266 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1918 



develop the pulp the tree is at little or no 

 trouble, for this material consists almost 

 wholly of water and carbonaceous materials, 

 the former of which come from the soil, the 

 latter from the air. Hence the size, tender- 

 ness, juiciness and flavor are enhanced because 

 the same quantity of water and carbonaceous 

 material is apportioned more liberally to the 

 reduced number of specimens. Actually the 

 weight of fruit from a thinned tree is said to 

 be about the same as from one not thinned; 

 the fewer,, larger specimens, however, are of 

 far superior quality. 



But thinning has other advantages. It 

 prevents breaking of overloaded branches; 

 for though it is not advisable to thin so 

 severely that props may be dispensed with, 

 yet fewer will be needed. Thinning also 

 prevents getting rid of fruit infested with in- 

 sects and diseases — those gnarley, wormy 

 specimens that will never be anything but 

 culls often so inferior that not even school 

 boys will touch them! Removal and des- 

 truction of these fruits both relieves the trees 

 of the drain of seed formation and checks the 

 development of pests. 



How to Proceed 



A S TO the operation itself, growers differ 

 ^*- in their preference of methods. Many 

 men use small shears or scissors while others 

 prefer to use their hands alone. In the use 

 of the shears no special comment is neces- 

 sary; the fruit to be removed is merely cut 

 and allowed to drop. 1 In hand thinning the 

 fruit is either given a twist or the finger is 

 placed against the fruit and pushed until 

 the stem breaks or pulls out. In thinning 

 as well as in harvesting care must be taken not to 

 injure the spurs or little twigs upon which the 

 fruit has been developed, for such spurs once 

 destroyed are gone forever. 



In order to avoid bewilderment it is well to 

 start at a certain point on each tree fcnd go 

 over the tree systematically; otherwise there 

 will be no telling when one is through. It is 

 a good plan to start at the base of each 

 branch and work outward toward the tip, 

 removing first the defectives and then reduc- 

 ing the balance until no two specimens will 

 touch each other even when full grown. 



While this is in progress it is never wise to 

 look at the ground for one is likely to lose 

 his "nerve" when he sees "such quantities" 

 as are sure to be there after really good work 

 has been done. 



As a sort of rule: Thin apples and pears so 

 only one is left where clusters have set and 

 have the specimens 8 or io inches apart when 

 the whole thing is done. Peaches and plums 

 may be handled similarly though the dis- 

 tance should be only four or five inches be- 

 tween specimens. It is scarcely practicable 

 to thin cherries. 



When to Start 



' I k HE proper time to begin thinning is 

 •*- shortly after the June drop has stopped. 

 To determine this time the novice may hit 

 the main limbs a blow with a heavy mallet 

 padded with burlap or carpet. If a great 

 many fruits fall the June drop is not complete; 

 but if few or none fall the time has arrived 

 to start thinning. Generally commercial 

 fruit growers make two, sometimes three 

 thinnings; the first in early July, the second 

 three to six weeks after the first and the 

 third (if done) when the fruit is full size 

 but not fully ripe. This is done only where 

 the fruit may be utilized for making sauce or 

 vinegar. No use is usually made of the first 

 and second thinnings. Where possible the 

 fruit thus removed should be burned or deeply 

 buried unless chickens and sheep or swine 

 may be confined beneath the trees long enough 



to eat up everything clean. 



i 



' The Case of Small Fruits 



CO FAR as the thinning of small fruits 

 ^ is concerned little if any is done in the 

 kind of ways so far discussed. To be sure 

 some thinning of strawberries for exhibition 

 purposes is practised but this is of such 

 limited application as to warrant its being 

 set aside. Similar effects with strawberries 

 may be approached by other means; namely, 

 liberal feeding from now forward until the close 

 of the season and by preventing the growth 

 of too many runners as well as of weeds in the 

 bed. 



Little thinning of raspberries, blackberries 

 and dewberries is practised. When it is 



done at all part of the clusters of fruit are 

 clipped off preferably while they are small. 

 But this plan is of less application and is 

 certainly more laborious than that of pruning 

 in such a way that thinning of the fruit is 

 rendered unnecessary. 



