INDIANA HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 263 



It is also a noticeable fact that the larger the fruits on a certain tree 

 the better it is colored, and thus enhances the commercial value of the 

 fruit. As to the time of thinning apples, it varies somewhat according to 

 the season of ripening, but should be performed as early as practicable. 

 A suitable time is when the apple is about an inch in diameter, but it is 

 better to thin them when they are half grown than to not thin them at 

 all, if it is necessary. 



The process of thinning may be performed by two different methods: 

 First, by cutting a number of small twigs containing fruit from among 

 the branches, thus admitting air and sunshine, two very essential ele- 

 ments to the development of fruit. Second, I)y removing by hand all 

 superfluous fruit. To perform effective work great care must be observed 

 in leaving the remaining fruit distributed as eveu on the tree as possible. 

 As to the distance apart the apples may be left, depends somewhat upon 

 the variety of the fruit. A small or medium variety may be left nearer 

 together than a large gi-owing variety. No definite rule can be given on 

 paper. That must, to a certain extent, be governed by the skill and ex- 

 perience of the individual performing the work. As a rule, apples left 

 from seven to ten inches apart leaves them near enough together. The 

 work can be performed best by using a step-ladder to reach all branches 

 that can not be thinned from the ground, as the work can be accom- 

 plished more effectively by approaching a branch from the end instead of 

 working out from the center of the tree. 



In regard to the cost of performing this labor, much depends on the 

 per cent, of fruit that should be removed. But in any event the cost 

 thereof is small compared with the increase of the commercial value of 

 the fruit that has been properly thinned over that which as been neg- 

 lected, not to speak of the better condition of the tree and increased 

 number of fruit buds that have formed for the following season's crop. 

 One of the gi-eatest obstacles in the way of an experienced fruit 

 grower to properly thin his fruit is the fear that he removes more fruit 

 than necessary, and this fear often causes the work to be but partly 

 performed. We will therefore give a few statements from a mathemat- 

 ical standpoint. 



Take an apple tree that has a top fifteen feet in diameter and eight 

 feet deep, containing 1,408 cubic feet; deduct one-half for large central 

 branches and open space between the branches; this leaves 704 cubic feet, 

 or 1,216,512 cubic inches; this number divided by 512, the number of cubic 

 inches each apple would occupy if grown eight inches apart each way, 

 would equal 2,3TG, the number of apples on said tree; as a bushel of fair 

 sized apples contains 158 apples, the aforesaid tree would produce fifteen 

 bushels of apples, which may be considered a profitable crop for such a 

 tree, especially when taken into consideration that such apples would sell 

 from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent, higher than fruit of the same 

 variety of a small gi'ade could be sold for. 



