September 29, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
275 
I T is not often that we see a house of Apricots. The reason is 
not that the ripe fruit is not esteemed for dessert, as when 
thoroughly ripe, the skin slightly cracked and shrivelled, the 
Apricot is not only one of the most beautiful but one of the richest 
fruits in the world. Imported fruit is as indifferent in quality as 
it is uninviting in appearance ; fruit from walls is too late to com • 
pete with foreign produce, and it is often not half-ripe or even 
half-coloured on one side when gathered. Fruit in a half-ripe con¬ 
dition does not impress the palate very favourably, and it is one 
characteristic of the Apricot that it will not ripen after being 
gathered in the early stages of ripening under any circumstances so 
as to have a fourth of the richness and flavour of fruit perfectly 
matured on the tree, indeed Apricot culture outdoors is, in nine 
cases out of ten, a pronounced failure. Tois is not because the 
Apricot is more tender than it was, nor through the assumed 
decrease in temperature of the seasons, for that is not borne out by 
the meteorological observations, but it is partly a consequence of 
the indifferent management of the trees now compared with that 
formerly bestowed on them and other fruit trees grown against 
walls, especially as regards protection to the blossom, incipient 
fruit, and tender growths. It is also partly due to the suicidal per¬ 
sistence in growing varieties unsuited to the climate. The variety 
Moorpark, one of the best, if not the best Apricot, is a complete 
wreck under precisely the same conditions as those in which 
Blenheim or Shipley’s is perfectly healthy. Some of the varieties 
of Moorpark, such as Early Moorpark, Hemskerk, and Powell’s 
Late, are hardier than the type, yet none of them equals it in the 
quality of the fruit. Kaisha is a model of growth, health, and 
fruitfulness in Apricots. It grows about half as much as Moorpark. 
That variety is far less vigorous than Royal and Blenheim, yec 
these are much hardier, and so is St. Ambroise, which is a good 
grower and fruitful, than the Moorpark race. The Peach or Grosse 
Peche Apricot closely resembles the Moorpark in its fruit, but is 
distinct in its foliage and habit from that variety. If anything, its 
fruit is larger, more rich and juicy, and it is quite as tender as the 
Moorpark. Oullins Early Peach is hardier and earlier than the 
type, and a very desirable Apricot. Large Early Montgamet is 
not liable to gum, and its fruit is large, firm in the flesh, yet juicy 
and good, and ripens early. New Large Early (Rivers) has earli¬ 
ness and rich flavour to recommend it, and is no doubt the best of 
the Apricots for growing under glass for early fruit. Then we 
have Frogmore Early, small in fruit, and of good flavour, the tree 
very prolific, and ripening its fruit first of the Apricots. There is 
still the Breda Apricot, hardiest of all, but its fruit is small, and 
only of use for preserving ; the tree is healthy and a good bearer. 
Such are the varieties of Apricots in a general review of their 
characteristics and merits. Those that do not succeed outdoors are 
the best indoors ; they leave their weaknesses behind them, and 
after becoming thoroughly established under glass, which it does 
not take long to effect, for the Apricot is a free grower and com¬ 
mences to bear in a very young state, produce fruit abundantly 
of the highest excellence, far superior to that produced by trees 
trained to walls. Moreover, there is a great difference between 
choice fruit produced under glass and that imported—a difference 
in favour of the former. All the varieties are not worthy of 
cultivation under glass. New Large Early, Early Moorpark, 
No. 640 .—Vol. XXV., Third Series. 
Oullins Early Peach, Moorpark, Peach, and Powell’s Late com¬ 
prise half a dozen of the best for a cool house, or for one with 
sufficient artificial heat to exclude frost. New Large Early, Early 
Moorpark or Oullins Early, Moorpark or Peach, furnish the best 
three or five for forcing. Kaisha is an amateur’s Apricot, good 
everywhere alike, and only requiring about half as much space as 
the others named. Success is certain, either with trees planted out 
in properly prepared borders or with those grown in pots, if the 
essential cultural conditions are complied with, and it is as well to 
bear in mind that the most abundant crops are grown in Northern 
Africa on the borders of deserts too sandy in soil and too dry in 
atmosphere for the production of many fruits. It is of no use 
attempting to grow Apricots with the stewing treatment given to 
Vines or even Peaches, for the trees delight in a sunny day and a 
cold night, and show their dislike of a close, warm, moist atmo¬ 
sphere by casting the blossoms instead of setting the fruit, and 
those that pass this stage may be cast instead of stoning when the 
size of pickling Walnuts. The Apricot loves fresh air as much as a 
Bedouin of the desert, and must have it in every stage of growth. 
For that reason we find it succeeding in orchard houses with boarded 
sides that let air in through the openings between the boards when 
the house is closed, whilst there is a signal failure in one with solid 
sides and close-fitting lights and panes of glass. It is, therefore, a 
question of air with just sufficient warmth to prevent damage from 
cold that marks the line of demarcation between failure and success 
in Apricot culture under glass. 
The house for forcing (and all culture under glass is forcing) 
should be light and ventilated both at the top and bottom, and 
efficiently heated, plenty of piping being provided so that the heat 
is not radiated at a high temperature. By efficient ventilation I 
mean lights to open the whole length of the house, not one here 
and there in the roof, and similar provision at the front or at the 
sides, but full provision for perfect ventilation. There is no 
objection to boarded sides if ventilators are provided to open the 
whole length of the house, and on both sides of a span. The 
trees may be trained to a trellis fixed 12 inches from the glass. 
A lean-to, facing south, may be 10 to 12 feet wide, and is the best 
for early forcing. The trees should be planted in front and 
trained so as to occupy the whole of the roof, for trees against the 
back wall produce little beyond leaves. When a house is erected 
over trees against a wall it is necessary to only allow the 
front trees to extend so far up the roof that the sun at midday will 
shine right down to the base of the trees on the back wall. A span- 
roofed house is not good for forcing unless the ends are placed 
north-east and south-west, and then it is not equal to a lean-to for 
early work, but it is better for later crops. A span-roof 18 feet 
wide will accommodate trees on each side, and standard trees bear 
just as well as those trained to trellises, while with the heads well 
up to the glass and plenty of light sideways they furnish about 
twice as much fruit as those on the stereotyped trellis system. Two 
rows of 4-inch hot-water pipes answer for the lean-to, and two rows 
on each side for the span. 
The borders should be wholly inside and not made all at once. 
A 4-feet width of border, or such width as will admit of the roots 
being spread out straight, with about 1 foot more for their 
extension, is ample to commence with. It should be drained 
9 inches to a foot deep, and have a drain below all to carry off 
superfluous water. The drainage should be covered with a 3-inch 
layer of old mortar rubbhh or chalk ; if neither of these can be had 
use some burned bricks or soft sandstone, preferably red. From 
24 to 27 inches depth of soil is ample. Apricots require a silico- 
calcareous soil. A calcareous soil interspersed with flints, as occurs 
in many parts of Hertfordshire, is the soil of soils for Apricots. 
It also succeeds on the calcareo-silicious soils of Oxfordshire and 
the ferruginous gravels and sands of many districts, especially on 
the new red sandstone. Apricots do not seem to thrive in argillo- 
calcareous soil outdoors, especially when the substratum is clay ; 
No. 2296.— Vol. LXXXVII., Old Series. 
