CHAPTER XVII 

 PICKING AND HANDLING FRUIT 



THIS is where the real fun of fruit-growing comes in.- The 

 other work is, much of it, pleasant and most of it interesting, 

 but for downright pleasure go out and gather a basket of 

 Carman peaches or pick a basket of Mclntosh apples. 



Thinning the Fruit. While it does not strictly belong here, 

 being half way between pruning and harvesting, this is perhaps 



FIG. 107. A pair of thinning shears. The long pointed blades enable one to get at the 

 sterna in a cluster of fruit. 



the best place to discuss the thinning of fruit. It is another 

 western custom that is bound to become more general. The 

 sooner our eastern growers can be brought to realize its im- 

 portance the sooner they will see a marked improvement in 

 the grade of fruit produced. No one thing will so change the 

 size and appearance of a crop of apples as the simple operation 

 of removing about half of them from the trees (Fig. 109). 

 Thinning is profitable for many different reasons, but the fol- 

 lowing are some of the most important. 



1. It maintains the vigor of the tree. The development of 

 the fruit is the most serious drain that the tree has to undergo 



229 



