December  12,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
535 
The  Apricot  and  Its  Culture. 
The  Apricot  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  Persia 
(hence  its  generic  name)  upwards  of  a  century  before  the 
Christian  era,  but  there  is  no  record  of  its  having  been  culti¬ 
vated  in  Britain  before  the  year  1562,  while  its  introduction 
to  Fiance  dates  as  far  back  as  1450.  It  was  considered  by 
the  Romans  as  a  species  of  Plum,  and  such  it  is  treated  of 
by  Pliny.  Dioscorides  describes  it  as  known  in  Italy  under 
the  name  of  Precaecocia,  on  account  of  its  earliness,  and 
from  this  word  is  derived  Apricot. 
From  Turner’s  Herbal  we  find  this  fruit  tree  was 
generally  cultivated  in  1562,  having  been  introduced  by  the 
gardener  of  Henry  VIII.  Geiarde,  in  1597,  named  but  two 
kinds,  and  adds,  “  These  trees  do  grow  in  my  garden,  and 
now-a-dies  in  many  other  gentlemen’s  gardens  throughout 
all  England.” 
Classification. 
Mons.  F.  Jamin  (the  celebrated  French  pomologist)  in 
adverting  to  distinguishing  one  variety  from  another,  re¬ 
marks  that  “  by  simply  inspecting  the  wood,  it  is  difficult  to 
do  so  ;  but  sometimes  confusion  may  be  avoided  by  noticing 
the  distance  (more  or  less  great)  between  the  leaves.  In 
Peach  Apricot  and  its  sub-varieties,  for  example,  the 
leaves  are  very  near  each  other,  and  the  young  wood  con¬ 
sequently  short-jointed,  whilst  in  other  kinds  the  wood  is 
longer  jointed,  and  the  leaves  therefore  perceptibly  farther 
apart.  By  means  of  the  foliage  Apricots  may  be  divided 
into  three  great  classes:  First,  the  varieties  with  large 
leaves,  the  blade  of  which  forms  a  right  angle  with  the 
petiole,  as  in  Apricot  Royal  ;  second,  those  kinds  in  which 
the  blade  of  the  leaf  is  rather  tapering,  and  forms  a  sharp 
angle  with  the  petiole  (as  in  Montgamet,  Luizet,  &c.)  ;  and 
thirdly,  the  varieties  in  which  the  leaves  are  flaccid,  wavy, 
and  partly  folded,  as  in  Peach,  Moorpark,  Viard.  The  stone 
is  also  of  some  assistance  in  classification.  It  is  generally 
of  a  bitter  taste,  but  has  a  sweetish  flavour  in  the  following 
varieties,  viz.,  Montgamet,  Hollande,  Blenheim,  and 
Luizet.  In  Peach  Apricot  and  its  sub-varieties  the  stone  is 
perforated,  that  is  to  say,  it  presents  on  one  side  a  small 
orifice,  through  which  a  needle  may  be  passed,  a  character¬ 
istic  not  found  in  Corunna  or  the  Royal,  and  many  others.” 
Referring  to  the  variety  Luizet,  Mons.  Jamin  remarks  that 
it  was  raised  by  Mons.  Luizet  of  Elully-lez-Lyon,  and  seems 
to  have  excelled  all  others,  the  fruit  being  of  good  quality 
and  ripens  rather  early,  while  the  trees  present  a  vigorous 
and  fruitful  appearance. 
Apricots  are  extensively  grown  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
.  Paris,  and  there  the  Apricot  trees  are  worked  upon  the  stock 
I  of  the  St.  Julien  Plum.  About  twenty-two  miles  to  the 
Iwest  of  Paris,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Seine  for  a  dis-  | 
tance  of  about  five  miles,  is  to  be  found  some  remarkable 
land,  and  which  for  centuries  has  been  utilised  for  the  cul¬ 
ture  of  Apricots.  In  that  region  “  the  soil  is  warm  and 
calcareous,  and  everyone  grows  Apricots.”  In  Dr.  Hogg’s 
“  Fruit  Manual,”  the  author,  in  referring  to  the  Moorpark 
variety,  says  he  doubts  very  much  if  there  is  any  material 
difference  between  it  and  the  Peach  variety,  as  the  Peach 
Apricot  reproduces  itself  from  the  stone,  and  many  seedlings 
ha*ve  been  raised  from  it.  Further,  that  the  Moorpark  is 
one  of  these  seedlings,  the  fruits  being  so  very  similar,  and 
the  only  characteristic  to  show  that  they  are  not  identical 
is  that  the  Moorpark  will  grow  on  the  common  Plum  stock 
while  the  Peach  variety  will  not. 
