Evening star., 1943-09-26
Dwarf Fruit Trees Valuable
By ". III. Yonneman,
ra~l,r Ed;4ar


In the markets for fresh consump-
ton and for canning many gar
deners are giving thought to the
kinds best suited to back yard gar
dening. The Victory garden cam
paign has brought to the attention
OF many the fact that certain fruits
do not take up too much space and
that they can be successfully grown
In the sunny back yard, where they
provide both ornamental flowers
and useful fruits.
OF course the small fruits-straw-
berries, raspberries, blackberries,
blueberries, grapes and figs-have
long been grown in local gardens.
They do not take up much space
and provide luscious fruits for home
consumption. Most of them, straw
berries, raspberries and blackber-
ries, begin to fruit the second sea-
son after planting. The others take
longer, depending upon the size of
plant purchased. The tree fruits
peaches, cherries, apples, plums and
pears-seem out of range of the
victory food production program,
for they take from three to eight
years to produce appreciable guam
titles of fruit-that is, if you buy
the standard-sized kinds. Dwarf
fruits come into bearing earlier.
Dwarf fruit trees are not new.
They have been offered by nursery
men for several decades. The num-
Der of kinds available on dwarf
stocks and the kinds of dwarfing
stocks has changed as experience
has been gained Many varieties
of apples and pears may be obtained
today. A few nurseries are offering
dwarf cherries. Plums and peaches
are not large growing trees and they
come into bearing in three to five
years, given suitable culture.
Shosld Not Be Planted
Too Deeply in Soil.
Dwarf trees are, in brief, standard
kinds grated on to root-stocks that
do not permit normal growth. That
is one of the reasons why we must
take care to see that they are not
planted too deeply. If planted with
the graft under the surface of the
soil there is a chance that the top
will take root and soon it will have
its own set of roots, which will
permit normal growth.
There are a number of kinds of
dwarflng root-stocks used today by
the trade, of which the Mailing
seems to produce the best results.
1t is not, however. easy to use, and
so cheap" dwarfs may be budded
on other kinds of stock. The New
York Agricultural Experiment Sta
t1on, following numerous expert
ments, recommends the use of the
Mailing stock and lists three kinds.
Mailing No. 9 bears trees that sell
dom exceed 5 feet in height. Mall
ing No. is called a semi i-dwarfing
stock, and trees grated upon it are
supposed to attain a height of 10
TO Is feet. Mailing No. l permits
growth equal to approximately one
half of that normally attained bys
given variety on the usual COM
mercial root-stock.
For the typical-sized Washington
backyard garden the very dwarf
size would seem most suitable. fruit
trees no larger than a good-sized
forsythia. Suburban yards are
larger, and the semi-dWarf would
seem more in keeping with the
available space, producing trees
that are not much larger than
well-grown lilac or high-bush cram
berry. For farms and small acre
ages the half-standard sized dwarfs
would seem most desirable.
Sbrayine and Pruning
Made Easier.
The small city yard gardener does
not have extensive equipment and
so can hardly be expected to be
able to properly prune and spray
tall trees. His equipment is prob
ably In keeping with the size of
his yard, and large trees would re-
quire additional equipment. The
same applies to the larger-sized
yards and to the rural areas. Select
the size of trees which can be
properly taken care of with the
existing equipment. 1t is hardly
good practice to plant fruit trees
without taking into consideration
the work necessary to produce high
quality fruits. 1t is true that the
flowers are just as attractive on
dwarf fruits as on the ornamentals,
but the fruits that may also be had
from the orchard" should be of lust
as high quality as that you normally
buy. Spraying, some cultivation,
pruning and feeding are part of
the program needed for high-qual-
1ty fruits. The days when we could
plant tree and in a few years have
all OF the fruit we wanted are gone.
Today imported insect pests and the
spread of plant diseases make or
charding serious business.
j The planting of dwarf fruits, like
those OF the standards, may be done
either IN the spring or in the fall.
Most local gardeners prefer fall
planting. since then the trees are
freshly dug. A better job is usually
possible when there is ample time.
The actual planting operation is
essentially the same for dwarf trees
as it is for standards.
! The setting of the trees, however.
should be carefully done to see that
the graft joint is at or above the
surface Of the soil. AS mentioned
above, this practice is essential to
Keeping the tree growing on the
dwarfing root-stock. Some authori-
ties recommend the setting of a
strong stake at the time of planting