Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-09-02
DWARFED TREES.
Plant Stunting Is an Ancient Art In
japan.

with 1t vast and pleasant invasion
of Japanese, has stimulated interest in
and curiosity about the wonderful
stunted forest trees, for the culture of
which the Japanese are so noted. F'if-
ty years ago these pigmy trees were
practically. unknown outside of Japan.
BY and by solitary specimens found
their way here through the enterprise
of private individuals who had trav-
eled in Japan and were more or less
interested in horticulture, or who
brought them over as curiosities.
Now you have only to walk up Regent
street to see fine display Of them
living and enjoying life in their dain-
ty. shallow jardinieres Of the charac-
teristic blue-and- white earthenware-
frs, larches. pines and naples.
In 1909 Peter Barr, London florist,
made a special journey to Japan to
investigate their culture, and spent
the best part of a year in studyir:.;
the gardening methods of the Japan
ese. who know their plants so inti-
mately and are such highly skilled gar
deners.
1t is often supposed that the Japan
ese have a secret process Of dwarfng:
but Mr.. Barr thinks that 1t is rather a
secret of specialization, Of infinite pa
tience, of loving, watchful care-the
kind of care that we westerners lavish
on our children and bestow but grudg-
ingly upon our plant life. Nature will
reveal her deepest mysteries to those
who love her well enough to be ever
diving down into her heart to find
them out. And the Japanese are like
that. They have penetrated, observ-
ed, loved. and so are able to coax their
plants and trees into obedience to their
wishes.
Mr.. Barr says that the chief point In
the dwarfing process Is ito keep an
equal balance Of growth above and be-
low the ground, and this is achieved
by judicious root-pruning and shoot :
pruning. The Japanese are always
watching the trees, nipping and prun-
ing the fresh growths at exactly the
right moment, with the expert knowl-
edge gained by long experience and
practice. And all the while they are
training the trees into the proper
shape They can do this on the natur-
al lines because they are born artists.
A Japanese knows exactly what a fir
tree will be like forty years hence,
when it is only a foot high, and with
this mental picture before him he
trains and shapes it Alright. British
horticulturists know very little about
root-pruning except Of fruit trees"
| Dwarf trees flourish best in the open.
Even in this climate they may be kept
out Of doors, though they should, Of
course, be protected from frost. They
like plenty of moisture, and should be
watered always with rain water and
| given frequent baths in the rain. They
cannot stand the hot, dry atmosphere
such as Is produced In rooms heated
by fires and lighted by gas, and those
who subject them to that discomfort
are only inviting disappointment, for
they will not thrive in it. The Japan
ese are very proud Of their pigmies,
and cannot bear to part with them. I
remember hearing that the natives
who came over to the Dublin Interna-
| tional exhibition were so devoted to
| their trees that they brought them
along with them, and kept them out Of
doors exposed to the soft beneficent
moisture of the Irish air, to the envy
Of not few connoisseurs.
| The experience Of the Japanese in
| dwarfing trees is a matter of ages, and
the art has been passed down from
| fat"er to son In an unbroken chain;
ant so in Japan the trees are nurtured
in the same families from generation
to generation, just as in Holland the
art of topiary Is practised by the same
| families often for hundreds Of years. .
Mr.. Barr told me Of remote little VIII
lage he visited in North Holland, built
upon a springy bed of peat, where he
found clipped trees brought to an
amazing point of perfection ir the
same way. The trees were part OF
the environment of every child born;
the child imbibed the atmosphere of
tree clipping with it's mothers milk, so
that the art was almost instructive,
and the love Of trees hereditary. Thus
the trees became heirlooms to be part
ed with warily and charly-and at a
price regulated by their personal value
to the possesssor.
An aged example of the Thuja obtusa
| Japanese cypress) is pictured--a tree
| l,,bi 10 oilo orlyy f.
mospheric conditions and should be
kept out of doors as much as possible.
| There exists in Japan rare dwarfed
specimen of this tree which is actually
400 years old, and, therefore, relic
of the Tokugawa era. The Japanese
sometimes train their larches into the
| shapes of birds and other designs-a
stork, turtle, a fan, house, lych-
gate for example. The fir tree (Mat-
SUI Is said to be the best tree to
dwarf; certain it is that the Japanese
| take special pains with it. The toy
Chinese" gardens. so fashionable in
Japan, which resemble nothing so
much as the familiar landscape on a
willow pattern plate, demanded dwarf
trees, and this fashion has accordingly
given an impetus to present day
| dwarfing.
Naturally, the romance attaching to
dwarf trees is woven into the history
and literature of the land. Douglas
Sladen has told, for instance, Of tall
fir tree growing in the beautiful Tenn
pie of Iyeyasu at Nikko, which was
once dwarf growing in a blue and
white china pot. In that state 1t was
carried by Iyeyasu in his palanquin in
all his campaigns. When the hero died
and became a god. however, 1t was
planted outside the stable, where the
white horse was kept always ready for
his master in case he should return
to the earth: and the tree at once re-
sumed It's natural habits and powers
Of growing, as If it had never been