“  The  Moorpark  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  by  Lord 
Anson  from  the  Continent,  and  planted  at  Moorpark,  near 
Watford,  in  Hertfordshire.  Others  ascribe  it  to  Sir  Thomas 
More,  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is 
also  said  to  have  planted  it  at  Moorpark ;  and  a  third 
account  is  that  Sir  William  Temple  introduced  it.  It  has 
several  synonyms,  but  in  1788  it  is  first  called  Moorpark.” 
The  Peach  Apricot  requires  the  Brussels,  Brompton, 
and  Damas  Noir  stocks.  Mons.  Jamin  remarks  that  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Paris  and  other  districts,  the  Apricot 
trees  are  worked  on  the  stock  of 
the  St.  Julien  Plum.  Philip 
Miller,  in  his  quaint  style,  remarks 
that  “  the  Bruxelles  is  by  far  the 
most  delicious  fruit  of  all  the 
Apricots,  and  is  greatly  mended 
by  growing  on  a  standard.”  It  is 
ripe  about  the  beginning  of 
August ;  it  is  of  middling  size. 
Breda  Apricot  also,  he  remarks, 
“  is  for  the  most  part  planted  for 
standards  ”  ;  in  the  open,  I  pre¬ 
sume,  as  he  says,  “  Do  not  let 
the  branches  cross  each  other.” 
A  continuation  of  my  notes 
will  be  given  in  a  succeeding 
issue ;  meanwhile,  I  must  refer 
to  the  illustrat  ons  of  fan-shaped 
Apricot  trees  that  appear  on  pages 
535  and  537  of  the  present  number. 
A  standard  fan-shaped  tree  is 
portrayed  on  the  first  of  the  pages 
mentioned,  and  represents  a  tree 
in  full  bloom  at  Weston  House, 
Shipston-on-Stour,  the  beautiful 
seat  of  the  Earl  of  Camperdown. 
The  photograph  was  kindly  sent 
to  me  by  Mr.  John  Masterson, 
the  expert  head  gardener,  with 
the  following  letter  :  — “  The 
Apricot  with  the  long  stock  and 
the  fan-trained  one  (on  page  537),  I  planted  in  1878.  The  high 
stocked  tree  is  a  fine  specimen,  measuring  15ft  high  and 
30ft  wide  ;  length  of  stock,  5ft.  I  am  greatly  in  favour  of 
this  style  of  trained  tree.  The  lower  branches  being  trained 
downwards  tends  to  check  the  strong  flow  of  sap,  and  this 
flow  I  have  proved  to  be  too  much  for  the  Apricot  at  times. 
I  attribute  my  success  here  with  this  fruit  chiefly  to  frequent 
root  ‘tapping,’  which  regulates  the  growth,  and  stops  the 
production  of  rank,  sappy  wood.  Another  important  item 
is  the  keeping  of  all  rank  manure  out  of  the  soil,  and  only 
using  old  building  mortar  and  rubble  as  a  top-dressing,  and 
feeding  with  manure  water  when  the  crop  of  fruit  is  heavy. 
Following  these  rules  never  fails  to  have  good  crops  ;  the 
same  with  Peaches.” 
When  in  blossom,  the  Apricots  and  Peaches  at  Weston 
are  protected  by  curtains  of  frigi  domo,  suspended  by  brass 
rings  run  on  a  wire  under  the  coping  of  the  wall — a  mode 
adopted  by  my  late  father  about  fifty  years  ago  when  head 
gardener  there — the  ends  of  the  curtains  being  fastened  to 
poles  fixed  at  an  angle  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  It  may  be 
interesting  further  to  remark  that  a  portion  of  one  of  the 
old  Peach  and  Apricot  walls  is  fined,  the  chambers  run¬ 
ning,  I  believe,  three  or  four  times  horizontally  through¬ 
out,  and  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  peculiar  hollow 
sound  produced  when  nailing  the  trees  against  the  old  wall 
in  question.  The  garden  at  Weston  is  well  sheltered, 
especially  the  south  walls,  by  a  plantation  of  tall  old  Oaks 
and  Elms  in  close  proximity.  The  comparatively  light  and 
highly  cultivated  soil,  however,  produces  splendid  crops  of 
early  vegetables  and  Strawberries. — William  Gardiner. 
Fan-shaped,  Wall-standard  Apricot  Tree  at  Weston  House.  (See  “The  Apricot.”) 
