THE PRUNING OF THE APPLE-TREE 39 



Thinning may consist in removing part of the fruit 

 in the cluster (in the case of varieties that tend to mature 

 more than one fruit from each flow^er-cluster) , in pick- 

 ing all the fruits from certain clusters or pairs of clusters, 

 or in cutting away some of the fruit-spurs before blos- 

 soming time. 



The removal of the fruit itself is usually performed 

 after the "June-drop," when the extent of the crop is 

 evident. The fruits are pulled off by hand or cut with 

 thinning-shears, the latter practice being the better since 

 it is not so likely to break the fruit-spurs. The least 

 promising fruits are taken away and the remaining apples 

 are left at least five or six inches apart in most varieties. 

 The extent of thinning must be governed by the variety, 

 thrift of the tree, result desired, and other conditions. 

 To secure the best results, the apples should be thinned 

 when still small. 



Thinning by early-spring removal of fruit-spurs is a 

 very special practice. It is employed on dwarf trees and 

 on those specially trained. It should be undertaken only 

 by a careful and experienced man. It is not to be inferred 

 that the fruit of the apple is all borne on spurs, for some 

 of it may be derived from terminal buds on the new axial 

 growths or even from lateral buds; but the spurs are 

 conspicuous and readily recognized. Of course the or- 

 dinary pruning of the tree removes fruit-bearing wood 

 and is therefore a thinning process. 



Within sensible limits, therefore, pruning is an in- 

 vigorating process in the sense that it deflects the energy 

 to remaining parts of the tree. What is called too heavy 

 pruning, whereby the tree throws out abundance of 

 water-sprouts, is illustration of this fact: the tree is 



