g should begin early in June, at which period all the
irregular foreright and useless shoots are pinched off; and, shortly
afterwards, those which remain are fastened to the wall. At the winter
pruning all branches not duly furnished with spurs and fruit buds are
removed. The young bearing shoots are moderately pruned at the points,
care being, however, taken to leave a terminal shoot or leader to each
branch. The most common error in the pruning of apricots is laying in
the bearing shoots too thickly; the branches naturally diverge in fan
training, and when they extend so as to be about 15 in. apart, a fresh
branch should be laid in, to be again subdivided as required. The
blossoms of the apricot open early in spring, but are more hardy than
those of the peach; the same means of protection when necessary may be
employed for both. If the fruit sets too numerously, it is thinned out
in June and in the beginning of July, the later thinnings being used for
tarts. In the south of England, where the soil is suitable, the hardier
sorts of apricot, as the Breda and Brussels, bear well as standard trees
in favourable seasons. In such cases the trees may be planted from 20 to
25 ft. apart.

The ripening of the fruit of the apricot is accelerated by culture under
glass, the trees being either planted out like peaches or grown in pots
on the orchard-house system. They must be very gently excited, since
they naturally bloom when the spring temperature is comparatively low.
At first a maximum of 40 deg. only must be permitted; after two or three
weeks it may be raised to 45 deg., and later on to 50 deg. and 55 deg.,
and thus continued till the trees are in flower, air being freely
admitted, and the minimum or night temperature ranging from 40 deg. to
45 deg. After the fruit is set the temperature should be gradually
raised, being kept higher in clear weather than in dull. When the fruit
has stoned, the temperature may be raised to 60 deg. or 65 deg. by day
and 60 deg. by night; and for ripening off it may be allowed to reach 70
deg. or 80 deg. by sun heat.

The Moorpark is one of the best and most useful sorts in cultivation,
and should be planted for all general purposes; the Peach is a very
similar variety, not quite identical; and the Hemskerk is also similar,
but hardier. The Large Early, which ripens in the end of July and
beginning of August, and the Kaisha, a sweet-kernelled variety, which
ripens in the middle of August, are