APPLES 
it costs no moire to pick them in June 
than it does in September or October. 
In tact, it is much easier to do the work 
at thinning time foi the fruit may simply 
pe thiown upon the giound and raked 
up A good man should thin eight to ten 
good sized trees in a day. 
When and How to Thin 
The worh should commence the latter 
part of June or the first of July. The 
defective and wormy specimens are first 
removed Sometimes the thinner carries 
a bag over his shoulder for the wormy 
apples, but this is not necessary if all the 
thinned apples are afterward raked up 
and destroyed. The thinner next relieves 
the crowding. As a rule no more than 
one apple should be left on a single fruit 
spur, and those on the tips of the branches 
usually should be removed, for they sel- 
dom make first grade fruit. The result 
should be that the remaining apples are 
about six inches apart. Some of the 
smaller sized varieties may be left closer 
and some of the larger growing sorts 
should be given more room. Some vari- 
eties seldom need thinning and there are 
others that habitually overbear. 
Thinning the Winesap 
The Winesap apple, as a rule, does not 
(in Colorado) attain sufficient size to 
meet the requirements for packing in the 
higher grades. This is especially true of 
heavily loaded old trees. It is nota “shy” 
beaier, but has a tendency to bear a heavy 
crop every year. 
Does Thinning Pay? 
It often happens that the fruit grower 
does not like to do a thing unless he is 
sure that he will get quick returns for 
his labor. He so often does not look 
far enough into the future to regulate and 
manage certain factors over which he 
may have control that would insure fu- 
ture returns which would more than pay 
for any extra effort that he might put 
forth. From this standpoint it is neces- 
sary to consider other phases than that 
of the net returns of a single year, to 
tell whether or not thinning pays. These 
may be stated as follows: 
1. Maintaining the vigor of the trees. 
311 
2 Securing annual (10ps instead of al- 
ternate. 
3 To be able to produce fruit of maxi- 
mum size, color and quality. 
Maintaining the Vigor 
This 18 a very important factor, for 
any fruit tree when injured or impaired 
in any manner, will not be able so suc- 
cessfully to resist insect, fungus and freez- 
ing effects. 
Thinning annually and uniformly will 
have much to do in preserving this vital- 
ity Fo oK + 
The breaking down of limbs is the re- 
sult of overbearing and can only be 
avoided by either propping or pruning 
and thinning. We firmly believe that 
props have no place in an orecbard and 
when used are only a sign of very poor 
orchard management. There is no doubt 
that pruning has a very important place 
in orchard management and should not, 
by any means, be neglected. Hspecially 
is this true for the young trees. If a 
tree is properly pruned every year from 
the time it is set out, the amount of prun- 
ing can be decreased somewhat in pro- 
portion to the size of the tree when it 
has become full-grown. The word full- 
grown is used more or less arbitrarily, 
but generally conveys the idea that the 
tree is capable of bearing a full crop. 
Some think that every apple tree can be 
thinned enough with the pruning shears 
in the winter time, thereby doing away 
with the necessity of thinning by hand 
in the summer. These people forget that 
the plant food that goes to make and ma- 
ture the apple is manufactured by the 
leaves and not the roots of the tree. Keep 
a tree defoliated in the summer for any 
length of time and you will kill it. It 
is not best to obtain all of the leaf sur- 
face possible, as would be the case with 
an unpruned tree, for this would mean 
wood growth at the expense of fruit, and 
a greater amount of hand thinning. 
There would also be too much shade for 
the fruit and a poor color would be the 
result. A well balanced and well cared 
for tree, bearing a good crop of uniform 
sized apples every year will retain its 
*FH. R Bennett. Storrs, Conn., Experiment 
Station Report, 1908 
