Thinning Small -fruits. 305 



the absence of dead tips on the stems, the clipped 

 clusters were much the more attractive." 



Experiments made at the Cornell Station* with 

 raspberries and blackberries failed, however, to give 

 such specific results: " To test the feasibility of 

 thinning berries, rows of Cuthbert raspberry and 

 Early Cluster blackberry were thinned by clipping 

 off the tips of most of the clusters, and also by 

 reducing the number of clusters, especially in the 

 raspberry. The result was not encouraging, for the 

 eye could detect no increase of size in the berries 

 on thinned plants, and as the principal object was 

 to increase the size and attractiveness of the fruit, 

 it seems to have failed of its purpose. It should 

 be said, however, that the season was favorable for 

 berries, and the crop was very fine. In a very dry 

 season, or with varieties much inclined to overbear, 

 the result might be different. In general, however, 

 the thinning can be managed well enough and much 

 more cheaply by regulating the amount of bearing 

 wood at the annual spring pruning." 



The thinning of tree fruits is done in essentially 

 the same way in which the fruits are picked; that is, 

 the fruits are picked off by hand, and are then 

 dropped onto the ground, where they may either be 

 allowed to lie, or, if they are infested with insects 

 or disease, may be raked up and burned. It is 

 customary to thin the fruits as soon as the dangers 

 of spring frosts and other early accidents are past, 



*Fred W. Card, Bull. 57, Cornell Exp. Sta. (1893). 

 U 



