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APPLE THINNING 



While conducting our chemical thinning tests this spring and looking at heavy 

 sets of fruit in many orchards, a few thoughts have come to mind. If the use of 

 chemicals fails to thin the crop sufficiently, some hand thinning may be necessary. 

 Hand thinning should be done as soon after the June drop as possible. Of course, 

 injured and the smaller fruits should be removed first. If a fruit is smaller 

 than its neighbors in June it will also be smaller in September. The factors 

 which made a young apple relatively small to begin with persist throughout the 

 growing season. 



We've noticed several new plantings of Early Mcintosh and Puritan which are 

 just coming into bearing. These varieties are very biennial and it might be very 

 much worthwhile to start hand thinning these small young trees in their first bear- 

 ing year. This job, if done quite early might help to prevent the development of 

 a strong biennial tendency. Although chemical thinning of such young trees might 

 help to prevent the development of a strong biennial cycle it might reduce the crop 

 on such young trees too drastically. Hand thinning of these trees would offer less 

 risk and can be done quite rapidly on small trees. However, the job should be 

 completed by mid-June if the thinning operation is going to influence flower bud 

 formation. 



F. W. Southwick 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



NOTICE 



The next issue of Fruit Notes will be a combined July - August issue and will 

 be published August 15. 



---Editor 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



EXCESSIVE SPRAY RESIDUES CAN BE AVOIDED 



As harvest time approaches those who are growing fruit either for sale or 

 home consumption should adjust their pest control programs so as to avoid exc&sslve 

 residue on the fruit when harvested. 



Under the Miller Amendment of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act limits 

 of tolerance for spray materials have been established and apply to agricultural 

 products which move in interstate commerce. 



The amount of tolerance varies depending upon the material and crop on which 

 it is used. 



In general, spray materials fall into four groups as follows: 



1. Those which have been declared safe and for which no tolerance is specified 

 Buch as sulfur, • 



