246 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



off the fruit is advised in thinning apples, since by these methods all 

 grades are removed indiscriminately. Hand work is best. It per- 

 mits selection of superior, and rejection of all inferior, specimens. 



Time to thin. The experiments in thinning apples and other 

 fruits lead to the opinion that early thinning gives best results. 

 Begin with apples within three or four weeks after the fruit sets, 

 even if the June drop is not yet completed. 



Cost of thinned as compared with unthinned apples. The cost 

 of thinning mature trees which are well loaded should not exceed 

 50 cents a tree, and probably would average less than that. Although 

 a given number of fruits can be thinned faster than an equal number 

 can be picked when ripe, it has required about as much time to thin 

 a tree as it has to harvest the ripe fruit. Thinned apples can be 

 graded more rapidly than an equal amount of unthinned apples. 

 Thinned apples can be handled more economically than unthinned 

 apples because they have proportionately less of those grades which 

 form the least profitable part of the crop, namely, the No. 2's, the 

 drops and the culls. 



Batchelor makes the following comments on the thin- 

 ing of apples in Utah (Circ. No. 12, Utah Exp. Sta.) : 



The actual methods to be used in this operation will vary some- 

 what with the conditions, such as soil, age of trees, varieties and 

 methods of irrigation and pruning. The fruit-grower should experi- 

 ment and learn the best methods to follow under his conditions. 

 Some people thin to a definite number of boxes on a certain-aged 

 tree. This may be determined on one or two trees by actually count- 

 ing the apples. These counted trees may then be used as models, so 

 to speak, and thin the others accordingly. Other growers have 

 learned by experience the proper distance apples should be from 

 each other on the tree if they are to reach a marketable size. For 

 the past two years, in thinning Jonathans to a minimum distance of 

 4 inches, on eight- and nine-year-old trees, there were still too many 

 apples remaining for their maximum development. A minimum 

 distance of 5 to 6 inches would no doubt have given better results 

 under the existing conditions. Gano trees nine years old, thinned 

 to one fruit on a spur, with the spurs a minimum distance of about 

 6 inches, gave good results. 



The above experience may serve as a guide in helping each 



