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DWARF FRUIT TREES
OTHER BOOKS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
[Illustration]
LANDSCAPE GARDENING
PLUMS AND PLUM CULTURE
FRUIT HARVESTING, STORING, MARKETING
SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY
[Illustration: DWARF CHERRY TREE
Two years planted]
DWARF
FRUIT TREES
THEIR PROPAGATION, PRUNING, AND
GENERAL MANAGEMENT, ADAPTED
TO THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA
_By_
F. A. WAUGH
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1906
COPYRIGHT, 1906
BY ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
PREFACE
The commercial interests have so continuously and completely held the
horticultural stage in America during the last two decades that it has
been impossible for amateur horticulture to get in a word edgewise. Any
public speaker or writer has had to talk about several acres at a time
or he would not be listened to. He has been obliged to insist that his
scheme would pay on a commercial scale before anyone would hear, much
less consider, what he had to tell.
But now a change is coming. Different conditions are already upon us. A
thousand signs indicate the new era. With hundreds--yes thousands--of
men and women now horticulture is an avocation, a pastime. They grow
trees largely for the pleasure of it; and their gardens are built amidst
surroundings which would make commercial pomology laugh at itself.
And so I undertake to offer the first American fruit book in a quarter
century which can boldly declare its independence of the professional
element in fruit growing. I am confident that dwarf fruit trees have
some commercial possibilities, but they are of far greater importance to
the small householder, the owner of the private "estate," the village
dweller, the suburbanite and the commuter.
In other words, while I hope that all good people will be interested in
dwarf fruit trees and that some of them will share the enthusiasm of
which this book is begotten, I do not want anyone to think that I have
issued any guaranty, expressed or implied, that dwarf trees will open a
paying commercial enterprise. Because the argument that a thing pays has
been so long the only recommendation offered for any horticultural
scheme, many persons have formed the habit of assuming that every sort
of praise stands on this one foundation.
F. A. WAUGH.
_Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1906._
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
I. General Considerations 1
II. Advantages and Disadvantages 8
III. Propagation 22
IV. Pruning 33
V. Special Forms 41
VI. General Management 51
VII. Dwarf Apples 63
VIII. Dwarf Pears 76
IX. Dwarf Peaches 83
X. Dwarf Plums 90
XI. Bush Fruits 99
XII. Fruit Trees in Pots 106
XIII. Personalia 112
Index 125
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Dwarf Cherry Tree _Frontispiece_
FIG. PAGE
1 Dwarf Apple Trees in Western New York 3
2 Trained Cordon Apple Trees 5
3 Bismarck Apple 7
4 Pear Tree Trained as an Espalier 9
5 Bush Apple Tree 11
6 Plums as Upright Cordons 17
7 Paradise Apple Stocks in Early Spring 25
8 The Western Sand Cherry 30
9 Upright Cordon Plum 31
10 Bush Apple 34
11 Bush Apple, Three Years Old, Before Pruning 37
12 Bush Apple, Same Tree, After Pruning 37
13 Cordon Pears Before Pruning 39
14 Cordon Pears After Pruning 39
15 Pears in Double U Form 43
16 Pears in U Form 45
17 Apricots in U Form 47
18 Pear in Espalier 48
19 Old Espalier Pears on Farm House Wall 49
20 Horizontal Cordon Apple and Other Dwarf Trees 52
21 Design for a Back Yard Fruit Garden 53
22 Dwarf Fruit Garden 55
23 Fruit Gardening and Landscape Gardening Combined 59
24 A Fruit Garden Containing Many Dwarf Trees 61
25 Dwarf Apples on Prof. L. H. Bailey's Farm, New York 65
26 Upright Cordon Apples 67
27 Horizontal Cordon Apple Trees 71
28 Young Orchard of Dwarf Pear in Western New York 76
29 Dwarf Pear in the Old and Profitable Yeomans
Orchard, New York 77
30 Orchard of Dwarf Duchess Pear, Lockport, N. Y. 79
31 Pyramid Pears in a German Orchard 80
32 Dwarf Peach in Nursery 84
33 Espalier Peach, Hartford, Conn. 85
34 Peach in Fan Espalier on Wall--England 87
35 Peach Trees Trained Under Glass 88
36 Plum Trees Trained as Upright Cordons 91
37 Burbank Plums on Upright Cordons Trained to Trellis 95
38 Currants as Fan Espaliers on Trellis 100
39 Gooseberry Fan Espalier 102
40 Tree Form Gooseberry 104
41 A Fruiting Peach in Pot 108
42 A Fig Tree in a Pot 110
43 Dwarf Pear 117
44 Chenango Apples in Prof. L. H. Bailey's Orchard 121
DWARF FRUIT TREES
I
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
A dwarf fruit tree is simply one which does not reach full size. It is
not so large as it might be expected to be. It is smaller than a normal
tree of the same variety and age.
