126 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Sixth : Suppose that fruit dried from peaches that weigh three to the pound 

 only brings one cent a pound more than that from peaches half that size. Two 

 cents would more accurately measure the difference in value. Still, the smaller 

 figure is enough to meet the whole cost of picking and hauling or of cutting and 

 drying in any well-managed establishment. 



When to Thin Fruit. Thinning of fruit should begin with the 

 winter pruning of bearing trees, as has been already urged in con- 

 nection with regulating the amount of bearing wood allotted to each 

 tree. After this is carefully done, there is the thinning of bloom, which 

 is urged on the ground of least possible loss of energy by the tree in 

 the partial development of fruit to be subsequently removed. Hand- 

 thinning of individual blooms is impracticable on a commercial scale, 

 but the removal of spurs or twigs, or shortening of them with shears, 

 is feasible enough. The objection must lie in the fact that profusion 

 of bloom does not necessarily indicate an excessive set of fruit, and any 

 severe reduction of bloom is, therefore, venturesome unless one is fully 

 assured by local experience of the habit of the variety under treatment. 

 Reduction of the amount of fruit itself is, therefore, the only safe pro- 

 ceeding, and this should not, as a rule, be undertaken until the first 

 drop, through lack of pollination, has taken place. Even at greater 

 theoretical loss of energy to the tree, it is better to err on the side of 

 thinning a little too late than too early in order to secure the fullest 

 assurance possible of the permanent burden which the tree assumes. 

 Where spring frosts are likely to occur they afford additional reason 

 for delay. If surety of the local conditions comes before the pits harden 

 in the young fruit it is fortunate for the tree, but even after that it is 

 still a greater saving to the tree and assurance of profit to the grower 

 to reduce the fruit to a proper amount than to permit over-bearing. 



The Practice of Thinning. If the tree has not been sufficiently 

 relieved of an excess of bearing wood during the winter pruning and 

 has made a very heavy set of fruit, thinning with the shears by cutting 

 out whole spurs or short bearing shoots, or even shortening in longer 

 limbs, cutting always to a lateral when possible, is of no appreciable 

 injury to the tree. After all the shear-work possible is done, the spac- 

 ing of the fruits on the twigs and branches must be provided for. This 

 was done in early days by beating; the tree with a pole, and some still 

 maintain that they can use the pole to advantage. The almost universal 

 practice, however, is to use the hand in plucking or pushing off the 

 small fruit. This is done very quickly by experienced workmen. If 

 the trees are low, as they should be, most of the work can be done from 

 the ground. It is best to work in vertical spaces and take all that can 

 be reached from top to bottom without changing position ; then move 

 a step or two and take another vertical strip, and so on. 



The distance which should be left between specimens depends upon 

 conditions. It is as unsatisfactory to him by rule of inches as it is to 

 prune by such a rule. The space to each fruit depends upon the kind, 

 the age, vigor and strength of the tree, the size and thrift of the lateral 

 or spur which carries the fruit, the moisture supply, the richness of the 

 soil, etc. It also depends upon what use is to be made of the fruit, 

 because it is possible to have some fruit which is too large for certain 



