The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1922-07-21
THINNING THE CROP.

! ne tnlnnlng process Tor THIS sea-
son is drawing to close. There has
been more thinning done this season
than any previous season and better
/ job. The thinning started a little
sooner than usual, as it was an easier
matter to tell which apples were GO
ing to stick than it usually is. Thin
ming on some varieties was largely
done by withering off of the bloom.
What fruit was left after the bloom
withered, stuck, and we did not have
to wait until June 20 to see how
many yellow stems there were going
to be that would produce apples as
large as the end of your thumb, and
then fall off, as we usually do. Thin
ming is very essential and has to be
done each year, not only to get larger
and better fruit but to help to insure
a crop for the coming year. A few
years ago we thought picking was the
only expense we had of taking apples
off the trees, but high standard of the
crop seems to change as time goes on
and we have to do more and spend
more money to produce the same ap-
pie that we used to produce at a low
er cost.
According to some orchardists' fig-
ures, it will cost them s to 10 cents
box to thin their 1922 crop, that is.
what is left on the trees will have s
to 10 cents figured against them to
pay for what has been taken off in
thinning process.
Comparing cost of picking with
cost of thinning, we have at this rate
the thinning costing US twice the
price of picking, which does not seem
reasonable, but such are the facts, as
we have been able to have our apples
picked for to cents box We al
so know, on the other hand that a
small inferior apple this coming sea-
son, with all present prospects in
sight, would be poor apple to have,
at harvest time, so we seem to be at
the mercy of prevailing conditions.
The question is, What are we going
to do from year to year about cutting
down this thinning expense. which !
believe can be done to some extent, at
least, by our pruning methods. TAX
ing Jonathans and Winesaps for ex-
amples, which grow quite bit of long
spindly wood, growing off from the
laterals and leaders, particularly on
side limbs. These we will say are
two feet long and one quarter of an
inch in diameter where they join.
Now we will say these average s to
10 apples set on them where trees
are loaded and the sap flow through
this "quarter-inch" diameter would
not produce ten large apples, so we
cut off all but from three to four ap-
pies in thinning process so as to get
those which are left to grow to be a
good size. Now, it looks as though
We were spending too much money
for thinning and not doing thorough
job of pruning. If we would cut
these long spindley two-foot branches
back to 10 to u inches long and use
to spurs instead of using from s
to 10 spurs, our thinning job would be
cut down one-half, as we would not
let this branch produce over three
good apples any time. Too much
long spindley wood left in the trees
at pruning time, is responsible for
large percentage Of cur pruning bills.
Each year we leave these long spind-
ley branches in our trees at pruning
time and each year we pay to have all
but three or four of the apples thin
ned off of these branches. Cutting
our twig growth back shorter and
nearer to large timber and a heavier
sap flow, we can grow a larger apple
and it will not cost US anywhere near
the price it does now for our thin
ming.
We always have one thing to keep
in mind, that is, that small spindley
wood bears little apples and that
heavy stocky wood bears big apples.
especially where the trees have an
excess of this small wood growing
through them, the fruit seems small.
Delicious and some other varieties
have different arrangement of spur
growth from that of ions and Wine
saps and put on individual long spurs.
mostly from heavy timber, which
makes thinning less expensive on tHis
variety and does not have to be hand
led the same way in the pruning.
AL DARLINGTON,
Dapt Horf Ipcrac+nr