There are indeed some trees which are normally dwarf, so to speak. They
never reach a considerable size. They are smaller than other better
known and related species. For example, the species _Prunus pumila
besseyi_ is sometimes called the dwarf sand cherry, simply because it is
always notably smaller than related species. The Paradise apple is
spoken of as a dwarf because it never attains the stature which other
apples attain.
But in the technical sense, as the term is used by nurserymen and
pomologists, a dwarf tree is one which is made, by some artificial
means, to grow smaller than normal trees of the same variety.
These artificial means used for making dwarf trees are chiefly three:
(1) propagation on dwarfing stocks, (2) repressive pruning, and (3)
training to some prescribed form.
DWARFING STOCKS
The most common and important means of securing dwarf trees is that of
propagating them on dwarfing stocks. These are simply such roots as make
a slower and weaker growth than the trees from which cions are taken.
This will be understood better from a concrete example. The quince tree
normally grows slower than the pear, and usually reaches about half the
size at maturity. Now pear cions will unite readily with quince roots
and will grow in good health for many years. But when a pear tree is
thus dependent for daily food on a quince root it fares like Oliver
Twist. It never gets enough. It is always starved. It makes considerably
less annual growth, and never (or at least seldom) reaches the size
which it might have reached if it had been growing on a pear root.
This is, somewhat roughly stated, the whole theory of dwarfing fruit
trees by grafting them on slow-growing stocks. The tree top is always
under-nourished and thus restrained in its ambitious growth of branches,
as seen in Fig. 1.
While the tree is made thus smaller by being grafted on a restraining
root, it is not affected in its other characteristics. At least
theoretically it is not. It still bears the same kind of fruit and
foliage. Bartlett pear trees budded on quince roots yield fruit true to
name. The pears are still Bartletts, and can not be told from those
grown on an ordinary tree. Sometimes the fruit from dwarf trees seems
to be better colored or better flavored than that from standard trees;
but such differences are very delicate and usually receive slight
thought.
[Illustration: FIG. 1--DWARF APPLE TREES IN WESTERN NEW YORK]
Dwarf fruit trees have not been very largely grown in America, but have
been much more widely used in Europe. This statement holds good either
for commercial plantations or for private fruit gardens. They are coming
into more common use in this country because, in both market orchards
and amateur gardens, our pomology is coming to be somewhat more like
that of Europe. Our conditions are approaching those of the Old World,
even though they will always be very different from those of Europe in
horticultural matters.
Dwarf fruit trees are particularly valuable in small gardens; and small
gardens are becoming constantly more popular among our urban, and
especially our suburban, population. This matter is discussed more fully
in another chapter. Fruit of finer quality can be grown on dwarf trees,
as a general rule, than can usually be grown on standard trees. Every
year there are more people in America who are willing to take any
necessary pains to secure fruit of extra quality. This remark applies
particularly to amateur fruit growers and to owners of private estates
who grow fruit for their own tables, but it is no less true of a certain
class of fruit buyers, especially in the richer cities. Although $3 a
barrel is still a high price for ordinary good apples, sales of fancy
apples at $3 a dozen fruits are by no means infrequent in the city
markets every winter.
[Illustration: FIG. 2--TRAINED CORDON APPLE TREES
From Loebner's "Zwergobstbaeume"]
In this respect also we are approaching European conditions. In the
markets of the continental capitals in particular fancy fruits are
frequently sold at prices which seem almost incredible to an American.
Single apples sometimes bring 50 cents to a dollar, and peaches an equal
price. Just recently a story has been going the rounds of the newspapers
that the caterer for the Czar's table sometimes pays as high as $15
apiece for peaches for the royal table. Hereupon a solemn American
editor remarked that if the whole royal family should live upon nothing
but peaches it would still be cheaper than carrying on the Japanese war.
Now if there is anywhere within reach a market for apples or peaches at
$3 a dozen specimens--and there unquestionably is--then it will pay to
grow fancy fruits with special care to meet this demand. This kind of
fruit can be grown better upon dwarf trees than upon standards in many
cases, if not in most. At least such is the conviction of the present
writer. Moreover this has been the experience in the old country.
