

 do not incur the expenses of gathering, nor of other items which 

 tend to lessen the profits of those who pick and sell their own 

 fruit. The annual sale of Apricots grown in this district is said 

 to amount to a sum of €3,000 sterling. The common Apricot 

 is almost the only one cultivated, and although the fruits are not 

 of the finest flavour, they are largely used for culinary purposes. 

 Choice preserves are made from the ordinary qualities of fruit, 

 while the better samples are naturally reserved for the table. 



In the above-named parishes (as well as throughout the whole 

 neighbourhood of Paris) Apricot-trees are worked upon the stock 

 of the St. Julien Plum. The plantations extend in a straight line 

 along the banks of the Seine, which at this point is at an eleva- 

 tion of about ninety feet above the sea level. They occupy a 

 narrow band or border along the river side of only forty feet or 

 so in width, and are then far from reaching the top of the hill 

 behind. A remarkable fact is that the soil does not appear to 

 become at all exhausted. Every year the trees which perish 

 from old age or other causes are replaced by new ones, which 

 always seem to grow in a very satisfactory manner. The severe 

 winter of 1879-80, however, played great havoc in the orchards 

 of Triel and Vaux, but the majority of the trees have now re- 

 covered their usual healthy condition. 



Descending the river Seine, and more to the west, is a small 

 locality known as Tripleval, belonging to thejparish of Bonnieres* 

 ; Here some equally fine plantations are to be met with, and so 

 favourable are the climatic conditions that the inhabitants are 

 enabled to even cultivate the Fig with great success. 



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