44 



Thinning" the Fruit Set— By w. c. McCollom 



GET BETTER QUALITY WITH LARGER SIZE AND 

 NO "OFF YEARS" — REDUCE THE LOAD NOW 



AFTER the proper planting of the tree 

 there is no other one factor as impor- 

 tant in the production of high quality fruit 

 as the proper thinning of the young fruit, 

 which concentrates the entire forces of the 

 tree in maturing large and perfect speci- 

 mens rather than a host of imperfect, 

 "starved" fruit. 



A tree that has had its set of fruit prop- 

 erly thinned each year, especially in its 

 early stages, will bear annually and will not 

 go on an annual expedition of restoration 

 which usually occurs in apple trees from 

 carrying too much fruit. 



The proper time to thin fruit is directly 

 after the "stoning" period. If you are a 

 close observer you will have noticed there is 

 always a stage in the apparent development 

 of the fruit, when it shows no growth and a 

 certain number turn sickly yellow and fall 

 off. That is the "stoning" period. In 

 apples it occurs when the fruits are about 

 the size of marbles. If you thin before 

 this time you are very apt to have an 

 unbalanced tree because some of the set 

 will fall during this period; but directly 

 after this stage has been passed is the time 

 to thin. The tree is using what energy it 

 has in forcing the growth of the fruit and 

 the real object of thinning is to save undue 

 effort by lessening the load. Very little 

 energy is expended by the tree in ripening 

 fruit. 



The next problem: How many apples 

 must be removed; how many left? It all 

 depends on the tree. It is hard to decide 



intelligently without first seeing the tree, 

 as no two trees are alike. Two trees of 

 the same size might be totally different 

 in their capabilities of bearing. We take 

 as a basis a good healthy tree. Trees that 

 are not in robust health will be the better 

 for a severe thinning and younger trees 

 just starting into bearing should be thinned 

 more than older ones. 



Remove any fruit showing signs of 

 disease. This is important, as it will act 

 as a sort of check upon any disease in your 

 orchard. Be certain, too, that, in removing 

 the fruit, you don't in any way injure the 

 stems on the fruit you intend to leave on 

 the trees, as they will fall off later if the 

 stems are started from the spur by rough 

 handling. 



A good vigorous healthy tree just coming 

 into bearing should have about two-thirds 

 of its crop removed for the first season or 

 two. This will give you one apple for 

 about every cubic foot of space the foliage 

 occupies. Always remove the fruit at 

 regular intervals and rather toward the 

 inside of the tree than the tips of branches. 



Where the fruit will get plenty of air 

 and light for several succeeding years, an 

 average of about one-half of the fruit that 

 sets should be removed. By removing 

 one-third of the crop from an old, well 

 established tree, we get a harvest of fine 

 big apples, the tree suffers no strain, and 

 we are preserving for future use an orchard 

 which might be rendered useless by a few 

 seasons of overbearing. 



Pears require thinning in much the same 

 manner as apples, although they start 

 bearing much earlier than apples and re- 

 quire earlier attention. Varieties differ 

 in the amount of thinning requisite; I 

 would not thin a Seckle pear as harshly as 



Pears before 



and after thinning showing the 

 proper reduction 



Apples before and after thinning. Observe the 

 size of the clusters as finally left 



301 



Special 

 scissors are 

 a great aid 

 in thinning j ^^ & g^^ 



because we cannot 

 expect to increase 

 the size of a Seckle 

 to equal a Bartlett. 

 Peaches should be 

 vigorously thinned. 

 They are very free 

 bearers and if left 

 unmo les ted will 

 carry tremendous 

 crops of medium 

 quality fruit. When 

 properly thinned, however, the fruit at- 

 tains a size and quality quite astonishing. 

 Plums should not be thinned so vigorously 

 as is recommended for the larger fruits. 

 But thinning should be done, however, 

 especially when the trees are just coming 

 into bearing. 



Grapes respond kindly to thinning and 

 the vines will give large bunches of big, 

 luscious berries instead of a large number 

 of bunches with only small berries. Thin 

 out the berries of each bunch, besides re- 

 ducing the number of bunches, which 

 should be cut off immediately after the 

 berries are set, removing the smallest ones. 

 Cut out altogether about one-half of the 

 bunches; when the berries on the remaining 

 bunches are about the size of small peas, 

 they also can be thinned, reducing the num- 

 ber about one-third. Use a pair of pointed 

 scissors and a small crotched stick to sup- 

 port the bunches during the operation. The 

 special thinning scissors are a most useful 

 tool and indeed are essential to good work. 

 Be careful at all times not to injure, in 

 any way, the fruits that are left — a mere 

 scratch now will become an ugly scar 

 later. 



Raspberries and blackberries are rarely 

 thinned as it is too tedious an operation 

 but currants and gooseberries that are to 

 be used for table or exhibition purposes can 

 be improved, both in size and quality. 

 Cut off about half the number of bunches 

 of currants; there is no need to thin 

 the berries as with grapes. With goose- 

 berries, just pick off the less promising 

 fruits. 