With such facts in view there seems to be a possible future for dwarf
fruit trees, even for commercial purposes. Their present utility in
amateur gardens and on wealthy private estates can not be questioned.
These various amateur and commercial adaptations of dwarf trees will
have to be more carefully analyzed and discussed in a future chapter,
and the subject may therefore be dropped for the present.
[Illustration: FIG. 3--BISMARCK APPLE, FIRST YEAR PLANTED
22 inches high; bearing 4 fruits]
II
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
It is a good prejudice which expects every man who writes anything to be
enthusiastic over his subject. Such enthusiasm doubtless leads a writer
many times to over-state his case, and to claim more than the calm
judgment of the multitude will ratify. And on the other hand, readers
usually tacitly discount the statements of any man who writes about any
matter in which he is plainly interested. The present writer knows that
he is also under the ban, and that the reader firmly expects him to
claim more for dwarf fruit trees than their merits will fairly warrant.
This expectation the writer hopes to disappoint. It will be enough to
set down here the obvious advantages and disadvantages which the
horticulturist will meet in handling dwarf fruit trees. These statements
are mostly of matters of common experience and they need no coloring to
make them serve their present purpose.
We may fairly set down the following good points standing more or less
generally to the credit of dwarf fruit trees:
1. _Early bearing._--This is a sufficiently obvious advantage. The
Alexander apple will bear the second year after planting when grown as a
dwarf, while it requires six to ten years to come into bearing as a
standard. This habit of early bearing proves valuable in many ways. It
encourages men to plant trees. The disinclination of old men to plant
trees rests upon the slenderness of the chance that they will ever
gather of the fruit. But a man may plant dwarf trees whenever his
expectation of life is two years or more. Such trees would serve
octogenarians, consumptives and those sentenced to be hanged for murder.
[Illustration: FIG. 4--PEAR TREE, TRAINED AS AN ESPALIER]
Early bearing--to return to the subject--makes dwarf trees valuable to
that large and unfortunately growing class of citizens who rent the
premises where they live. They do not expect to stay more than five or
six years in any one place. In that length of time ordinary trees would
not begin to yield any fruit. But with dwarf trees there is excellent
probability of seeing something ripen. Then again early bearing is a
great advantage when one is testing new or old varieties. It is a great
advantage when a commercial orchard is designed and when dwarf trees are
used for fillers as explained below.
2. _Small size._--The very smallness of the dwarf trees has many
advantages in it. The trees are easier to reach and to care for. They
are easier to prune and to spray. This facility in spraying is what has
chiefly recommended smaller fruit trees to commercial fruit growers in
recent years. Particularly in those places where the San Jose scale is a
perennial problem a very large tree becomes an impossibility, and the
smaller the trees can be the better it suits.
The small size of dwarf trees permits the planting of larger numbers on
a given area. This is specially worth while to the amateur who has a
small garden where only three or four standard trees could grow, but
where he can comfortably handle forty or fifty dwarfs. Yet it is also
worth the consideration of the commercial fruit grower who is trying to
earn a profit on expensive land. If he can increase the number of
bearing trees on each acre, especially during the early years of
establishing his orchard, it almost certainly means increased income.
[Illustration: FIG. 5--BUSH APPLE TREE, THREE YEARS PLANTED]
3. _High quality._--It is not perfectly certain that every kind of fruit
can be produced in higher quality on dwarf trees than on standards, but
such is the general rule. This is notably true of certain pears, as
Buerre Giffard and Doyenne du Comice, and it is generally the case with
all apples that can be successfully grown on Paradise roots. One can
secure size, color, flavor and finish on an Alexander or a Ribston
Pippin, for example, which can never be secured on a standard tree. One
who has not seen this thing done will hardly understand it; those who
have will not need more argument. Such plums as we have fruited on dwarf
trees have shown similar improvement in quality, being always distinctly
superior to the same varieties grown on standard trees. The significance
of these facts will appear at once to any one familiar with the course
of the fruit markets in America. There are greater rewards awaiting the
fruit grower who can produce fruit of superior quality than the one who
succeeds merely in increasing the quantity of his output.
SPECIAL USES FOR DWARF TREES
These various items of advantage recommend dwarf fruit trees for several
specific purposes, some of which are worth pointing out in detail.
