Pruning and Thinning 283 



Cost of thinning. 



The cost of thinning will depend on several factors, such 

 as the variety, size of tree, kind of labor employed, method 

 used, size of the crop and the vigor of the tree. The 

 average man thins from three to twenty trees a day. In 

 the Northwest one hour to a tree is considered an average 

 amount. It must be remembered, however, that the 

 Northwest trees are much smaller and the fruit easier of 

 access than in the older orchards of the East and Central 

 West. In old orchards, heavy with fruit, from three to 

 five trees is a day's work. It would not do to figure aver- 

 ages on this basis as often many trees do not need much 

 thinning. It requires about sixty hours an acre to thin 

 the better Wenatchee orchards. Very little thinning is 

 done in New York and Virginia, but if the trees in these 

 regions were thinned as systematically as in Wenatchee, 

 the amount of labor expended would be about the same to 

 the acre despite fewer trees. The average grower is safe 

 in assuming that it will pay him to spend on thinning an 

 amount equal to twenty-five cents a barrel for every barrel 

 of fruit produced. The operation usually costs less than 

 this amount. 



