The Garden, BY HORTIS.) Thinning Out Fruit.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 424, 30 November 1889, Page 6

The Garden, BY HORTIS.) Thinning Out Fruit.

Many of the orchard trees will now haves set their fruit, and growera will soon be able to see whether each tree will be able to tully mature all the fruit thereon. Where trees are overloaded a systematic thinning of the young fruit must take place. To be able to produce first-class fruit, thinning mubfc receive as much attention as pruning. How often do we see trees almost covered with fruit and, while the fruit is in the small stages of its growth, owners rejoicing in the splendid crop they expect to obtain when it gets ripe ; but as tho crop begins to mature, their hopes, time after time, are doomed to disappointment, as the fruit is smojl and of an inferior quality. To get over tH is difficulty, in some cases two-thirds and sometimes three-fourths of the fruit should be taken off the tree before it begins to swell tor ripening., Many growers think that it is a sin to pick the superfluous fruit oft' the trees, and' that the labour expended on this thinning will not be recouped i Now if they would only look at the largo quantities of simill and almost worthless fiuit that are sent into the Auckland market every season — fruit for which it is almost impossible for the growers to get a price to pay freight alone, without expect^ "ng a return for labour or sp,aee voccupied with the tree, they would perhaps change their opinion. In reference to fruit grown on trees which have received a thorough thinning, all strongth which would have assisted the fruit picked oft' to mature will go towards such fruit as is left on the tree. This fruit will thus swell to a much l-ii ger size and will be of a much betlev quality, and when sent to market will cwimand a much higher price. At the same time growers should recollect that it costs the same labour and expense for cases and fi eight for the infeiior fruit as it does for the very best. Now, when o\ercrowding produces such results', why not expeiiment a little, if only with a single tree '! The time occupied upon one tree will not matter much to moot 1 growers. Bay, for instance, that the fruit on one tree is thinned at least ahalf; try and compare it with another of the same vaiiety which has about) the same fruit-bearing capabilities, but unthinned. Allow these two trees to mature their fruit, and the very little difference in the weight of their crops will astonish the grower. The experiment ought not to rest there, but should be carried a little further. Send the fruit of both trees to market together, and then the real difference will be made manifest by the grower getting a first-class price for the one that was thinned. To still further illustrate the advantage of thinning, say, for instance, we take the difference of the fruit upon free-fruiting tiees and the fruit grown upon shy bearers. It is veil known that there is a great ditlerence in the bearing qualities of fruit tiecs, and we generally find this feature, that the shy bearers have generally finer and larger fruit than the ptolific bearers. It is impossible for the latter to grow their numerous specimens as large as the fruit of the former. The whole struggle in nature is not to produce fruit only, but .seed, and this struggle for the tree to mature and ripen a large quantity of seed on prolific-bearing trees | must always result in deterioration in size and quality of the fruit. When large quantities of fruit are left to develop, the tree will seldom have sufficient vigotH'. to grow the fruit large ; the demand niacta on itsresources will betogreat,andthe strain will behurtfulif allowed to continue fora few years. The contiuunl effort to produce and mature a quantity of seed year after year will in time cause the tree to become barven. At the same time this production of .seed will for the time being injure the pulp of the fruit by affecting its size and quality. But if the fruit is systematically thinned oft prolific trees, the size of fruit will be increased, whereas the core and seed will remain much the same. Thus, by the reduction of the number of specimens of fiuit we also reduce the seed vessels, and extra forces which would have been employed in matuiing ; these will assist in growing and improving the flavour and quality of the fruit. At the same time the tree will not be so liable to get exhausted in a few years, but will continue giving gcod crops for a large number of years. Vino gioweis who may grow for flavour always practise this by keeping down the number of bunches. They not [ only thin off superfluous bunches, but also thin out the fruit in the bunches. The grapes sent in to our market would be much better if they were still further thinned, as last year large quantities of the fiuit had neither colour or flavour. In many instances this was brought about by over-ciopping.

Killing Rose Bugs. The rose bug or ily ia a haid insect to (ighfc, and we have had no practical occasion to experiment with it in the work of the Botanical Division oi the United States Department of Agiiculture. The old method was to knock the insect from the foliage into a pan of kerosene and water. This, however, is very slow aork and not practicable on a large scale. At River Edge, N. J., they found last season that a mixture of pyrethrum and water made a very excellent liquid to s-pray o\er the vines. It destroyed all the insects which it touched, and &eemed also to ha've^tr preventive action. The proper proportions can only bo obtained by further experiment. The original fungicide mixture of sulphide of copper and lime and water sprayed upon grape vines has both a poisoning and deterring effect upon the robebup.;? This insect is one which I hope to have a good series of experiments made, upon wit'i a view of detei mining just what is to be done. — " American Agriculturist."