1. _For suburban places._--A large and increasing percentage of our
population now lives the suburban life--in that zone where city and
country meet. They have small tracts of land, which, however, they too
often lease instead of owning. On these they do more or less
gardening,--usually more, in proportion to the size of their holdings.
For them dwarf fruit trees are a precious boon. It is possible to plant
three hundred to five hundred dwarf fruit trees on a quarter of an acre,
where less than a dozen standard trees would flourish. This gives the
opportunity to experiment with all sorts and varieties of fruits, a
privilege very dear to the heart of the commuter. The dwarf fruit trees
also work more readily into a scheme of more or less ornamental
gardening, where fruits are combined with vegetables and flowers.
Especially if some sort of formal gardening is attempted, the cordons,
espaliers and pyramids exactly suit the demands. Then the fact, already
mentioned, that the dwarf trees come into bearing much sooner, is a
consideration of the highest value to the suburban gardener. He fully
expects to move from one home to another at least once in ten years, if
not once in five. With the best of intentions and the most favorable of
opportunities he can hardly expect to settle down anywhere for life. The
suburbs themselves change too rapidly for that; and the place which
today is away off in the country may be all covered with factories five
years from now. It is terribly discouraging, under such circumstances,
to plant a tree knowing that ten years must pass before any considerable
fruitage can be expected from it. It is altogether another feeling with
which one plants a tree which promises fruit within two or three years.
So that, whatever the drawbacks to the planting of dwarfs, they are the
salvation of the suburban garden. For such circumstances they can be
freely recommended, without exception or reservation.
2. _For orchard fillers._--As commercial orcharding becomes more
refined, under the stress of modern competition, and as good orchard
land increases in value, up to one hundred, two hundred, or even three
hundred dollars an acre, new methods must be adopted with a view to
increasing the returns. This opportunity looms especially large for the
first few years after the establishment of the commercial orchard, more
particularly the apple orchard. When standard trees are planted
thirty-five to the acre, which is now the usual practice, the land is
not more than one-fourth occupied for the first five years, and not more
than half occupied for the first ten years. Indeed it is full twenty
years from the time of planting before the thirty-five apple trees will
use the whole acre. And since a good farmer can not afford to let
expensive land lie idle he has before him a very pretty problem to
determine how the space between the standard trees shall be utilized
during the early years of the orchard's growth.
Several different methods are in vogue for the solution of this problem;
but probably the best one is that system which supplies fillers or
temporary trees between the standard or permanent ones. In an orchard of
standard apple trees these fillers may very properly be dwarf apple
trees; or between standard pears dwarf pears may be planted. If there
are thirty-five standard apple trees to an acre, and if a dwarf tree is
placed half way between each two standards in every direction, including
the diagonal direction, this will make one hundred and five dwarf trees,
or one hundred and forty trees in all, instead of the thirty-five trees
with which the acre of apple orchard land is more commonly furnished.
The dwarf apple trees will be bearing good crops at the end of five
years at most; and they can be kept on the land for five years longer
at the least, before they will begin to crowd the permanent standards.
During these five years, if the orchard has a paying management at all,
they will easily pay all the expenses of the enterprise, and should
leave a substantial balance of profit.
As this system of filling, or interplanting, commercial orchards is
becoming more and more common, the suitability of dwarf trees, for this
purpose, becomes more generally evident.
3. _For school gardens._--Thus far school gardens in America have been
mostly temporary and experimental affairs. But we are already satisfied
that they have come to stay, and that gardening in some form will be a
permanent feature of the curriculum in many of our best schools. As soon
as a school garden becomes a permanent institution, with ground of its
own to be held in use year after year, the dependence on annual crops
will give way to the use of various perennial plants, shrubs and trees.
And among these dwarf fruit trees will naturally be one of the first
introductions. Their small size adapts them to the school premises,
their habit of early bearing again serves to recommend them most
strikingly, and the special opportunity which they offer to pupils to
observe details of pruning and other items of tree management, make them
almost a first necessity in the permanent school garden.
4. _For covering walls and fences._--There are many places about every
farm, suburban establishment, or even about many city homes, where back
walls and fences could be put out of sight very agreeably by almost any
sort of foliage. Various ornamental climbers and creepers are in vogue
for this service; but a certain number of such unattractive walls and
fences could be treated quite as acceptably, from the esthetic point of
view, with trained fruit trees, and the result would be more
satisfactory in some other ways. Apples or pears trained as cordons or
espaliers, or peaches, nectarines, or cherries in fan forms, will thrive
on almost any brick or wooden wall, except those with a northern front.
