14 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



THINNING OUT FRUIT. 



©CCASIONALLY someone refers to this subject as something new, while it 

 is as old as horticulture itself. I have practised it for more than forty 

 years, and never yet failed to gain by it. Most people maintain that it 

 might do on a small scale, but that it would never pay in extensive orchards. 1 

 have the proof that it will. Yesterday afternoon five trees were gone over in my 

 orchard, two Mt. Henry Pippin and three Newtown, from two o'clock until six. 

 This would be at the rate of twelve trees in ten hours, the hours of a day's work, 

 costing say $i, which will be a little over eight cents per tree. Now, these trees 

 will average about six bushels apiece if the season is favourable, and there will be 

 but very few culls. The difference in the price of one bushel of these apples will 

 more than pay for the thinning. It is true not everyone will handle himself on 

 a ladder or tree as I do, but then we will allow one hour more to the day, as on 

 the farm the ten-hour system is not so rigidly adhered to as with mechanics. Sup- 

 posing I had a thousand trees like these and had to pay $85 to have them gone 

 over, the crop being 6,000 bushels. If I could get but ten cents more per bushel,, 

 which is quite a low estimate, it would make $600, which is pretty good pay, I 

 should think. What I left on will measure as many bushels when harvested, as 

 if all had been left on the trees, although I took at least three bushels off each 

 tree, of course in all cases the small, deformed, rusty and wormy ones. When 

 it comes to picking them the difference in work and sorting will nearly make up 

 for the thinning. But this is not all, for, by this thinning out, the trees are re- 

 lieved of quite a burden ; they will not have to mature the seeds of all those 

 taken off", which is a great item. Every scrubby, small apple has about an equal 

 number of seeds with the largest, and seed-ripening is the great tax on the vitality 

 of the tree. Another feature about it is that in a drought like this it may prevent 

 the premature dropping of the fruit, so much complained of in this region. At 

 my work alluded to I found that the fruit let go its hold much too easily t > promise 

 staying there until the proper time, and believe that my thinning will save what 

 are now left. A few ypars ago there were scarcely any codling moths here, no 

 black-rot nor scab on the apples, but they are all coming, and spraying will have 

 to be resorted to in coming year-^. If I had an orchard of ten thousand bearing 

 apple trees that were overloaded, they should all be thinned out. Another advan- 

 tage of thinning I did not mention, is that it will give us apples every year, unless 

 an unusual spell of weather destroys blossoms. These off'-years, as some call it, 

 don't happenfinfmy orchard. Have had pretty regular crops for ten years, the 

 only miss being when a tree was overloaded, and I failed to thin out. Invari- 

 ably the following year was a miss, which is quite natural ; for a tree cannot 

 bear an overload and at the same time store up blossom buds to do the same 

 next season. — ,5. Miller, Montgomery Co. Mo. 



