264 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THINNING FRUITS. 



The thinning of fruits of nearly all varieties is one 

 of the most important branches of orchard work. 

 Nature nearly always over-exerts herself and at- 

 tempts to bring forth more fruit than the trees can 

 properly mature. Other things being equal, the 

 larger the fruit the larger the price obtained for it in 

 market. Fruit growers generally do not attach enough 

 importance to the proper thinning of their fruit crops. 

 Most growers consider that operation merely inciden- 

 tal, and not of so vital moment as cultivation, irriga- 

 tion and the spraying for disease or insects. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether there is any branch of 

 orchard work whose neglect tells on the bank account 

 with much greater effect than this. 



As a general proposition all fruits should be 

 thinned. There may be exceptions to this rule as to 

 most others, but it may be laid down as an axiom that 

 fruits should be thinned. The proper period to do 

 this with stone fruits is just as soon as the pit begins 

 to harden. At this time the fruit cast off by the oper- 

 ation of natural cause will generally have fallen, and 

 the vitality of the trees will not have been yet drawn 

 upon to any great extent. Be it remembered that it 

 is not the production of a large amount of fruit pulp 

 that tells upon the tree so much as the maturing of 

 the seed. This is the chief concern of nature, and it 

 is to the maturing of the greatest number of seeds 

 that the energies of the tree are directed. To relieve 

 the tree, therefore, of this necessity is not only desir- 

 able in the interest of fine fruit and good prices, but 

 is necessary to prolong the life and retain the vigor 

 of the tree. No hard and fast rule can be given for 

 the thinning of fruits; but Mr. J. H. Hale, the emi- 

 nent peach grower of Connecticut, has stated that he 

 could get a good crop of peaches after 95 per cent, of 

 the buds had been killed by frost. As a general 

 statement at least half of the fruit that sets may be 

 profitably removed, and many foremost peach grow- 

 ers allege that it is better to remove three-fourths of 

 it. Experience will soon teach the observant grower 

 what to do, but he may safely begin by picking off 

 one-half of the young fruit. 



THE SIMON PLUM, 



Experiments with the Simon plum, (Prunus 

 Simoni) at the Oregon Experiment Station, would 

 seem to indicate that the plum, so highly prized in 

 California, is quite a different fruit when produced at 

 the Oregon station farm. Bulletin 29 of that station, 

 published in February last, thus describes the fruit: 

 "The Simon plum has been growing for several sea- 

 sons, but on account of its early blooming has been 

 cut by late frost. This last season the trees were pro- 

 tected from the heaviest frost by spreading a light 



canvas over them during the night. By this means 

 quite a number of plums were saved and came to 

 maturity. The fruit is very attractive to the eye, be- 

 ing of a dark red, mottled with the lighter shades 

 The stem is short; large suture; flesh yellow; very 

 firm; clings well to the stone; good keeping qualities, 

 having kept it in perfect condition for 30 days. The 

 longer it is kept the darker the color of the fruit be- 

 comes. The flavor is unpleasant to the taste, being 

 very bitter, quite equal to quinine. It is not im- 

 proved by cooking. The tree makes a very compact 

 growth, is very hardy and commences to bloom quite 

 young. In appearance it is a fine fruit, but very de- 

 ceptive." 



In marked contrast with the fruit described in the 

 Oregon bulletin is the Prunus Simoni as grown in 

 California. It is quite likely that the moist climate 

 of the sound districts and western Oregon may make 

 of the Simon plum wholly a different fruit from that 

 grown in the hot, dry, interior valleys of California. 

 The fruit is of Chinese origin and its proper habitat 

 may be quite different from that found at the Oregon 

 Experiment Station. In Professor Wickson's book, 

 "California Fruits," the Prunus Simoni is thus de- 

 scribed : "Large, flattened, with deep cavities at base 

 and apex ; brick red or dark cinabar color ; stem very 

 short, flesh fine, apricot yellow with peculiar aromatic 

 flavor; tree small, with large, long, oval elliptic leaves 

 of dark, shining green; flowers small and white; 

 reaches its highest perfection in hot, dry summer 

 air. Light green branches of Simoni grow as vigor- 

 ous and upright as the Bartlett pear, and are heavily 

 clothed with unusually long, narrow, light green 

 leaves. Very fine as an early plum; ripens with 

 Royale Hative and ships well; large, six and a 

 quarter to seven inches in circumference; flesh firm; 

 rich, sweet, aromatic and delicious, with marked 

 pineapple and faint banana flavors; pit very small. 



Great care should be taken to pick up and destroy, 

 by feeding to stock or otherwise, all fruit which drops 

 from the trees before maturity. This work should be 

 strictly attended to every few days, so long as there 

 is any considerable dropping. Close attention to this 

 will often result in a greatly increased crop in follow- 

 ing years, and will often save the application of more 

 expensive remedies against insect pests of various 

 kinds. In this way plums in which the curculio is 

 developing will be disposed of together with their 

 maleficent inhabitants, also apples and pears which 

 have dropped from any cause and afford breeding 

 grounds for various pests. All such sources of danger 

 to the orchard and loss to the orchardist should be 

 promptly removed, and the fruit thus picked up 

 entirely disposed of by feeding or burning. It should 

 never be buried in manure heaps or elsewhere in such 

 manner as to render resurrection that year or the next 

 possible. 