It is necessary only to supply a proper soil, to plant sound trees of
proper sorts, and to give them the prescribed care. The result is not
only a thing of beauty but one of practical utility as well.
There are many places where the owner of a city or suburban lot can
secure the fun and the substantial benefits belonging to the fruit
grower on land that would be otherwise wasted, if he will only build a
woven wire fence on the property line between him and his
not-too-agreeable neighbor, using this fence as a support for a row of
cordon plums, pears or apples. If he has time and inclination to do a
little more work with the trees he can better plant U-form peaches,
nectarines or apricots, or he can grow plums in U-form, or he can have
fan-form cherry trees, or apples or pears in Verrier-palmettes. One of
the most interesting and productive lots in the author's dwarf fruit
garden is a row of plum trees on such a woven wire trellis. The trees in
this row stand two feet apart, and form a perfect screen. (Fig. 6.) The
majority of the trees which were necessarily taken for planting this row
were not propagated on suitable stocks, and many varieties were
introduced for experimental purposes which were obviously unadapted to
this mode of training, but nevertheless the net result has been highly
satisfactory.
[Illustration: FIG. 6--PLUMS AS UPRIGHT CORDONS, SET TWO FEET APART]
In a very similar manner apple, pear or plum trees may be trained so as
to form an arched arbor way. In this kind of make-up they present a most
agreeable novelty. An example of this kind of training is shown in the
illustration, page 5. For this purpose cordon trees are usually best;
though peach or apricot trees in U-form or double U-form will answer
very well. Even apple trees or pears formed as palmettes-Verrier can be
carried up over an arched trellis.
Mr. Geo. Bunyard in "The Fruit Garden" tells of carrying apple trees up
over the slate roof of an outbuilding, with marked success. The
fruit-bearing portion of the trees, lying there on the slate roof
beautifully exposed to the sun above, and assisted by the heat absorbed
and radiated by the slate, yielded large crops of apples of very
superior quality.
SOME DISADVANTAGES
There are, of course, some disadvantages in growing dwarf fruit trees,
and these should be examined with as much care as the advantages. The
more important ones are as follows:
1. _Greater expense._--The trees are somewhat harder to propagate, and
therefore cost more. There is no general demand for them in America, so
that they are carried by only a few nurseries and are not looked upon as
staple goods even with those dealers; and on this account the price is
necessarily increased. Thus each tree costs more than a similar tree of
the same age and variety propagated in the usual way. But the greatest
increase of expense comes from the fact that many more trees are
required to plant the same area. There is often an advantage, as already
argued, in planting more trees to the acre, but it costs something to
gain this advantage. An acre of ground can be planted with thirty-five
standard apple trees set thirty-five feet apart each way, and these
trees will cost, roughly estimating retail prices at $12 a hundred,
$4.20. To plant an acre to dwarf apple trees, setting them six feet
apart each way, which is about as thick as these trees should ever be
planted, will require 1,210 trees. Estimating the retail price roughly
at $15 a hundred this would make the first cost $181.50--a considerably
greater initial investment in the orchard.
2. _The trees are shorter lived._--This statement is true for certain
kinds of dwarf trees, but not for others. Certain varieties of pears,
for example, which do not unite well with the quince root, naturally
make short lived trees. On the other hand other varieties of pears
appear to live as long and thrive fully as well on quince roots as on
pear roots. There is a common belief, especially in England, that apples
worked on French paradise roots are apt to be short-lived. The
nurserymen who hold this belief contend, however, that the so-called
English Paradise, more properly called Doucin, supplies a stock on which
apples will live to as great an age as on any other stock whatever.
There is some evidence to show that vigorous varieties of plums worked
on Americana roots or on dwarf sand cherry are shorter lived than the
same varieties on freer growing stocks. In many cases, however, dwarf
trees live as long as standards; and in almost all cases they live long
enough.
3. _They require more care._--This objection stands particularly against
the dwarf trees trained in special and intricate forms. Such trees
undoubtedly do require more careful attention, more frequent
going-over, and more hand work in the course of the year. It is
probably not true that apples, pears, plums or peaches in bush or
pyramid forms require any more labor or attention than standard trees to
secure equally good results. On the other hand it must not be forgotten,
as has already been pointed out, that whatever care may be required is
much more easily given the dwarf trees than the standards.
