PEACHES AND NECTARINES 109 



In thinning fruit down to normal crops, it is better to repeat the operation 

 three or four times, than to be too severe at one time. Do tlie final thinning 

 when they are about the size of walnuts. This will give one a better Hne on 

 them. The process of thinning is a deceptive one. I have often thinned down 

 to what I thought would leave about 300 fruits on each tree, only to find later 

 that I had left at least 500. It is not a bad plan, therefore, to get a line on the 

 tree when they are gone over for the final thinning. When the fruit takes on 

 its last swelling, after stoning, and begins to color, every single fruit will show 

 up, and I have been often astonished to find that I have been far off in my 

 estimation. I now make it a practice to count one tree roughly, as a guide to the 

 others, and I thus come pretty near to the mark. The question of proper thin- 

 ning is one of the most serious which the cultivator has to face. Although the 

 work itself is not difficult, it takes a man of nerve to thin down to the required 

 number. Many a time, when I have gone over the trees for the last thinning, 

 and have pulled off some thrifty looking specimens, so as to bring down my 

 crop to a fair average, I have felt guilty of waste. But we must remember 

 that in producing fruit under glass we are striving for the highest perfection, 

 and this cannot be attained if the trees are overcropped. 



But we must not go to the other extreme, for if a tree is given too light a 

 load, it may develop a tendency to rankness, and this is not desirable for a 

 healthy tree. Keep to the golden rule, and this depends on conditions. Our 

 climate is ideal for Peach culture under glass, and what we call an average 

 crop would be heavy in a less favorable climate. If a tree produces 2^0 to 300 

 handsome fruits year after year it should satisfy the grower. 



The subject of gathering the fruit may seem superfluous to discuss, as any 

 one can tell when the fruit is ripe. While this may be true, yet one must know 

 the exact moment of maturity. If a Peach is pulled off too ripe, it loses some 

 of its flavor, and it is also lacking in flavor if pulled too green. The fruit 

 should be gathered as soon as possible after it is ready. Sometimes it will 

 be highly colored where the sun strikes it, long before it is ripe. In such a 

 case the fruit will give warning a few days before it is ready by the rich aroma 

 which it exhales; we must then keep close watch so that it may not get over- 

 ripe and drop. 



This fruit when ripe is very easily bruised and disfigured, and should there- 

 fore be handled with great care. It is an almost unpardonable offense to set 

 disfigured hothouse Peaches and Nectarines on the dinner table. The best 

 way to gather this fruit is by hand. Take the Peach in the hollow of the hand, 

 holding the fingers as nearly as possible behind the fruit; if perfectly ripe, gentle 

 pressure will release it from the tree, and it may be removed without the slight- 

 est mark or blemish. Testing by the finger-and-thumb method is a very rep- 

 rehensible habit as it invariably produces blemishes on ripe fruit. In extremely 

 hot weather the trees may be gone over in the morning and afternoon and the 

 ripe fruit gathered. It is not necessary to handle them much. If the fruit 

 changes color around the stem, this is usually a signal to get busy. It is a mis- 

 take to hold Peaches in the ice box for any length of time. While they may be 

 kept for about a week in this way, they lose their brisk flavor. 



