THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



as we cannot have this we must let the 

 tree have as little ripening of pits as pos- 

 sible to do. In general it may be said 

 that the peach may be thinned after at- 

 taining the size of a hickory-nut (by 

 which time some idea can be formed 

 of what each particular specimen is go- 

 ing to be like), till about the time the 

 pit hardens. 



Only if the operation is done early 

 let the grower be careful to spray with 

 Paris green, or the curculio may take all 

 he has left. Some recommend a thin- 

 ning at an earlier date " by cutting back 

 the branches or shortening in," so as to 

 reduce the number of blossoms, and 

 this is also undoubtedly the best method 

 to adopt in pruning. Yet, sometimes 

 the skilled workmen of the farm cannot 

 overtake this in the rush of spring work, 

 but would be able to find time for thin- 

 ning later on, or women, or other 

 cheap labor could be employed to 

 perform the latter operation. If trees 

 are thinned early and leaf-curl comes on, 

 they have all the more strength reserved 

 to carry their burden despite their en- 

 feeblement from that malady. 



The power of carrying fruit differs 

 with the variety and with the age of the 

 individual. Soft, watery varieties such 

 as Early Rivers, will load much heavier 

 without injury to the tree than firmer 

 varieties such as Wager. Trees only 

 three years old should be allowed to 

 carry only a very small crop. Hale, the 

 great Southern grower, allows his three- 

 year-old trees to carry about three fifths 

 of what he suffers his full-grown trees to 

 bear. In Canada, probably a greater 

 proportion even than this should be re- 

 moved. 



The individuals on a tree should be 



kept apart and not allowed to touch each 

 other, and in wet seasons great loss 

 from rot will thus be avoided. At 

 Maplehurst, in 1897, two Alexander 

 trees thinned just before a wet period, 

 produced 8 and 11^ baskets of fruit 

 respectively, while their companion trees 

 equally loaded at time of thinning, 

 gave only 4^ and 9^ baskets. When 

 the fruits were crowded together on the 

 trees not thinned, the rot spread, and 

 entire clusters were destroyed, whereas 

 on the thinned trees the individual 

 peaches being isolated, did not rot so 

 much. In general, 4 or 5 inches apart 

 is the best distance, but as laborers usu- 

 ally will not thin so much as instructed, 

 it is sometimes advisable to direct them 

 to thin more freely. As the sap in the 

 peach-tree tends most powerfully to the 

 top of the tree and produces the finest 

 fruit there, the fruit on the lower parts 

 and the minor twigs should be thinned 

 the most. When a twig or shoot has 

 no leaves nearer its extremity than its 

 fruit, such fruit is liable to drop, and is 

 a suitable subject for removal. 



The weight of a peach at the extremity 

 of a branch is a greater stram on the 

 strength of the tree than the weight of 

 one at the base of the branch, and other 

 things being equal should be discarded 

 sooner. 



All misshapen, wormy, mildewed and 

 undersized specimens should, of course, 

 be removed. 



It is to be hoped that the practice of 

 thinning will be more generally adopted, 

 and that it will take its place with prun- 

 ing and cultivating as part of the regular 

 work of the farm. 



A. E. MlCKLE, 



Maplehurst. 



226 



