THE FRUIT GARDEN. 



423 



thinning should be completed before they take their last swell- 

 ing, for if delayed longer, it will be too late. With respect 

 to the quantity or number proper to be left on a tree, much 

 must depend on its size and strength, and whether it be an 

 established tree, or still in training. All healthy trees are to 

 be allowed to carry a greater quantity than those in a .debili- 

 tated state; young trees still training, unless very gi'oss in- 

 deed, should also be well thinned of fruit, else their progress 

 in filling their allotted share of the wall or pales will be pre- 

 vented. Very luxuriant trees, however, may be allowed to 

 carry a larger crop to correct their gross habits ; and this, if 

 judiciously done, will bring them into better wood than any 

 system of pruning that can be adopted. On the larger sorts 

 of peaches, apricots, &c., in a healthy full-bearing state, one 

 fruit for every square foot of surface may be taken as a good 

 medium. That is to say, that a tree occupying a space equal 

 to one hundred square feet should be allowed to ripen one 

 hundred fruit ; the smaller sorts may be allowed to riioen one- 

 third more, according to their size and the health of the trees. 

 Plums should be thinned to a reasonable extent, and not be 

 allowed to touch each other if on spurs ; and if on young wood, 

 and of the larger sorts, to be full six inches apart. Few gar- 

 deners have resolution to thin sufficiently, all being ambitious 

 of large crops ; but by thinning, that which is lost in number 

 is more than made up for in weight and quality. It is a just 

 observation of a very intelligent gardener, that " every one 

 ought to thin his friend's trees." The effects of thinning can, 

 like most other operations in gardening, only be discovered by 

 comparison. Lot, therefore, one tree be thinned as above, 

 and another only half as much, and it will be found, that the 

 tree fully thinned will produce a greater weight of fruit, and 

 be incomparably more beautiful and higher in flavor. Apples 

 and pears, particularly the finer sorts, should be thinned, and 

 the result will ])e obvious. They should be thinned when 

 about half grown, at a time when all chance of their dropping 

 off is over. It is not going too far, to say that all small fruits, 

 gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and even strawberries,, 

 should be thinned. These should be thinned with sharp-pointed 

 scissars, such as are used for thinning gi'apes. The best cul- 