The clusters of fruit on currants and goose- 

 berries may be reduced in the same kind of 

 way as tree fruits but it is usual to let them 

 grow until they are large enough for stewing 

 or pie making. Of course pruning may be 

 called to aid size, not however in quite the 

 same kind of way as with the bramble fruits 

 because of the difference in method of growth. 



Summer Pruning 



' I TIE necessary summer pruning of bram- 

 ■*• bles consists in the removal of all- 

 stems that have done bearing fruit. This 

 means cutting out before the autumn arrives 

 every stem that has borne. None of these 

 stems will bear again ever, so the sooner they 

 are out the better for they only serve as 

 breeding grounds for insects, and infestation 

 areas for diseases. Cut them all out at the 

 surface of the ground and remove them with 

 the least possible damage to the young stems 

 of the season's development for these are 

 what will bear next season's fruit, though 

 some of them may bear a few fruits this fall. 



Summer pruning of currants and goose- 

 berries consists in cutting out and burning all 

 canes that have borne three crops. They 

 are usually the largest, darkest colored stems 

 in the clump, and are often found to be hollow 

 because of the attacks of borers. Immed- 

 iately after harvest is the proper time. 



Summer pruning of tree fruits is little 

 practised in this country. Its chief merit lies 

 in its influence on the development of fruit 

 buds for the following season's crop. In 

 general, it consists in shortening the young 

 growths of the present season, preferably 

 before the middle of July. For trees that 

 are of bearing age but have not begun to 

 bear it may be the means of inducing fruit- 

 fulness. Many amateurs, yes, and "profes- 

 sionals" too, make the mistake of too frequent 

 br too liberal pruning with the result that they 

 keep their trees on the production of twigs 

 instead of fruit. 



Returns from trie War Garden Campaign 



A Kaleidoscopic Summary of Some of the Tangible Results of the National War Garden Commission 



"I AM pleased to say that almost every 

 vacant lot in our city is planted," is the report 

 from W. A. Vandergrift, mayor of Pomona, 

 California. An exhibition and prizes offered 

 are incentives to good gardens. Posters have 

 been put up in the gardens bearing among 

 other slogans this: "We are not planting 

 this garden to make money but to help win 



the war." 



* * * 



Richmond, Cal., is thinking of the boys in 

 France in its war garden work. J. F. Hulin- 

 iski, who has organized, and is president of, the 

 war garden board there, hopes to have a s,hip 

 load of garden products, to which not only 

 the citizens of Richmond will contribute but 

 ranchers and others in the county, and send 



this to Europe for the soldiers. 



* * * 



The report from Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

 is that practically every householder there 



has a war garden. They will not have to go 

 out of their own back yards for much of their 

 food. A larger acreage has been planted in 



the state than ever before in its history. 



* * * 



Hugh Wertz, seven years old, of the 

 National Capital, goes to school, delivers 

 newspapers and has a war garden. And this 

 young "soldier of the soil" was not content 

 with an ordinary vegetable plot; but he se- 

 cured twenty-two varieties of seeds and is 



raising a crop de luxe. 



* * * 



China has joined hands with the United 

 States in the food production and conserva- 

 tion campaign; and the National War Garden 

 Commission of Washington has sent garden 

 and canning books to help in the work. 

 Arthur W. March, of the Hang-chow Chris- 

 tian College, has written: "We are much 

 interested and want to make more economical 



use of what fruits and vegetables we have. 

 Our fruits are in market for only a short time 

 but at that time are very cheap." They 

 were sent a supply of canning and drying 



manuals by the Commission. 



* # # 



Additional to government activities in 

 encouraging home food production in Canada, 

 many manufacturing plants are helping their 

 employees. The Hanover Portland Cement 

 Co., Hanover, Ontario, secured a tract of 

 unused land from the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 road for this purpose and gave its men garden 

 instruction booklets from the National War 



Garden Commission. 



* * * 



At a "Loyalty Dinner" given by the 

 Scientific Societies of North Dakota at Fargo, 

 food raising and saving were the principal 

 topics, the banquet hall was adorned with 

 posters furnished by the National War Gar- 



