THE GROWING OF THE FRUIT PLANTS 413 
to save the vitality of the tree; to enable one to combat insects 
and diseases by destroying the injured fruit. 
The thinning is nearly always performed soon after the fruit 
is thoroughly set. It is then possible to determine which of the 
fruits are likely to persist. Peaches are usually thinned when 
they are the size of one’s thumb. If thinned before this time, 
they are so small that it is difficult to pick them off; and 
it is not so easy to see the work of the curculio and thereby to 
select the injured fruits. Similar remarks apply to other fruits. 
The general tendency is, even with those who thin their 
fruits, not to thin enough. It is usually safer to take off 
what would seem to be too many than not to take off enough. 
The remaining specimens are better. Varieties that tend to 
overbear profit very greatly by thinning. This is notably the 
case with many Japanese plums, which, if not thinned, are 
very inferior. 
Thinning may also be accomplished by pruning. Cutting 
off the fruit-buds will have the effect of removing the fruit. In 
the case of tender fruits, as peaches, however, it may not be 
advisable to thin very heavily by means of pruning, since the 
fruit may be still further thinned by the remaining days of win- 
ter, by late spring frost, or by the leaf-curl or other disease. 
However, the proper pruning of a peach tree in winter is, in 
part, a thinning of the fruit. The peach is borne on the wood of 
the previous season’s growth.’ The best fruits are to be expected 
on the strongest and heaviest growth. It is the practice of 
peach-growers to remove all the weak and immature wood from 
the inside of the tree. This has the effect of thinning out the 
inferior fruit and allowing the energy of the tree to be expended 
on the remainder. 
Apples are rarely thinned; but, in many cases, thinning can 
be done with profit. 
