The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-08-23
GROWERS ADVISED
ON APPLE THINNING
BY Gordon G. Brown


The apple thinner should keep
prominently in mind first of all that
the season has practically caught up
with ITSELF" in other words, despite
the lateness of blossoming, the un-
usually favorable weather has caus-
ed rapid development of the fruit.
Tests made show fruit of different
varieties approximately the same
size and stage of development as at
a similar date last year. Again, it
should be borne in mind that this is
the "off year" in most orchards;
thirdly, that the crop as a rule is un-
usually free from scab and other i'm
perfections caused either by fungus
or insect pests.
When thinning is necessary, there
is everything to gain and nothing to
lose in fastening this operation. Ger
tainly there is nothing to gain by fur
ther delay.
| There are three main points of
view which the thinner may take;
first, the influence such a practice
may have on the present crop; Sc
cond, the influence on subsequent
crops; third, its influence on present
and future crops.
Naturally, the desire is to secure
moderately larger crops each year
rather than excessively large crops
one year, followed by year during
which little or no fruit is borne. The
advantages of this are so obvious as
to need no discussion here.
Upon the subject of the influence
of thinning upon subsequent crops,
little is known. Unfortunately, little
experimental work in this country
has been done. Authorities disagree
upon the subject in a variety of
ways.
The theory is that the removed of
fruit early in the season will cause
the formation of fruit bud on that
spur during the same season without
a years interval during which q leaf
bud is formed.
The West Virginia experiment sta
tion, after five years work on Ben
Davis, York Imperial, Rome, Bald,
win and Delicious, states that thus
far the data secured do not bear out
the supposition that thinned trees
will bear any better or produce more
fruit the following year than the un-
thinned ones.
Professor Beach of New York
found that thinning did not cause
any material change in either the
amount or regularity of fruit produc-
tion when working with bearing
trees of the Baldwin. Rhode Island
(Greening) and Hubbardston.
Looking at the problem of thinning
in the light of the one season during
which it is done leaves much less
room for dispute. Thinning pays
and pays well, if carefully and pro-
rerly done. Generally speaking, the
beneficial results are in direct pro-
portion to the total crop set, the
maximum benefits being experienced
in the case of trees showing a ten
dency to overbear. Minimum re-
suits or even direct losses are often
occasioned in the case of trees with
light load
The writer recommends that the
thinner first size up the tree IS =.
whcle-consider its vigCr, age, soil
conditions. He should ask. himself
Is the load of fruit too heavy? Is it
properly distributed? viii the fruit
reach proper size? Will color be
what it should? Here is where a
little horticultural knowledge and a
lot of common sense are placed at a
premium.
Should it prove true that thinning
does not exert a marked influence on
next years crop, it is manifestly un-
wise to remove fruit which will at
tain a standard of excellency this
year. This, assuming that by so do
ing the tree is not allowed to over
bear. No arbitrary standard can be
set on what amount this may be.
How far apart shall we thin? The
minimum distance may be set at
about three inches, the maximum at
10. In the case of Newtowns, var
iety upon which color is not primar-
ily considered and which readily
sells in small sizes, one may be con-
servative in thinning, especially so at
this time when a large proportion o.
the trees strength is already utilized
and which would be wasted in heavy
thinning. Sometimes certain areas
of the branch have little or no fruit,
while other portions bear almost in
clusters, If an arbitrary standard OF
distance is chosen, it may mean re-
ducing the total crop excessively In
such extreme cases thin the frun
only enough to allow for proper ex-
pansion and development. In this
case three inches or less will be sat
isfactory, whereas eight or ten incn
es would not be excessive on a
branch whose fruit is heavy and more
evenly distributed
| with Cn;t1apboroc ,,opy of tbo