THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOIL ON BITTER PIT. 41 



THINNING. 



When an orchard reaches the full bearing stage, the trees sometimes bear a very heavy crop 

 of fruit one year and little, if any, the following year. To counteract this habit it is necessary to 

 reduce the heavy crop, first by regulating the fruit-spurs, and secondly by thinning out the fruit. 

 During the pruning season any trees that may have a large number of fruit-spurs should have them 

 thinned out or shortened back. This should be done so that the spurs are evenly distributed over the 

 tree, so that the crop of fruit for the trees to carry the following year may be somewhat restricted. 

 Thinning the fruit is also carried out in many orchards with great advantage, especially with the 

 Yates variety, which is naturally a small apple. If these trees are allowed to mature all of the crop 

 of fruit that has set, the remaining fruits are of small size and of little commercial value. Whereas, 

 had the crop been thinned by the removal of at least one-third, the remainder would grow to a much 

 larger size and would be of very much greater value. It would also have the effect of regulating the 

 crop of fruit, because if thinning is properly carried out, the trees carry a more regular crop of good 

 fruit each year, instead of every alternate year as in the days of the old go-as-you-please method. 

 (Figs. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37.) 



XIII. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOIL ON BITTER PIT. 



DROMANA ORCHARDS. 



There are two orchards belonging to Mr. McKeown, about half a mile apart, at Dromana, 

 on the shores of Port Phillip Bay. They are situated under the shelter of Arthur's Seat, with a north- 

 erly aspect. The one named "Glenone" was planted at intervals since 1892, and now consists of ten 

 acres, about one-half of which is under apples. Jonathan is the most common variety grown, and 

 Cleopatra comes next. The soil is a sandy loam, and it is undrained, since drainage is not considered 

 necessary on account of the good depth of soil. 



The Cleopatra trees generally bear good crops, and are subject to Bitter Pit, but it was noticeable 

 that it was comparatively slight compared with the adjoining orchard. 



As the two orchards are under the same management and receive similar treatment, and since 

 the Bitter Pit is particularly bad in the one and comparatively slight in the other, it seemed desirable 

 to account for the difference if possible, and thus throw some light on the conditions favouring the 

 disease. 



The other, named "Gracefield," was planted eight years ago, and the trees are consequently 

 much younger, which would partly account for their greater susceptibility to Pit. But the soil is 

 altogether different, having a stiff clay bottom at a depth of eighteen inches, so that it became necessary 

 to determine how far the difference in chemical composition and physical condition of the soil affected 

 the development of Bitter Pit. A visit to the orchards in the middle of February showed great differ- 

 ences in the amount of Pit in the Cleopatras. 



In the "Glenone" orchard the crop was light, and there were only forty-eight apples on the tree 

 photographed (Fig. 38). Of these, forty-one were clean and seven slightly pitted, or 14 per cent, 

 of Pit. In a case of Cleopatras from the "Gracefield" orchard eighty-eight were found to be pitted, 

 and only five clean, or 94 per cent, pitted. 



ANALYSIS OF SOILS. 



The soils from both orchards were carefully sampled by the Government Agricultural Chemist 

 to a depth of two feet. 



In the "Glenone" orchard there was a depth of eighteen inches of sandy loam, then nine inches 

 lighter in colour, and below that it changed to a yellowish colour. 



