The Columbus journal., 1904-08-03
DWARF FRUIT TREES.

In the orchards OF the present Cay
in America. good. genuine dwarf
pear or apple is curiosity and there
are hundreds Of wide awake farmer
and fruit men who never saw one IN
their lives. says the Country Gentle
man.
The reason TOR the neglect or the
dwa7s Is not far TO seek. They te-
long distinctively 10 the European sys-
tenn OF horticulture and are quite out
side the American system In other
words, they belong 10 the fruit gar
den and lot in the orchard. In this
country We are concerned with fruit
only on the large scale Yet. with the
present significant increase Of inter
est in suburban affairs. with the pres
emf rapid extension OF the garden cult
among those who work in town. and
who live az least in the edges OF rhe
city, there is bound rO De a revival Of
interest in this really practicable and
useful business OF dvarfing trees.
Al the present the pear is the only
form 4 few growers have orchards
OF dwarf pear trees reaching CONNER
ciAl proportions. These are most uu-
merouS in southern Michigan An
other and more considerable number
Ot pear growers have been planting
new orchards Of standard trees with
dwarf pears as ''fillers. That is they
Use rows OF dwarf pear trees between
the standards. with a view OF getting
several crops from the former and cut
ting them out before the standard
trees Needed all the space Apples
ARE still occasionally grown As dWarfs.
though We have never heard OF 4 sin
gle instance in which they have been
planted Tor commercial purposes.
Other trees. such As plums. peaches.
aprlcOtS AMI cherries are almost total
ly unknown as dwarf
The dwarf fruit is secured by ! COM
binatIOH OF TWO processes-prOpaga-
ton and pruning. The tree is first pro-
pagared upon some slow growing root.
which tends 10 dwarf it-that is. TO
stunt it'-and then it is pruned back
severely. and not allowed to Ill
great space. This second pArt-the
pruning-is quite essential with many
trees. and some inexperienced garden
ers have earned serious disappOint-
ment through its neglect
The first problem. then. is the selec-
ton OF the dwarfing stock In rhe
case OF the pear this is nearly always
che ounce. The ounce root grows
much slower than the pear root. and
when pear scion is put on ounce
stock it is simply starved or stunted /
into the dwarf form. In a similar way
the Paradise apple. which was Or;gi- /
nally a dwarf wild apple of Europe is
used As a dwarfing stock for apples. |
The plum is usually said TO be |
iwarted by working il on MvrobOlan /
stock. but As matter Of fact. nearly (
all plums in this part Of the country .
Are now worked on that stock. yet .
they are grown as standards. In this /
case IL is a matter OF pruning. Such /
stocks as the sand cherry are much
more effective in dwarring the plum
and il is possible that they will come
ntO use for that purpose The cher
Y is said 20 De dwarfed on Mahaleb
stock. but this statement stands Just
where stands the one about plums on
Myrobolan stock. A dwarf cherry tree
nay be made by budding on MahaIeb
-oOts. and then by giving severe prun-
ng but the pruning is the greater
,arr OF the business. The peach may
,e worked on any species Of plum.
md the plum stock has a tendency 10
.warf the scion The same thing can
,e done with the apricot Any or
hese can De made into dTarfs by cut
ing back.
Most persons seem 10 Jump az the
conclusion that when the tree is
'tunred the fruit is unravorabIy af-
ecred II the tree is made smaller.
hey think the fruit would naturally
,e smaller too. In fact the reverse is
rue. The fruit is usually made
argsr. Perhaps il would be impOs-
ible 10 explain why this is the case.
nc at any rate there is not space
Iere TO guess why: bur such is the
truth
They are highly useful for small
ards on town or suburban lots where
pace is crowded. and where il is !
specially desirable thar trees come
lto bearing AZ once. When a man
e1rs the premises he lives on. and
loves every two or three years. as a
arge part OF our population unhap-
lily does. De cannot wait ten years for
big tree or Northern Spy or Twenty (
'unce 20 GET down 70 business A
warf tree is a curious. interesting and .
object. anyway. and every
-eii regulated family ought TO have
lree or four merely as pIaythings.
'warf apples may De planted As close
, As six feet apart. but pears and :
lost other dwarf trees require at I
asst ten feet :