11 JUNE 1954, Page 15

Thinning Apples

A frugal outlook makes it hard for a novice to thin out fruit on an apple tree, and yet the greedy fruit-grower always gets a poorer crop by leaVing more than a tree can usefully support. Thinning should be done when apples are about an inch in diameter. The fruit in the centre of the cluster should come out first. Two dessert apples or one cooker to six inches of branch fills the bill, bearing in mind the June 'drop.'

IAN NIALL