1910 . 
& 
THE RURAt NEW-YORKER 
Ruralisms 
PRODUCING LARGE APRICOTS. 
The apricot has long been one of 
California’s staple fruits. It may be 
said of this fruit that when it is once 
used it will always be used, both raw 
and in a cooked state. A raw, ripe 
apricot, especially of the Moorpark va¬ 
riety, is a fruit fit for the gods, and 
it is only at its best when picked and 
eaten directly from the tree. Too often 
the fruit gathered for shipment East is 
too green when gathered; as a conse¬ 
quence, such fruit has not that delightful 
flavor that the real ripe and freshly- 
plucked fruit has. Then, dried apricots 
do not retain the original flavor; withal 
they are not bad when stewed. But 
preserved apricots, when carefully put 
up, especially by home processes, are 
delicious. It is doubtful if any other 
fruit retains its original characteristic 
flavor as does this fruit when canned or 
bottled. But the way the usual can¬ 
ning-factory “puts up’’ apricots is abom¬ 
inable. In the first place, the fruit is far 
from being ripe; the canners want the 
fruit solid, that it will retain its shape 
after being cooked. In this way, they 
secure a very presentable fruit as far as 
appearances go when the fruit is turned 
out of the retainer, but to a Californian 
the fruit is insipid. But better methods 
are now being resorted to to give the 
public a richer-flavored canned fruit. 
Apricot jams are usually better, especial¬ 
ly when care is taken in the cooking. 
To have fine first-class apricots, some 
care is essential on the part of the grow¬ 
er. While a high state of fertility is 
not so necessary, it is almost absolutely 
required that the tree be kept in a con¬ 
tinuous state of growth from the time 
the tree blossoms until the fruit is picked. 
For this reason, it is well to have an 
orchard where a sufficiency of water is 
available—too much water will be in¬ 
jurious. Then, to have fine, large fruit 
of high flavor, it is necessary to prevent 
too many fruit setting on the tree. In 
a year when frosts are very light or 
are unknown, this tree is apt to set 
all its blossoms, the consequence being 
that the branches are heavily laden with 
fruit. This is not only bad for the 
fruit, but for the tree as well, as the 
heavy load will cause many of the 
branches to break, and thereby damage 
the tree—often irreparably. 
It is no small task to go over an 
apricot orchard and thin out the surplus 
fruit. A shake will dislodge some sorts 
of fruit, but the apricot is not so easily 
got rid of. The usual way is to close 
one’s hand about the fruit-bearing twig 
or branch and draw the partly closed 
hand along the twig, pressing sufficiently 
to dislodge a portion of the fruit. Ex¬ 
perience will soon teach one when the 
right pressure is used to thin off the 
undesirable apricots. The less fruit left 
remaining, the larger and better will 
be the resulting crop. The finer the 
fruit, the better will be the price ob¬ 
tained. 
The two illustrations, Figs. 3 and 4, 
will convey a fair idea of the appearance 
of this fruit when treated in the way 
above alluded to. In Fig. 3 is shown 
a cluster of ripe apricots that were 
thinned, but not as much so as they 
might have been. In Fig. 4 is another 
cluster that was allowed to ripen with¬ 
out being molested. The fruit is under¬ 
sized and practically unsalable. Both 
are of the Royal variety; one of the 
very best for commercial planting. It 
will be noticed that a couple of the fruits 
in the first figure are injured—pecked 
by birds. The linnets are our worst 
offenders in this direction. A ripe apri¬ 
cot is considered a dainty morsel by 
birds, and it must be admitted that these 
feathered creatures “know a good thing 
when they see it.” The birds seldom 
attack one of these fruit but they (the 
fruit) are at once taken possession of 
by the bees, who suck and carry away 
the juice until there is nothing left but 
a mere shell of the former handsome 
fruit. If the birds would content them¬ 
selves with the fruit they first injured, 
the damage would not be so bad, but 
they don’t. They seem to only make a 
single meal from the fruit they first 
attack. On their second trip they open 
up another apricot, eat their fill, then 
go off only to return to begin on a 
new one the next time. So the bees 
are kept well supplied with damaged 
fruit. In no case have I ever seen a 
bee break open the skin of a ripe fruit-- 
and they cannot, as it has been scientific¬ 
ally demonstrated that bees are unable 
to do so on account of the peculiar 
construction of their mandibles. 
W. A. PRYAL. 
She: “How far can your ancestry be 
traced?” He: “Well, when my grand¬ 
father resigned his position as cashier 
of a county bank they traced him as far 
as China, but he got away.”—Pittsburg 
Observer. 
APRICOTS PROPERLY THINNED—BIRD INJURY. Fig 3. 
APRICOTS GROWN WITHOUT THINNING. Fig. 4. 
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