4. _They are not a commercial success._--This statement, too, though
undoubtedly having some truth in it, can not stand without
qualification. It is certainly true that no one could grow ordinary
varieties of apples, like Baldwin or Ben Davis for instance, on dwarf
trees in competition with men who are growing the same varieties on
standards. It is probably true that fancy varieties of apples can be
grown with profit on dwarf trees, but even this can not be strongly
urged. So far as apples are concerned the chief value of dwarf trees for
modern commercial enterprises in America will come through their use as
fillers between rows of standard trees. In the case of pears the
situation is somewhat more favorable to dwarf trees. There are a number
of orchards in this country where pears have been successfully grown for
market, these many years, on dwarf trees. The famous and everywhere
planted Bartlett succeeds admirably on the quince stock wherever the
soil is suited to it. No successful commercial orchards of dwarf peaches
or plums can be cited in this country, individual trees of these kinds
even being extremely rare; yet there is good reason to suppose that
under favorable conditions dwarf peaches and plums may have some
commercial value. Such value may be more in the way of supplementing
standard trees than in superseding them, but it is still worth
consideration. So that, after all, when we say that dwarf fruit trees
are not a commercial success we mean merely that they will not take the
place of standard trees. The large market orchards must always continue
to be made up of standard trees; but in their own way the dwarf trees
will find a limited place even in commercial operations, and this use of
them seems destined to be more general in the future than it has been in
the past.
III
PROPAGATION
The propagation of dwarf fruit trees is in some senses a more critical
and interesting problem than the propagation of ordinary nursery stock.
The successful production of a dwarf fruit tree depends primarily on its
propagation. The selection of stocks for dwarfing purposes is
necessarily a complicated matter. Under the terms of the problem it is
impossible that the stock and the cion which are wedded together should
be very closely related. The stock must be distinctly different and
pronouncedly dwarfer in his habit of growth.
It is not always an easy matter to find a stock which is thus distinctly
different from the tree which it is desired to grow and which will at
the same time form with it a vigorous and long lived union. It is
necessary further that the propagation can be carried on with ease and
with a fair degree of success in commercial nurseries. If difficult
methods of grafting are required, or if only a small stand of nursery
trees can be secured, the undertaking becomes too expensive from the
nurseryman's point of view.
The methods of propagating dwarf trees are for the most part the same as
those used in reproducing the same kinds of fruit on standard stocks. As
a matter of fact nearly all dwarf trees are propagated by budding.
Apples, pears, and plums can be readily grafted, but budding is
simpler, speedier, and usually the cheaper process in the nursery. In
the upper Mississippi Valley, where plums are somewhat extensively
worked on Americana plum roots, grafting is rather common. The side
graft and the whip graft are the forms most used.
The theory of the production of a dwarf fruit tree by the restraining of
its growth has already been mentioned in another chapter. The dwarf
stock simply supplies less food than is required for the normal growth
of the variety under propagation, and the tree is, in a sense, starved
or stunted into its dwarf stature.
As the selection of proper stocks--the adaptation of stock to cion--is
one of the fundamental problems in dwarf fruit growing, we may now
address ourselves to that. We will take up the different classes of
fruit in order.
THE APPLE
Everyone who has observed the wild or native apples which grow in New
England pastures must frequently have noticed certain dwarf and
slow-growing specimens. It it not difficult to find such which do not
reach a height of five feet in ten years of unobstructed growth. If the
cions of ordinary varieties of apples like Greening and Winesap should
be grafted upon these stocks, the result would be a dwarf Greening or
Winesap. If these dwarf wild apples could be produced with certainty and
at a low price, they would furnish a source of supply for dwarf apple
stocks.
The Paradise apple so-called (Fig. 7) is simply one of these dwarf
varieties which can be reproduced freely and cheaply. This reproduction
is secured nearly always by means of mound layerage. As the variety does
not come true to seed, any more than such varieties as King or
Hubbardston do, some such method of propagation is necessary. This
Paradise apple is naturally inclined to stool out somewhat from the
roots. This habit is encouraged by cutting the plants back to the
ground. When the young shoots are thrown up they are banked up with a
hoe or by plowing furrows up against the rows of plants. The young
shoots then form roots at the base and these rooted shoots or layers are
removed when one year old. They are then planted in nursery rows in the
spring, where they are usually budded the following July or August.
These Paradise stocks are largely grown in France. Practically all the
supply comes from that country. The nurserymen who grow dwarf apple
trees in America import their stocks from France during the winter,
plant them in nursery rows early in the spring, bud the stocks the
following July or August, and have the dwarf apple trees for sale the
second year following.
