This fruit is not often seen in home gardens in the East, although it deserves to be better known. When grown at all, it is likely to be trained on walls, after the English custom.

In the latitude of New York, the apricot has proved as hardy as the peach. Given the right conditions as to soil and exposure, it will yield abundant crops, ripening its fruits about three weeks in advance of early peaches.

The apricot usually thrives best on strong land; but otherwise the treatment given the peach suits it very well. The soil should be rather dry; especially should the subsoil be such that no water may stand around the roots. The exposure should be to the north or west to retard the blooming period, as the one great drawback to the successful fruiting is the early blooming and subsequent freezing of the flowers or the small fruits.

The two serious difficulties in the growing of apricots are the ravages of the curculio, and the danger to the flowers from the spring frosts. It is usually almost impossible to secure fruits from one or two isolated apricot trees, because the curculios will take them all. It is possible, also, that some of the varieties need cross-pollination.

Among the best kinds of apricots are Montgamet, Jackson, Royal, St. Ambroise, Early Golden, Harris, Roman (Fig. 274) andMoorpark. In the East, apricots are commonly worked on plums, but they also thrive on the peach.

The introduction of the Russian varieties, .a few years ago, added to the list several desirable kinds that have proved hardier and a little later in blooming than the old kinds. The fruits of the Russian varieties, while not as large as the other varieties, fully equal many of them in flavor, and they are very productive. They bear more profusely and with leas care than the old-fashioned and larger kinds.

*The varieties marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly valuable for market purposes as well as for home use; the others are chiefly desirable for home use.

274. Roman Apricot.