SUMMER PRUNING has already been alluded to as one of the methods of producing fruitfulness. When it is here introduced as a means of thinning the fruit, the recommendation may appear somewhat paradoxical--yet it is not so. Neither is this cutting a parallel operation to that in which we seek to check the excessive vigor of young shoots by pinching and heading-in, with a view to directing the sap to the lateral buds so as to cause their development for the formation of fruit-spurs, which will insure a greater production of fruit: whereas this summer pruning removes a portion of the crop to be supported by the tree. This plan is most successfully practiced by judicious orchardists, among whom may be named Dr. Hull, of Alton, Ill., who has thus treated his peaches, nectarines, and plums. This process consists in cutting off the ends of the shoots that are laden with fruit, while these are yet quite small; the superabundance is thus removed in a great degree by the knife, and the excess of foliage is also diminished so as to expose the fruit freely to the sun and air, which insures an increased size and heightened color, particularly to the peaches and nectarines. The remaining fruit is also suitably thinned so that no specimens shall crowd one another. The exact distances between them must be determined by the judgment of the operator; some have decided that peaches should not be nearer than nine inches; plums and nectarines may be separated by a smaller distance; but it is not easy to lay down a precise rule. Thinning is not often practiced upon the strawberry crop, which appears able upon suitable soils to produce a great abundance of fine fruit, but it may be done by the curious, and enormous show specimens, such as are often exhibited at fairs, are produced by special care and high manuring, aided greatly by judicious thinning; not only by cutting back a portion of the crowns, so as to throw the whole force of the plant into one or two trusses, but still further, by removing with the scissors a portion of the blossoms or fruit, so that the few which are left may become enormously distended with the nutriment that had been stored up in the plant for a much greater number. Some may consider this one of the tricks of the trade, and so it is when merely done for the sake of deceiving the public, who are asked to purchase the variety by the sample of fruit, without detailing the arts by which the results were accomplished: but there can be no objection raised against such practices when pursued by the amateur for the sake of producing unusually large fruits of any variety. The English pursue a similar method with their show gooseberries; by means of thinning and high feeding, with great attention to watering, these fruits are made to assume gigantic proportions that are little dreamed of by cultivators of the smaller varieties, which are chiefly grown in this country.