This Paradise is the dwarfest stock known for apples. Its effect on
nearly all varieties is very marked, causing them to form very small
trees and to bear very early. Some of the more vigorous varieties, like
Northern Spy for instance, do not submit kindly to such treatment. For
this, or possibly for more recondite reasons, a few varieties do not
succeed well on Paradise roots. The writer would be glad to give a
list of such varieties which are not adapted to the Paradise stock, but
confesses he is unable to do so.
[Illustration: FIG. 7--PARADISE APPLE STOCKS IN EARLY SPRING]
The Doucin stock is simply another variety of dwarf apple. It is more
vigorous and larger growing than the Paradise, and, therefore, produces
a tree, when ordinary varieties are grafted upon it, about midway in
size between the ordinary standard apple and the same variety growing
upon Paradise.
This Doucin is sometimes called the English or Broad-Leaved Paradise,
but this name is misleading. It will be well to remember this in buying
stocks or in buying trees in England. Dwarf apples are largely
propagated in England, but the trees which are said to be on Paradise
roots are often on Doucin. This confusion comes about from the
Englishman's habit of calling Doucin the Broad-Leaved Paradise.
The Doucin is perhaps better for the free-growing bush form trees,
especially where excessive dwarfing is not needed. For orchard planting
in the United States this Doucin stock would be likely to suit many
growers better than Paradise. For trees which are to be kept within very
narrow bounds, or those which are to be trained in particular forms, the
Paradise stock is better. For all sorts of cordon apple trees, the
Paradise is essential.
THE PEAR
Dwarf pears are always propagated on quince roots. Any kind of a quince
may be used as a stock for pears, but the one commonly employed by
nurserymen is the Angers quince, named after Angers, France, from which
place the supply largely comes. Almost all the quince stocks used by
nurserymen in America are imported from France. As in dealing with apple
stocks, the importation is made during the winter, the stocks are
planted in nursery rows in the early spring, and are usually budded in
July or August of the same year.
A few varieties of pears do not make good unions with the quince. In
some cases this antipathy is overcome by the expedient of
double-working. The quince root is first budded with some variety which
unites well with it. After this pear cion has grown one year, the
refractory variety is budded upon this pear shoot. The complete tree,
when it leaves the nursery, consists of three pieces,--a quince root
below, a pear top above, and a short section of only one or two inches
in length of some other variety of pear which simply holds together the
two essential parts of the tree.
This practise of double-working is sometimes undertaken with other kinds
of fruit for special purposes. There are no other cases, however, in
which it becomes a generally recognized commercial practise.
THE PEACH
The peach is dwarfed by budding it upon almost any kind of a plum root,
especially upon the smaller growing species of plums. The stock most
used is the ordinary Myrobalan plum. This is simply because the
Myrobalan stock is commoner and cheaper. The St. Julien plum probably
furnishes a better dwarfing stock for peaches, but it is more expensive
and harder to work.
The Americana plum, now somewhat largely grown for stocks in the States
of the upper Mississippi valley, furnishes a good dwarfing stock for the
peach. According to the writer's experience the Americana stock gives
better results with peaches than either Myrobalan or St. Julien. It
should be observed that this stock requires budding rather early in the
season.
The dwarf sand cherry, which is further discussed below under plums,
also makes a good stock for peaches. As this stock is very dwarf, it
produces the smallest possible peach tree. The peach cion rapidly
overgrows the stock and the tree can hardly be expected to be long
lived. The growth is very vigorous and satisfactory during early years,
however. I have not had an opportunity to determine how long peaches
will live and thrive on this stock.
Nectarines can be grown in dwarf form in exactly the same manner
employed for peaches.
THE PLUM
In all the old books it is said that dwarf plum trees are secured by
working on Myrobalan stocks. This statement is hardly true according to
our present standards, and is certainly far from satisfactory. This rule
came into vogue at the time when only large growing Domestica plums were
propagated in this country and the stocks used were mostly either "horse
plums" or Myrobalan. The Myrobalan stock does give a somewhat smaller
tree than the old fashioned horse plums; but this Myrobalan stock has
been for many years the one principally used for propagating all kinds
of plums in America. It has come to be looked upon as a standard rather
than a dwarf stock. When we think of dwarf trees, therefore, we expect
to see something smaller than what will grow under ordinary
circumstances on a Myrobalan root.
