164 



CASSELL'S POPTJLAE GARDENING. 



over the trees a few days Ijefore the blossoms open, 

 and draw the finger down the imder sides of the 

 thickly-furnished shoots, taking with it all the pen- 

 dent flower-huds, which, owing to their position, no 

 good Peach-grower would select for his crop if he 

 could do without them. This thinning of "blossoms 

 is not nearly so much attended to as it ought to be in 

 old Peach-houses ; and yet we have only to take note 

 of shy-flowering kinds like the Old Noblesse and 

 Walburton Late Admirable, which almost invariably 

 set every flower 

 and bring the 

 fruit to maturity. 



Thinning. — 



When well-man- 

 aged healthy 

 trees 'have the 

 run of good bor- 

 ders, they gene- 

 rally set a great 

 deal more fruit 

 than they are 

 capable of ripen- 

 ing. The first 

 thinning is gene- 

 rally made as 

 soon as the 

 Peaches begin to 

 throw off the re- 

 mains of the 

 blossoms and the 

 best-placed fruits 

 take the lead. 

 Where the triple 

 buds have set in 

 twos and threes, 

 these are reduced 

 to one fruit, 

 naturally the 



best; then, all that are small and weak or badly 

 placed either above or below the wood or near 

 the wires are taken away, leaving a considerable 

 number to select from at the future thinnings. 

 When they attain the size of small nuts, a second 

 thinning off of the least promising, both as to size and 

 position, improves the appearance of the crop ; but it 

 is still too heavy for the trees to ripen up, and as 

 there is the possibility of losing some at stoning-time 

 a liberal surplus is generally left to allow for this 

 loss. This precaution, however, if carried to excess, 

 very often defeats itself, as the great strain of stoning 

 double the number actually required to ripen fre- 

 quently leads to the dropping of some that would 

 otherwise stand. To render these remarks practical, 

 it may be assumed that i£ a tree covering two hun- 



Pig. 20.— Spue of Eoyai, Geokge Peach. 

 Thickly set and ready for Thimiing. 



dred feet of trellis is to carry two hundred Peaches, 

 a surplus of fifty wiU be quite sufficient to leave for 

 dropping. As soon as the fruit has completed the 

 formation of the stones, the final thinning should 

 take place, leaving all the finest on the upper 

 sides of the shoots, as they are in the best con- 

 dition for colouring to the apex, and removing, 

 as far as possible', those beneath the shoots or 

 near the extreme points, where the wood is weakest, 

 and the least likely to be thoroughly ripe. 



Opinions ditter 

 as to the weight 

 of crop a Peach- 

 tree can carry to 

 perfectioji with- 

 out weakening it 

 for the succeed- 

 ing year. Some 

 leave one to 

 every square of 

 ten inches; but 

 it is a very heavy 

 crop, and does 

 not produce a 

 greater weight 

 than the same 

 tree would yield 

 were the squ-ires 

 extended to 

 twelve inches, 

 while the extra 

 weight of stone, 

 the smaller size 

 of the fruits, and 

 the deficiency in 

 flavour would 

 tell against the 

 greater number 

 in point of 

 market value. 

 The ordinary kinds of Nectarines, which do not 

 average more than six or seven ounces, may be 

 left closer than Peaches, which ought to average 

 ten ounces ; while some of the new varieties of 

 Nectarine, like Stanwick Elruge, Albert Victor, 

 and Lord Napier, grow into the greatest weight and 

 value when thinned to ten inches to the square. 

 These remarks apply to healthy, vigorous trees, from 

 which good crops may reasonably be expected; 

 weakly trees cannot be induced to crop so freely, and 

 the fruit may be left upon them, but they will resent 

 the oppression by thinning themselves at stoning- 

 time. 



Stoning and Elevating the Fruit. — ^When 

 Peaches are stoning, the temperature should be kept 



