APRICOT. COMMON PLUM, 143 
sale of which to the French and Germans they derive 
considerable profit. 
The wood of the cherry-tree, which is hard and 
tough, is much used, particularly by turners and cabinet- 
makers on the Continent, for the manufacture of chairs 
and other furniture. The gum that exudes from the 
bark is, in many respects, equal to gum arabic (273) ; 
and is considered very nutritive. Hasselquist informs 
us that, during a siege, more than 100 men were kept 
alive for nearly two months, without any other suste- 
nance than a little of this gum, which they occasionally 
took into their mouths and suffered gradually to dis- 
solve. 
156. The APRICOT (Primus Armeniaca) is a fruit of 
the plum tribe, which grows wild in several parts of Armenia, 
and was first introduced into this country about the middle of 
the sixteenth century. 
Some persons are inclined to consider the apricot as 
the most delicate of all our hardy fruits. For pastry 
certainly none is more excellent. It is used for tarts, 
both green and when ripe ; it is also preserved with 
sugar in both these states, and is sometimes dried as a 
sweetmeat. Care, however, should be taken to gather 
it before it becomes soft and mealy. The kernels of 
apricots have a pleasantly bitter flavour, and answer 
much better for several purposes in confectionary than 
bitter almonds, which are usually applied. They like- 
wise contain a sweet oil, which, like that of almonds, 
was formerly used in emulsions. 
The gum that issues from the apricot tree is nearly 
similar to that of the cherry (152). The wood Is coarse- 
grained and soft, and consequently is seldom used in 
carpentry. 
Apricot trees are chiefly grown against walls, and 
are propagated by grafting upon plum-tree stocks. 
157. The COMMON or DOMESTIC PLUM, in alt 
its varieties, has been derived from a wild species of plum-tree 
(Prunus domestica), which grows in hedge-rows and thickets in 
