The HOME GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 6

The HOME GARDEN

THINNING FRUIT CROPS

VITALLY IMPORTANT Although commercial growers adjudge thinning a task second only in importance to pest and disease control, it is a fact that the great majority of amateur growers steadfastly refuse to reduce their apple crops by so much as a single fruit. Just why this should be the case is the more difficult to understand when it is taken into consideration that thinning does not reduce the weight of crop produced by each tree. The increased size of the fruits left will compensate fully for the loss of those removed, while it is obvious that their quality will be infinitely improved.

Thinning Improves Quality

Apart altogether from these considerations, the trees themselves will benefit as a result of the operation. It cannot be claimed in every instance that their burden will be appreciably lightened, even though the fruits on each tree are reduced by as much as 50 per cent., for, as already mentioned, the weight of the crop, even after rigorous thinning, seldom, if ever, is as much as one pound lighter. But, breakages, due to one or two branches carrying an overweight of fruit, need no longer trouble the grower, and in the case of very heavy cropping varieties, such as Worcester and Quarrenden, there is no doubt that thinning makes for better growth and heavier crops in future years. It is obviously impossible to treat all the numerous varieties of apples in exactly the same manner, but the majority should have each cluster reduced to one single fruit. This must be done quite early in the season to gain full benefit from the operation, but it is as well to wait until the dropping of young fruits, which invariably occurs during December, and January is more or less finished before making a start. Fruits which fall at that time are simply imperfectly pollinated specimens, and any which may remain on the trees when thinning is being done will be found to come away at a touch. Cooking varieties should receive first attention, for the aim in this case is to produce the biggest possible fruits, thus reducing waste in paring and coring. It is obvious, too, that thinning in their case should be fairly severe. A good general rule is to leave apples not less than nine inches apart. All misshapen, badly-placed, or diseased fruits should be removed for a start, and a close watch should be kept for any which have been attacked by the apple sawfly. The presence of this pest is denoted by a small hole in the side of the fruits, from which exudes a wet brown “frass.” These specimens must not be thrown on the rubbish heap to rot. and so spread trouble for future years; instead they must be burnt without delay.

Singling and Dropping

As a general rule, it is the largest apple in each cluster which should be left. This normally is the centre fruit, but in the case of some varieties, and notably Newton Wonder and Cox’s, this centre fruit has a thickened stalk, and should, therefore, be removed, leaving instead the next largest fruit with a normal thin stalk. There is another point to watch with the popular Cox’s Orange Pippin. The variety will often continue to drop its fruit until well on into February. Thinning should not, therefore, commence until some time about the middle of January, and even then allowance should be made for further droppings. The final singling can be done some time during the first fortnight in February, taking special care to remove all fruits, which practically come off at a touch. These, as a rule, have dull skins, and would in any case have dropped later on. Where big dessert apnles are not highly esteemed, Rival, Charles Ross, and Ellison’s Orange are three which should not be quite so rigorously thinned. In their case, it will be sufficient if each cluster is reduced to two specimens. Actually, thinning is quite an easv task, but care must be taken to see that the fruit spur itself is not pulled off. If the task is tackled quite early in the season it will be found that most varieties part readily from the stalk if the fruits are bent back, and then pulled gently away. Later in the

season, when the fruits are more fully matured, it is really advisable to use a pair of blunt-nosed scissors to avoid anv possible accidents. Pears require practically identical treatment. Each cluster is reduced to only one fruit, and at the same time a close lookout must be kept for any which have been attacked by the pear midgei The first sign of trouble in this case is premature swelling of the

fruits, which very soon become badly misshapen. One or two examples which are obviously swelling too rapidly can be cut open, and will probably be found to have midge grubs inside. All such specimens should be regarded with grave suspicion. As a rule, it requires only a little experience to enable the grower to recognise affected fruits at first sight. Plums, with the exception of the varieties Czar and Purple Pershore, seldom require thinning, for most of the more fully capable of ripening all the fruits which remain after stoning. In some seasons, however, the varieties mentioned crop so freely that it is quite essential to thin out the clusters. This should not, however, be done until after stoning, for, like all other stone fruits, plums shed a fairly considerable portion of their crop at this time. All that is necessary in their case is to thin the fruits out sufficiently to ensure that they do not actually touch.

In the Case of Young Trees

It must, of course, be understood that the foregoing remarks apply to mature and established trees; thinning in the case of two or three-year-old specimens is an even more vital task, for, if over-cropping is allowed, the vitality of the trees will be prematurely taxed, and their constitution may suffer to such an extent that it will never fully recover. Growth is far more essential than fruiting in the first few years after planting, and unless the trees have made good progress, all fruit must be removed. Young specimens, which by the end of December have made about one foot of new growth, can be deemed to bp progressing satisfactorily, and may be allowed to carry from half a dozen to one dozen fruits, but the ones chosen to remain should be as close to the main stem as possible. Unless their progress is fully up to that standard, ruthless stripping is the only course, for it is nothing more than sheer folly to sacrifice the trees’ prospects in future years for the sake of the very few fruits which can be ripened at this early age. Going slowly is decidedly the best plan with young trees, for it results in attaining a better and more satisfactory goal eventually, and such a result is what all fruitgrowers are really aiming at. Where a large number of young trees in various varieties is planted, it may be permitted to allow one fruit, or. at the most, three fruits from such trees in their first or second seasons, in order to test their identity.

SUMMER PRUNING

Summer pruning is a very necessary operation in the fruit garden, and, unlike winter pruning, it simply means pinching back the soft, newly made shoots to five or six leaves. The fruits which benefit most from summer pruning are apples, pears, red and white currants and gooseberries. By this method basal buds are formed on SUMMER PRUNING OF APPLES f

the shoots and eventually they become fruiting spurs. Black currants should not be treated in this maner. Should their growth become too thick it is best to cut out some of the old branches from the centre of the bushes.