298 Report of the Horticultural Department of the 



many bushels of No. i fruit as did the unthinned tree, without 

 carrying so heavy a burden of inferior fruit. There were about 

 three times as many culls where the fruit was not thinned as 

 there were where it was thinned. The thinned fruit was higher 

 colored and more attractive in appearance than that from the 

 tree which was not thinned. (See also the general statement 

 concerning the thinned fruit in 1896, p. 300.) 



Record for i8py. — No fruit was produced by either tree. 



Record for i8p8. — Trees generally in western New York blos- 

 somed full and set well, but apparently because of the frosty 

 nights following the blooming season and the prevalence of cool, 

 damp weather the little fruits lost vitality to such an extent that 

 many of them dropped which under favorable conditions would 

 have matured. The condition of the foliage and the crop pros- 

 pects were noted for each tree on June 30th. On both trees the 

 foliage was very good for the season of 1898. On tree 13 

 (thinned) a fair crop remained, and there was enough fruit to per- 

 mit of thinning on some branches. The crop was scant on the 

 under branches. On tree 14 (unthinned) the prospects for a crop 

 were as good or better than on the other tree. Crop scant on 

 some branches. 



Tree 13 was not thinned till July 25th. Time required was 

 one and three-fourths hours. On September 28th an examina- 

 tion of the fruit on these two trees showed that on the thinned 

 tree there was not so much fruit as on the unthinned tree, but 

 it was much larger and better colored. On October 14th the 

 same differences were observed. The fruit on the unthinned 

 tree was decidedly below that on the thinned tree in quality, 

 while on the thinned tree the quality was fine. The grade of 

 the fruit is given in Table I. 



Record for i8pp. — This was not the " bearing year " for Bald- 

 wins in this orchard. Neither of the trees in this experiment had 

 enough fruit to permit of thinning. 



