Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-03-29
FARM AND ORCHARD.
THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF
THE APRICOT IN CALIFORNIA.
Best Modes of Planting and Handling
How to Make Peppermint Oil
General Farm Notes.

General Farm Notes.
! The following address. read by I. y.
Hoag, formerly of Sacramento, before the
Redlands Agricultural Society, will be
! found of interest:
The favorable characteristics of Califor-
mia climates and soils for all fruit bearing
trees was remarked by observant persons
at very early date, after the settlement
of the State by Americans. Fruit trees
grew with astonishing rapidity here, and
| they came into bearing much earlier than
in the most favored localities on the At
lantic slope. Itwas observed also that the
habit of prolific fruiting was not confined
to young trees but was well maintained as
age advanced Perhaps no other fruit
! responds more gratefully to the favorable
| characteristics of our California climates
and soils than the apricot.
When California became State of the
| American Union, the apricot was scarcely
known in the fruit markets of the world,
Since that date no other fruit has gained
more rapidly in cultivation and made
more rapid and well sustained advances in
public favor than the apricot. The Cali
fornia apricot, both dried and canned,
was soon recognized as a very desirable
luxury wherever introduced, and from a
luxury it soon became greatly priced
necessity and found its way into all parts
of the civilized world. 1t is now recog-
nized by California fruit-growers as a
standard fruit and its commercial value is
well established. Hence all questions as
to how to plant, how to prune and how to
manage the tree-the adaptation of va
rieties to localities, the best modes of
handling the fruit and putting it into mar
ket, and many other details, become Of
very general and lively interest, but III a
short essay to be read before our local
society | can only touch very lightly
some of the most important of these de-
tails.
The apricot, like most cultivated fruits
grown from seed, fails to produce after its
own kind. Hence to produce valuable
kinds, budding or grating is resorted to.
1t is budded successfully on its own stock,
on the peach, the plum, nectarine and al
mond, and as it tends to adapt itself to the
conditions favoring the stock on which it
may be budded, it has an unusually wide
field for cultivation. The best culturists
differ as to the best stock to be used il its
propagation, but experience in different
soils and climates may readily account for
their difference in opinion. The peach is
more generally used than any other stock.
The apricot being very rapid and strong
grower, attaining great age and size, should
be planted not less than twenty-five feet
apart-the most successful growers, in their
later paintings, are more generally adopt
ing thirty feet as the better distance The
tree shows great liking to ocean breezes,
hence is largely cultivated in the coast
counties of the State, yet is a vigorous
grower and bearer in most of the interior
valleys. 1t delight in good strong soil,
especially on its own stock or on that of
the plum, and vet when on the peach stock
it readily and cheerfuliy adapts itself to
the light soils in which the peach is at
home. On account OF its great tenacity of
life and rapid growing many cultivators
prefer to plant from the nursery to the or
chard when in dormant bud. If allowed
to remain in the nursery more than one
year after budding it attains too great a
growth for successful or profitable transfer.
No tree requires more constant or greater
care in pruning to keep it in proper shape
or form for profitable cropping. The fire.
quent use of the thumb end finger in
pinching back the rapidly-growing canes
should be reserted to in forming the
young tree The best form for the april
cot is a short trunk, and upright center
stem with branches evenly distributed
along and around it at such distances apart
as to induce fruiting throughout the CEN
Sc +hat The ,r,la ebn,,ll 10 81
served, | may remark here, in forming all
', fruit trees in our warm, sunny climate. In
the management of the apricot it must be
always kept in mind that the fruit is
borne on the last years or year-old spurs,
and the shears must be so used as to in
duce new fruit spurs throughout the tree
every year. Success in annual cropping
will follow success in attaining this object
There are large number Of varieties OF
apricots grown in California, but the Royal
leads ali others in popularity and actual
production. The Peach is good second
and the Moorpark good third These
three are the leading apricots of com.
merce and are adapted to the largest areas
of the State in the order named The
apricot must not be allowed to overbear il
it is expected to make a profitable crop OF
crop of highly Favored, fair-sized fruit
As above intimated careful and skillfu
pruning will, to great extent, prevent
overbearing, but when success has moi
been attained in this manner. thorough
| thinning out must be resorted to to save
the crop and the future usefulness of the
tree.
would not be doing justice to my sub
iect or the members of the society without
a very emphatic remark that apricot
culture should not be engaged in in Thu
vicinity for profit on land adapted L
orange or lemon culture, for the very gooC
reason that the culture of the orange OF
lemon can be made much more profitable
on such land than the apricot. Our in
terests Will be best served by devotins
our lands TO the most profitable fruits, fol
our locality, and l have no doubt this rule
will apply with equal force to other por
tions of the State where the apricot is
safer and more profitable fruit than tn,
orange or lemon.
PEPPERMINT OIL.
For the information OF those who wisi
to experiment with the growing OF pep
permint for the making of oil, the follow
ing simple directions will he found useful
The only cultivation required is to keel
the ground free from weeds. \ ield yield
two crops. The sets, or parts of oil,
plants, are planted in April and May, il
rows two feet apart, and they grow tw,
feet high. The harvesting Is done il
August, and the stalks are cut down will
a scythe and allowed to stay in the sun 70
some hours, as the oil is more easily ex
tracted when the plants are wilted. !
wooden vat hoped with iron makes tn
still, which is four feet deep and six il