SPRAYING ORCHARDS 97 



course, it is quite another question, and cutting off at right 



angles will leave far less exposure and give less chances for 



decay. 



(5) Thinning Fruit. 



The practice of thinning fruit is continually growing in favor 

 with our best growers of orchard or tree fruits. By picking off 

 a portion of the fruit when immature, that remaining grows to 

 a larger size. The resulting crop may not necessarily be larger 

 iu bulk, but the product will be much superior. Thinned fruit 

 is usually all first grade. Where thinning is practised, the 

 exhaustive results coming from over-cropping are lessened, and 

 hence annual bearing is favored. 



Some varieties have the tendency to overbear and thinning 

 regulates this. Always remove the inferior specimens leaving 

 the better ones. It is good practice to wait until the damages 

 from the most troublesome insect pests have appeared, as the 

 plum curculio, codling moth, etc. Then those affected are 

 taken first. Peaches and plums are always thinned for best 

 results, but the thinning of apples is not so commonly prac- 

 tised, and the results to come from it will depend upon varying 

 conditions. From experience I should defer thinning apples 

 until they are the size of a walnut (hickory nut), for the apple 

 has a tendency to thin itself up until about this size. It costs 

 to thin fruit, but the resulting fruit is of a superior grade, and 

 the expense of picking inferior fruit is eliminated at harvesting 

 time. Do not neglect this part of fruit growing. 



(6) Spraying Orchards. 



The spraying of fruit trees for both insects and fungous dis- 

 eases is being better understood and more commonly practised 

 each year. Every one should learn to distinguish the differ- 

 ence between spraying to destroy insects and spraying to pre- 

 vent fungous diseases. The Bordeaux mixture serves to check 

 fungous diseases, while the other sprays mentioned herewith 

 are used for destroying insects. They are applied together 

 when both insects and fungi are prevalent. 



There are many good spray pumps on the market, and the 

 only precaution is, do not make the mistake of getting one too 

 small to do effective work. Generally speaking, get one of 

 the kinds that have force enough to throw a good strong stream 

 to the top of a large tree from a wagon. These are usually 

 mounted on a barrel. See photograph. 



