THINNING APPLES AND PEARS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21196, 29 November 1930, Page 7

THINNING APPLES AND PEARS.

LARGE FRUIT FOR SHOW, TABLE AND KITCHEN. When there is an abundant crop 4 of apples and pears the importance of thinning cannot be over-estimated, either from the point of view of the health of the trees or of the quality of the fruit produced. It is a great mistake to thin apples and pears too early; it is, nevertheless, a mistake that is very often made. If thinned before the fall of young fruitlets, which takes place in December, it may be found that many of the young fruits left on the tree to form a crop fail to mature ■ and fall to the ground. It is usually safe to begin thinning apples and pears any time in January, but it is not wise to delay too long, as nourishment which should go to the fruit that is allowed to remain will be absorbed by fruits which are to bo taken from the tree. The method and amount of thinning necessary will be influenced by several factors, one of the most important of which is the size and age of the tree. It should not, be forgotten that certain varieties of apples are quite capable in time, if left to go their own way, of cropping themselves o death. For such thinning is csscutial. Young mature trees should never be allowed to carry a full crop. Drastic thinning is often advisable with these, or they may never grow into healthy trees. The variety will influence the amount of thinning required to a great extent. More space should bo allowed between the larger apples and pears than between the smaller kinds. Usually dessert varieties will need thinning more carefully, but less severely than will overloaded cooking kinds. In every case any damaged fruit should be removed. Diseased specimens of.fruits seen to be infested with insect pests should be destroyed by burning, and so that this may be done it is always as well to have a small basket handy when thinning the trees. The best way to remove the unwanted fruitlcts is with a small pair of scissors. If any attempt is made to thin by picking off the unwanted fruits, the greatest care will be necessary that whole clusters are not accidentally pulled off.

It is a good plan not to attempt too severe thinning at first. It is far better to go over the trees two or three ■ times at short intervals, as it is impossible to judge exactly how much fruit should be taken off at one thinning. The earliest varieties should receive attention first, later kinds following. A certain amount of care is necessary that clusters are not rubbed off or branches broken when reaching towards the centre of the tree in order to deal with fruit found neat the middle. It is, of course, far easier to thin trees on comparatively dwarfing stock than' those of greater size. Usually, however, it is safe to allow vigorous trees of large size to carry practically all their fruit This applies particularly to standards.' For the smaller trees a pair of steps will tic found, useful for reaching branches which could not otherwise be dealt with. The spacing pf the fruit is important; but it is not possible to lay down definite rules, although some indication may bo given. For dessert varieties of medium size, if the - fruit is fairly thick on all the branches, not more than one fruit should be allowed to remain for every four inches of fruit-bearing wood. If the fruit is needed for exhibition purposes,' this distance will need to be increased so that there arc at least seven or eight inches between the fruits. When dealing with the larger varieties, if the tree is heavily laden over the whole of its fruitbearing wood, a space of. at least six inches should be allowed between the fruits; while to obtain large-sized-.fruit of good quality for exhibition purposes, 10 or 12 inches between the fruits will hot be too much. If only certain branches on the- trees arc carrying too much fruit some allowance may be made for this, althongh .lt is scarcely ever advisable to allow apples to remain on the branches nearer together than four inches when thinning. out. When reducing clusters of apples or pears to a single fruit, the best-shaped and most perfect fruitlet should, as a rule, be allowed to remain. This may, or may not, be the biggest fruit in the cluster. The temptation is to leave the biggest specimen, whether this is perfect or not, but smaller fruits, although they are formed from later blossoms, will at the time of ripening attain a size quite equal to that of those formed earlier. No real advantage is to be obtained by leaving the biggest fruit, unless this happens also to possess the other qualities mentioned. There aft a few varieties of apples which have a habit of dropping their fruit rather badly before it ripens. With such, unless they are very heavily laden indeed, it is not always an advantage to thin. | . ncs fc apples and pears' for exhibition purposes may usually be obtained from trained trees, as these produce fruit under almost ideal conditions when careful thinning is carried out. When growing pears for the show table size is an important factor to-day, and in order to win very drastic thinning must be practised. At the same time, in the case of coloured varieties of both apples and pears only, leaves which prevent the suq reaching the fruit should bo removed.

With cooking varieties of apples thin-

ning may, with advantage, be carried out after exactly the some manner as for dessert varieties. The final treatment may be delayed a little until the fruit is just big enough to be useful on the trMc. In this way there is as little waste as possible, and the remaining fruit gets the advantage of increased space and nourishment just when it is most in need of it. In the case of young trees which have been planted only two or three years, it is sometimes’ suggested thnt these should not be allowed to carry any fruit at all. We are not of that opinion. So long as young trees are not overladen, fruit production to a limited extent helps towards future cropping by opening out the branches and allowing light and air to reach the centre. At the same time these young trees should' be allowed only to carry fruit within the limits of their size and age. No injury can possibly result to the tree, however young, it those two points are carefully remembered when unwanted fruit. —inglenook, in Amateur Gardening. •