Apricots.--Early in November is the most favourable time for planting
Apricots. The soil--good, sound loam for preference--should be dug 3
ft. deep, and mixed with one-fourth its quantity of rotten leaves and
one-fourth old plaster refuse. Place a substratum of bricks below each
tree and tread the earth very firmly round the roots. They will not
need any manure until they are fruiting, when a little may be applied
in a weak liquid form, but a plentiful supply of water should be given
during spring and summer months. The fan shape is undoubtedly the best
way of training the branches, as it allows a ready means of tucking
small yew branches between them to protect the buds from the cold.
They may be grown on their own roots by planting the stone, but a
quicker way to obtain fruit is to bud them on to vigorous seedling
plum trees. This should be done in August, inserting the bud on
the north or north-west side of the stem and as near the ground as
possible. To obtain prime fruit, thin the fruit-buds out to a distance
of 6 in. one from the other. In the spring any leaf-buds not required
for permanent shoots can be pinched back to three or four leaves
to form spurs. The Apricot is subject to a sort of paralysis, the
branches dying off suddenly. The only remedy for this seems to be to
prevent premature vegetation. The following are good sorts: Moor Park,
Grosse Peche, Royal St. Ambroise, Kaisha, Powell's Late, and Oullin's
Early. In plantations they should stand 20 ft. apart.