Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-05-30
THE THINNING OF PEACHES.

Communicated by Delaware College Agricultural
Experiment Station.
Commercial peach growing has do
veloped In. recent years 10 the States
along the Great Lakes, in some Of the
Central States, In tbs Ozark region of
the Southwest, in Texas, and along the
coast from Florida to the older peach
growing sections Of New Jersey and
Delaware. Competition in the markets
is more severe, and consumers want
better fruit than ever before, Small
peaches break the market annually and
no longer pay the expense OF orohn d
care and marketing. The demand is
for good Sized, we'll colored fruit. ~
X Most varieties overbear. The tree !.
endeavors to form a large number of
seeds while the peach grower wants
large fruit The two process ee are op-
posed to each other Seed or pit pro-
duction exhausts the tree and causes il
to bear small fruit, while 1t Is the aim
Of The oIchardist to grow the largest
possible bulk Of peaches with the
smallest bulk OF pits. bushel Of
large fruit exhausts the tres less than
bushel Of small fruit The bigger
peaches have a greater proportion Of
flesh, which Is principally water
The principal advantages OF thinning
are II - 'tt aFIlH
l. Itlmskes larger and more uniform
fruit. il41
Q. Large fruit exhausts the tree ard
soil less than an equal amount Of small
fruit. 81 s "a N
B. II insures more regular crops. f
.. The fruit brings higher prices. w
The thinning should begin when the
peaches are as large rs small cherries
and should end before the pit bardens,
as thinning done after that period does
not seem to increase the size of the re-.
manning fruit. In Delaware, II should
begin by the first week in June, when
the curculio stung fruits, and the I'M
tertilized and weak fruits, which later
fall IN the June drop" can be de-
tected. or the remaining peaches, n.
two should stand closer than nix or
eight inches, and it is sometimes profit
able, especially 10 years Of general
heavy hearing, to thin Elbertas and
other large sorts to 10 or ~ inches.
Spurs should generally carry ono Eeaoh
and seldom moro than two. y, 7sN@ ~
Peaches have to be thinnod by hand.
NO mechanical means of thinning Ii
etliciet nor advisable. In largo orchards
where the trees are low headed and fte
work can be done principally from the
ground, 1t costs from eight to "a cents
70 thin heavily set trees that are SIX
to eight years old. II ia more EXPENSIVE
to thin high headed trees that arc
never pruned back.
In the peach belts where thinning is
generally praoticed, the trees AZ grown
on the low headed system and the an.
nual growth is shortened In from one,
third to two thirds. This pruning Is
done after the danger OF wiEtor killing
10 over and before the blooming poriod.
1t 10 thinning process as il removes
many fruit buds, and il has a further
advantage In inducing new growth nm
nually along the larger branches. Tho
superfiuous wood induced by tho short 4
ening in must be removed annually. All
preliminary thinning may be done Mt,
this time OF year by cutting out un 4
needed bearing wood and by shorteniugI
the bearing growth.
In 1900, the Experiment Station
made a critical etudy OF reach thin. "
ming In Michigan, where the practice
is general, and il was found that q
profit Of 81 to SO was realized by many
of the best peach growers for every
dollar expended. ny ~ 'af 1s
The Experiment Station, however,
Z
does not mean to convey the Impression
that peach thinning is all that is neces.
ssry tosinsure large fruit. Thinning Is
hut one of the essential operations In
modern intensive peach growing The
others are tilliDg, fertilizing, pruning,
sometimes spraying and marketing. A
good crop 10 the resultant Of the COM
hination Of These practices, not OF any
one OF them practiced singly.
The crops Of 1895 and 1900 demon
STATED that it Ia no longer good BUSH
ness policy to grow small peaches. 1t
IN therefore suggested that sy cry peach
grower who cannot practice general
thinning apply it to a few rows this
year and study the effect throughout
the season. At the end of the year tho
Experiment Station would like to know
of the successes and failures, in order
that they may be studied In cooper
ative way.
fhe following proposition is SUBJ
mitted in closing the suggestions. The
peaches have to be picked at some time.
ls it cheaper to pick the small peaches
now and throw them on the ground, or
to pick them all when they are ripe? 4
The remaining psacties should make as
many baskets if the thinning is properly
done and correspondingly good orchard
management is bestowed upon the trees.
- ff Af 1tf9i h