June 20, 1S88.] 



Garden and Forest. 



197 



Cultural Department. 



Thinning Fruits. 



■T^HE systematic tliinning- out of fruit has hardly received the 



J- attention it deserves, either at the hands of commercial 



growers or of amateurs. Tlie former class particularly argue 



I^'g- 35- — Pitcairnia Jaliscana. 



that in the case of large trees it is often impossible, and that 

 even when it can be done, the time and labor expended bring 

 no corresponding profit. I am inclined to think, however, 

 that when it is intelligently practiced the thinning of fruit al- 

 most always pays, and often pays large returns. In favorable 



seasons some varieties of fruits set far moi'e than the trees 

 can fully develop and mature. In such cases natural or arti- 

 ficial thinning must l)e resorted to, to secure satisfactory results. 

 The army of ciu'culios, codlin moths, birds and fungi" assist in 

 this matter with great energy, but generally with littie discrim- 

 ination. And yet without their aid, it must be confessed that 

 the fruit grower would often lind thinning an imperative duty. 

 If half the crop of Apples, Pears or Peaches on'a 

 tree were removed, those remaining would fre- 

 quently aggregate as much in bulk as the whole 

 would if allowed to remain, and would probably 

 yield as much money, to say nothing of the dim'- 

 inished labor of handling. Again, well grown fruit 

 meets a readier sale. Such Pears as the .Seckel, 

 which grow in clusters, can be thinned with de- 

 cided benefit, and perhaps it is the small varieties 

 generally that pay the best for thinning, as increase 

 ofsizeismore readily appreciated in the smaller 

 kinds. Apples and Pears which incline to cluster, 

 even in twos, are generally more defective, bv 

 reason of insect dejjredation, than those borne 

 singly. The Beurrg Bosc is one of the latter kind 

 and not prone to overficar, and if attacked by 

 insects, it is generally in the calyx-. The Bartlett, 

 when well set, is in pairs and triplets, and the point 

 of contact is generally the seat of insect operation. 

 The early thinningof these clusters to single speci- 

 mens, therefore, gives fairer and larger fruitfor the 

 troulile. On the other hand, Marie Louise has 

 never borne for me a fine flavored specimen e.x- 

 cept on a light crop; with a full crop, even when 

 severely- thinned, they attain cooking qualities 

 only, which is even more than I can say of the 

 Moimt Vernon. Indeed, it is yet an unsolved 

 problem with me whether the lightest kind of a 

 crop of the latter would give me specimens of 

 tolerable table quality. Clairgeaus are very prone 

 to overbear here and thinning is an absolute 

 necessity if their quality is to he brought above 

 mediocrity. 



Peaches can be fairly thinned bv pruning the 

 trees, which is the most feasible method. But 

 when this is neglected and the trees are full set, the 

 removal of half to two-thirds of the fruit, after the 

 natural dropping is over, will be found beneficial, 

 not only enhancing the size, quality and value of 

 those remaining, but saving the tree from breaking 

 down. With Peaches it is size that tells, and the 

 larger the Peach, the greater the proportion of flesh 

 to stone. A friend in California writes that the 

 Peach trees there did not contain more than one- 

 third as many as lay on the ground after the 

 Chinamen had completed the work of thinning. 

 With Chinese labor here, or his rate of wages, 

 this question of profit in our large Peach areas, 

 with tlieir enormous products, would still be a 

 debatal.ile one, and wliether our markets would 

 stand a sufflcient advance in prices to compensate 

 for the increased expense, is, to say the least, 

 problematical. 



Thinning Strawberries is sometimes practiced 

 to secm'e extraordinary berries for exhibition, but 

 the only practical way to improve the quality of the 

 crop is to thin the plants. If allowed to run in thick 

 matted rows they generally become too crowded 

 forthe best results, and many plants must, of neces- 

 sity, become weak and imfruitful. No better 

 evidence of this fact can be adduced than to com- 

 pare the crop on plants grown in hills with the 

 same number of plants in thick matted rows. 

 The hill system means extra labor, it is true, but 

 the improved quality of the crop will go far to 

 compensate for it. 



Pruning is also the best method of thinning and 

 improving the quality of flie Grape crop, ^yith 

 judiciously pruned vines to start with, the after 

 thinning is simple and easy. All that is required is 

 to rub oft' the superfluous buds and shoots. A vine 

 producing twenty-five pounds of fruit in clusters 

 of half a pound and upwards, would bring more 

 money than one producing the same number of pounds in 

 clusters of one-quarter of a pound each,^ give more satis- 

 faction to the grower for home consunqjlion, and save labor 

 and time in gathering. 



The sum of the matter is, that in most cases, larger, more 



