IMPORTANT ITEMS : THINNING FRUIT. Ill 



parts ; tallow, 3 parts ; red ochre, 3 parts ; bur- 

 gundy pitch, 1 part. First melt in an iron pot the 

 resin, add the tallow, and lastly the red ochre. 

 Stir well together, but do not make, nor use, too 

 hot. 2. To be used cool. Equal parts of yellow 

 wax and turpentine, with half as much burgundy 

 pitch as either, and half as much mutton suet as 

 pitch. Melt altogether, mix thoroughly, leave 

 them to cool, then form into small balls and use 

 when required. The object of grafting- wax is to 

 exclude air, and, if any cracks appear, they must 

 be promptly filled, leaving a smooth surface. In 

 the absence of the above preparations, the object 

 in view may be accomplished with thick plasters of 

 clay, made by beating tenacious clay into a paste 

 with about half the quantity of cow manure and 

 horse droppings. It must be pressed closely round 

 the stems, and as often as any cracks form they 

 must be plastered up. 



Thinning Fruit. Some Apple and other fruit- 

 trees are notorious for bearing heavily one year, 

 and remaining practically barren the next. That 

 is because they are so much exhausted in maturing 

 the load of fruit, that they cannot at the same time 

 form and develop blossom buds ; but if the clusters 

 are well thinned when the fruit is small, leaving one 

 or two Apples or Pears on a spur, instead of thrice 



