THE THINNING OF FRUIT 113 



conclusions are not attempted, results indicate that thinning 

 does not influence subsequent crops nor cause trees, naturally 

 biennial in bearing habit, to bear a crop each year." The 

 author also has reported that "Trees which were thinned to 

 twelve inches apart produced no more blossoms the following 

 spring than did the unthinned trees which had borne an 

 excessive crop." ^ 



100. Thinning to decrease the labor of handling exces- 

 sive crops of small fruit is of considerable consequence from 

 a commercial standpoint. The work of picking and handling 

 a crop in which a considerable proportion of the fruit is small 

 or below a standard merchantable grade is not economical. 

 That this labor can be appreciably reduced is established in 

 the foregoing paragraj^hs. 



101. The effect of thinning on the total crop. — As in- 

 dicated by data previously cited, not infrequently the total 

 crop from a tree from which half the fruit has been removed 

 will be as great as from an unthinned tree carrying practically 

 the same amount of fruit as was originally on the thinned 

 one. This of course is possible because of the increased size of 

 the remaining fruit. Often the crop is reduced in total yield 

 and in some cases it results in actual loss. Perhaps the 

 experience of the workman is the only safeguard in deter- 

 mining how much fruit should be removed, and even he will 

 err in judgment at times. 



Excerpts from experiments conducted in several states 

 show the range of variation in this regard and fairly repre- 

 sent the situation. It is presumed that the trees in any given 

 experiment are similar in size and amount of total fruit 

 originally set. 



1 Gourley, J. H. N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. BuU. 9. 1915. 



