THINNING FRUIT 



139 



twigs, or shortening of them with shears, is feasible enough. The 

 objection must lie in the fact that profusion of bloom does not 

 necessarily indicate an excessive set of fruit, and any severe reduc- 

 tion of bloom is, therefore, venturesome unless one is fully assured 

 by local experience of the habit of the variety under treatment. 

 Reduction of the amount of fruit itself is, therefore, the only 

 safe proceeding, and this should not, as a rule, be. undertaken 

 until the first drop, through lack of pollination, has taken place. 

 Even at greater theoretical loss of energy to the tree, it is better 

 to err on the side of thinning a little too late than too early 

 in order to secure the fullest assurance possible of the permanent 

 burden which the tree assumes. Where spring frosts are likely 

 to occur they afford additional reason for delay. If surety of the 

 local conditions comes before the pits harden in the young fruit 

 it is fortunate for the tree, but even after that it is still a greater 

 saving to the tree and assurance of profit to the grower to reduce 

 the fruit to a proper amount than to permit overbearing. 



The Practice of Thinning. If the tree has not been sufficiently 

 relieved of an excess of bearing wood during the winter pruning 

 and has made a very heavy set of fruit, thinning with the shears 

 by cutting out whole spurs or short bearing shoots, or even short- 

 ening in longer limbs, cutting always to a lateral when possible, 

 is of no appreciable injury to the tree. After all the shear- work 

 possible is done, the spacing of the fruits on the twigs and branches 

 must be provided for. This was done in early days by beating 

 the tree with a pole, and some still maintain that they can use 

 the pole to advantage. The almost universal practice, however, 

 is to use the hand in plucking or pushing off the small fruit. This 

 is done very quickly by experienced workmen. If the trees are 

 low, as they should be, most of the work can be done from the 

 ground. It is best to work in vertical spaces and take all that 

 can be reached from top to bottom without changing position ; 

 then move a step or two and take another vertical strip, and so on. 



The distance which should be left between specimens depends 

 upon conditions. It is as unsatisfactory to thin by rule of inches 

 as it is to prune by such a rule. The space to each fruit depends 

 upon the kind, the age, vigor and strength of the tree, the size 

 and thrift of the lateral or spur which carries the fruit, the moisture 

 supply, the richness of the soil, etc. It also depends upon what 

 use is to be made of the fruit, because it is possible to have some 

 fruit which is too large for certain demands, though this objection 

 does not often arise. The strength of the shoot is perhaps the 

 most easily appreciable factor. With peaches, for instance, a 

 shortened lateral one-eighth of an inch in diameter should only 

 carry one peach, while one one-quarter of an inch in diameter might 

 mature four good large fruits. It would evidently be wrong to 



