192 HOETICULTUEAL MANUAL. 



the trees are carrying double loads. The commercial 

 growers also are more apt to neglect fruit-thinning than 

 any other part of the work. Yet no work of the orchard 

 pays in dollars and cents better than fruit-thinning, 

 especially of the foreign plums and the peach. The 

 thinning should be deferred until after the usual drop of 

 the fruit in June, when it is as large as marbles. The 

 peach and domestica plums should be thinned so that no 

 two will touch each other when of full size, and experienced 

 growers thin so closely that those left are from four to six 

 inches apart, depending on the strength and leafage of the 

 branch. Some of the gains of thinning are that it favors 

 annual bearing, the fruit is less liable to the attack of rot, 

 and if methodically packed the fruit sells at a much higher 

 price. 



