FRUIT THINNING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 38, 8 November 1937, Page 11

FRUIT THINNING

N. J.

Adamson,

Seasonal Orchard Wort jb Hawke's Bay SAVING IN COSTS

[Notes by Mr

Gorem- ,

ment Orchar.d Instructor for Hawke'n Bay.] Fruit thinnang will be the m«Jor orchard operation for the next month to'six weeks* and already a good st&rt has ■ been made with stone frni^ Gravenstein applea- are now ready to thin, and very soon the thinning of apples and peara will be generaL The best results may be obtained by begin« ning the work on apples and peara a« - soon as the natural drop is over end eompleting it, if possible, within. three or four weeks. Growers frequently thin fruit oa n basis oi uniform spacing, xegardleea of the dimension or vigour of the wood being thinned. The natural tendency in fruit trees is for the slender; wood to produce small frbit and the stouter and more vigorous wood to produce larger fruit. ^ Rarely will fruit on the slender wood reach a desired size/ even heavy thinmng, and sueh woQd (should be removed at pruning. On the more desirable type of fruiting wood, consisting of the intermediate and heavies portions, the f ruits lef t after thirming should be spaced in inverse proportion to the'si^e and' vigour of the wood* By such a 'method of fruit spacing 4 marked reduetion in small fruit ia secured and an increase in medium-Sized and larger fruit results. The cost per bushel of harvested fruit is unuch lower where spacing vt graduated, and will show a substantial saving on fruit thinned to a uniform spacing, xeg'ardlesis of the type of wood being thiiuied. By the greater reduetion in small sizes secured by a graduated fruit thinning, there will result not only a saving on harvesting costs, but 4 greater monetary - return for the fruit harvested. ; t : v l.