228 
late in August. All these varieties, except the | 
orange and the Brussels, are eminently suitable 
for dessert ; the orange, the Brussels, the Breda, 
| and the Moorpark, are eminently suitable for 
preserving; the trees of the Brussels and the 
Breda will grow as standards; and the trees of 
all the others require to be grown upon the 
wall. Myr. Lindley specially recommends all the 
same varieties as the Pomological Magazine, and 
adds the Roman, the red masculine, and the 
peach-apricot. The varieties which were in chief 
favour nearly a century ago, and which demand 
special notice on account of their long-established 
and well-tried celebrity, are the masculine, the 
orange, the Algier, the Roman, the Turkey, the 
Breda, and the Brussels. 
The masculine apricot is small, roundish, red 
_ towards the sun, greenish yellow to the shade, 
and distinguished more for the earliness of its 
_ habit than for the excellence of its flavour. 
' blossoms of this variety are often profusely abun- 
_ dant ; but in consequence of their appearing early 
The 
in spring, they are exceedingly liable to be much 
thinned by chills or frosts——The orange apricot 
is much larger than the masculine; and as it 
ripens, it changes to a deep yellow colour. But 
its flesh is dry and not highly flavoured, and 
_ serves better for tarts than for the table—The 
Algier apricot has an oval shape, a little com- 
pressed on the sides; it turns, when ripening, 
into a pale yellow or straw colour ; and its flesh, 
like that of the orange apricot, is dry and not 
highly flavoured. This variety has sometimes 
| been confounded with the common or normal 
| apricot.—The Roman apricot is larger than the 
| Algier, not so compressed in the sides, deeper in 
colour, and not so dry in the flesh—The Turkey 
apricot is larger than even the Roman, deeper in 
| the colour, firmer in the flesh, higher in the fla- 
vour, and globular in shape.—The Breda apricot 
is a large roundish fruit, and changes to a deep 
yellow when ripe; its flesh is soft, very juicy, 
and interiorly of a deep orange colour ; and its 
drupe is larger and rounder than that of any of 
the preceding varieties. This apricot was es- 
teemed the best of all which were known in the 
time of Miller ; and is eminently good when 
ripened on a standard.—The Brussels apricot 
is a middle-sized fruit, somewhat oval in shape, 
red with many dark spots toward the sun, 
greenish-yellow toward the shade, firm in the 
| flesh, high in the flavour, and often cracks be- 
fore it is ripe. This variety very nearly equals 
the Breda in excellence, and is sometimes pre- 
ferred to it; but it requires to be ripened on a 
standard, and is always late and deteriorated 
when grown upon the wall. 
All the varieties of the apricot tree are pro- 
pagated by budding upon plum stocks; and, 
with one or two exceptions, in which some nicety 
_ of adaptation is required, they will grow freely 
| upon free and thriving stocks of any varieties of 
the plum. All the wall kinds ought to be planted 
APRICOT. 
against east and west walls, for if planted against 
a south one, they will produce mellowed and other- 
wise inferior fruit. The borders under the walls 
ought to be six or even eight feet wide, and not 
more than about two and a quarter feet deep. If 
the ground be a wet cold loam or clay, a bottom 
should be formed of stones or rubbish, and the 
borders raised above the level of the surface; and 
if the ground be chalk or gravel, the border ought 
to be wholly formed by the superposition of a 
sufficient depth of carried earth. The soil most 
suitable, either in these cases or in others of a 
less difficult or more natural character, is fresh 
or virgin earth from pasture land, cut ten inches 
deep, taken with the sward, laid out during 
twelve months to rot and mellow, and frequently 
turned and worked during that period, so that 
it may fully and minutely undergo the chemical 
action of the atmospheric air. This fresh and 
thoroughly prepared soil ought to be filled into 
the whole of the border two months before the 
time of planting the trees; and it should be 
raised to the height of four or five inches above 
the intended permanent level, in order that it 
may be settled to about that level when the trees 
are planted. If the soil be of proper temper— 
either dry, or at least not damp—the best time 
for planting is the month of October. The trees 
selected ought to be of one year’s growth from 
budding; and they should be prepared in the 
same manner as peach trees, and deprived of all 
strong foreright shoots. 
between each two trees, in good strong soil, or 
against a low wall, is twenty or twenty-two feet ; 
and, in moderate soil, eighteen feet. Let the 
planter make a hole where each tree is to stand ; 
let him place the stem about four inches from 
the wall, incline the top to the wall, and fix the 
tree in the ground; and then let him nail the 
branches to the wall, and cover the surface of 
the ground around the root with rotten dung. 
In the beginning of March, if the weather be 
good, or a little later if the weather be severe, 
let him cautiously unnail the branches, and with 
a sharp knife cut off the head of the tree, and 
shorten each shoot to about four or five eyes 
above the bud. In spring, if the weather be dry, 
let him give the trees gentle waterings ; and in 
summer, when the weather begins to be hot and 
droughty, let him place some sward or other 
similar cover around the roots to prevent them 
from being injuriously dried. During spring and 
summer, also, let him nail horizontally to the 
wall all new branches as they are produced, and 
let him cut away all foreright shoots. At 
Michaelmas, when the trees have done growing, 
let him unnail the branches, and cut off so much 
of them that the vigorous ones shall be only 
eight or nine inches long, and the weaker ones 
not more than five or six. Miller, who gives 
this last instruction, says, “I suppose many 
people will wonder at this direction, especially 
having allowed such a distance between the 
The proper distance | 
