May, 1921 



Larger Sized Apples 



npHE NEED for larger sized apples, 

 A as voiced during the past season by 

 some of the largest handlers of North- 

 western box apples again calls attention 

 to the importance of thinning. In ad- 

 dition to this while the production of 

 faucy apples is dependent upon many 

 other factors such as spraying, pruning 

 irrigating, etc., thinning is one of the 

 most important practices in securing for 

 the grower the highest market returns. 



As competition in the apple industry 

 of the country has become more keen 

 the necessity of thinning to produce 

 the highest grade of fancy box apple 

 has become more apparent, although 

 many apple growers have not yet rea- 

 lized the importance of practicing thin- 

 ning in a systematic way. A well known 

 authority on apple culture says: 



"It no longer pays to grow ordinary 

 fruit. There are but few localities in 

 the United States in which medium to 

 good sized apples cannot be raised. 

 Therefore, ordinary fruit or the choice 

 grade must compete iwith the home- 

 grown product wherever it is shipped. 

 On the other hand, localities in which 

 strictly fancy apples can be raised are 

 much less numerous and such grades 

 compete less frequently with the home 

 grown product. The larger the apple 

 within certain limits, that is the larger 

 the edible portion, the more highly it is 

 valued. According to market standards, 

 by increasing the diameter of the apple 

 one-half inch, we increase its market 

 value many times. By the removal of 

 part of the crop at an early stage in its 

 development, this increase in size can 

 be obtained and it is usually impossible 

 to obtain it otherwise. 



"Although the increase in the current 

 year's crop is ample reason for thin- 

 ning, it is not the only benefit to be de- 

 rived. By reducing the tree's crop this 

 year, there is more likelihood of a good 

 crop the following year. Much of the 

 so-called habit of "alternate bearing" in 

 apple trees is directly traceable to the 

 fact that they overbear one year and 

 recover from this overtax by bearing 

 a very light crop the following year. 

 Many broken limbs in the orchard can 

 be averted by proper thinning and much 

 time and money saved in propping the 

 orchard. 



"Methods to be used in the thinning 

 operation will vary somewhat with the 

 conditions, such as soil, age of trees, va- 

 rieties and methods of irrigation and 

 pruning. The fruitgrower should ex- 

 periment and learn the best methods to 

 use under his conditions. Some orchard 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 11 



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ists thin to a definite number of boxes 

 on a certain aged tree. This is deter- 

 mined by counting the apples on one or 

 two trees. These counted trees are used 

 as models and the rest of the orchard 

 thinned accordingly. Other growers 

 adopt the plan of thinning the fruit ac- 

 cording to distance. The latter plan is 

 much easier of adoption and produces 

 the desired result where the work is 

 carefully done. 



"For the best results thinning should 

 commence immediately after the .June 



drop, the work being done while the 

 apples are about an inch in diameter. 

 By removing the fruit from trees that 

 are overcrowded at this time the re- 

 maining apples receive the entire 

 strength and nourishment of the tree 

 and reach a much finer degree of ma- 

 turity. The cost of the work under 

 average conditions is only slight com- 

 pared with the increased returns, in ad- 

 dition to the fact that much time will 

 be saved at harvest time in sorting the 

 crop." 



