ABOUT THINNING FRUIT. 



J7? SMALL, insipid, worthless peach 

 /(H is sure to be the result when this 

 1T)\ system is not practised, in instances 

 where the trees are overloaded- 

 The product is wanted by no one, and 

 rarely will sell for sufficient to pay the 

 cost of marketing. From an economic 

 stand-point it does not pay. 



The rule I have adopted is to thin the 

 fruit so as to leave that remaining about 

 six inches apart on the limbs. I have 

 found the same rule to work equally well 

 when applied to apples and pears, par- 

 ticularly if the former are to find their 

 way on to the city fruitstands. Four 

 dollars per barrel was received for apples 

 in October last thus treated, that would 

 not have turned the scales at two dollars, 

 if left untouched. Mr. John Craig and 

 Prof. Waugh, of Vermont, saw this fruit 

 when being packed for shipment, and 



could scarcely recognize the variety, as 

 they had seen it grown in other sections. 



One-half of the crop of an extremely 

 heavy setting of Kieffer pears was re- 

 moved and allowed to go to waste on 

 the ground. The portion that matured 

 was fine and sold at high prices, and in 

 my opinion gave a larger yield than if 

 all had remained on the trees. 



Many canning factories in purchasing 

 the apples and pears consumed, demand 

 that no fruit delivered them shall run 

 under a specified diameter. They are 

 important factors in the consumption of 

 our surplus fruits ; hence their require- 

 ment is an additional argument in favor 

 of the work suggested that deserves 

 more general consideration at the hands 

 of all growers of fruit. — Correspondence 

 Country Gentleman. 



NOTES FOR STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



STRAWBERRY plants require an 

 abundance of moisture in all 

 stages of growth, but this is most 

 easily secured during the first sea- 

 son by attending to the proper details in 

 preparation of the soil, and in cultivation. 

 Early and continuous cultivation 

 saves the moisture to a greater extent 

 than is commonly supposed. It has 

 been found that the loss of moisture 

 from unplowed ground may be in excess 

 of that from cultivated soil to an amount 

 equal to an inch and three-fourths of 

 rainfall in a week. A man with a team 

 and a sprinkling cart could not replace 

 the water on an acre of land as fast as it 

 escapes by evaporation from the soil, 

 when it goes off at that rate, if he had to 

 haul the water one fourth of a mile. The 

 importance of stirring the soil soon after 

 a shower is generally known ; but in 

 practice, cultivation after slight showers 



229 



is often neglected. This is because the 

 soil does not become compact and no 

 crust forms after slight showers, hence 

 the necessity of stirring the soil at once 

 is not apparent. 



A slight wetting of dry soil, however, 

 increases the upward flow of water, 

 hence there is more water added to the 

 surface soil at such times than comes in 

 the form of rain. 



The sun and wind soon dissipate the 

 slight rainfall and along with it much of 

 the water which came from the lower 

 layers of the soil, leaving the soil dryer 

 than before. 



As the two are commonly used, a cul- 

 tivator is a better machine for irrigating 

 than a sprinkling cart. The cultivator, 

 if rightly used, saves moisture, while the 

 sprinkling cart is more likely than not 

 to be the means of wasting it. — Ohio 

 Bui. 85. 