The Americana plum, already mentioned, is a first-rate stock in nearly
all respects except that it can not be bought so cheaply as the
Myrobalan. It is now grown to a considerable extent by nurserymen in
Minnesota, Iowa and the neighboring States. If grafted, or budded early,
all varieties of plums take well upon it. The trees on Americana roots
make a good growth in the nursery and are easily transplanted. The tree
produced on this stock is only moderately dwarf. Still this dwarfing
effect is always well marked, this result being shown by the overgrowing
of the cion. The top thus appears to outgrow the root, and such trees
are apt to blow over during wind storms. Suitable precautions should be
taken to guard against damage of this sort.
Prof. A. T. Erwin of Iowa writes on this subject as follows:
"Regarding the Americana as a plum stock, I would state that we are
using it by the thousands out here; in fact, have about quit using
anything else. As a stock for the European and Japanese sorts, it
does dwarf them, and the cion tends to outgrow the stock at the
point of union, causing an enlargement. The union is also not very
congenial, and they frequently break off on account of high winds.
However, in my experience and observation, this is not the case
when the Americana is used as a stock for Americana varieties. It
does not dwarf the trees seriously and the union is splendid. It is
by all odds the best stock we have for plums, and since we do not
grow anything but Americana varieties, it works first rate. It does
tend to sprout some, though there is little trouble in this regard
after the trees come into bearing."
[Illustration: FIG. 8
THE WESTERN SAND CHERRY
_Prunus pumila besseyi_]
The sand cherry seems to be the dwarfing stock par excellence for the
plum. This sand cherry is a heterogeneous species, or as some botanists
think, is three species, ranging throughout the Northern States from
Maine to Colorado. The narrow leaf upright form growing about five feet
tall, known as _Prunus pumila_, is found along the Atlantic coast. The
broad leafed dwarfer form known as _Prunus pumila besseyi_ or _P.
besseyi_, is found in the Western States. Another rarer form of more
irregular growth known as _Prunus pumila cuneata_, or as _P. cuneata_,
is found in the North Central States.
[Illustration: FIG. 9--UPRIGHT CORDON PLUM
With buds set into the naked trunk]
All of these different forms may be used for propagating plums or
peaches. The western form (_P. besseyi_) (Fig. 8) is in some respects
the best, producing the dwarfest and apparently the best trees. In our
experience, however, nearly all varieties of plums and peaches give a
better stand of trees when budded on _P. pumila_. _Prunus cuneata_ is
inferior to the others.
The eastern form, _P. pumila_, has another advantage from the standpoint
of the nurseryman in that it is more easily propagated from cuttings.
For the most part the western sand cherry is propagated from seed. Both
forms can be propagated from layers.
NURSERY MANAGEMENT
Dwarf trees are managed in the nursery very much the same as standards
of the same varieties. There are no special points to be observed except
in the formation of the tops. Western New York nurserymen, who now grow
the principal supply of dwarf apple and pear trees, have the custom of
forming their nursery stock with high heads. That is, the heads are
formed at a height of eighteen inches to three feet from the ground. In
this matter the pattern is taken after the usual style of standard
trees. This is quite wrong. Of course, some planters might like to have
dwarf trees with trunks two or three feet tall, but the best form has a
much shorter stem. At any rate the buyer of dwarf trees ought to be at
liberty to form the head within three or four inches of the ground if he
so desires. This becomes very difficult if the tree is once pruned up to
a height of two or three feet.
In order that the planter may reach his own ideal perfectly in this
matter, it is sometimes necessary to buy one year old trees, what the
English nurserymen call maidens. This, of course, enables the tree
planter to form the head wherever he desires.
IV
PRUNING DWARF FRUIT TREES
The pruning of dwarf fruit trees is a matter of the greatest
consequence, for on proper pruning depend both the form and the
productivity of the trees. Some of the details of management will be
explained in the succeeding chapters, dealing with the particular kinds
of fruits, but a few general statements should be set down here.
1. The trees are severely headed in. This applies more particularly to
bush and pyramid forms. By the term "heading in" we refer to the
shortening of the leaders. Such shortening is usually given at the
spring pruning, while the trees are dormant. The leaders may be headed
in at times, however, during the latter part of the growing season, in
July. Such stopping of growing leaders will be practised more often on
young trees just coming into bearing than on old trees. (Fig. 10).
Constant heading back of some sort, however, is required in nearly all
cases, if the tree is to be retained in its dwarf form. The mistake has
often been made of thinking that a tree propagated on a dwarf root would
take care of itself.
2. Summer pruning is essential. In most American orchard practise one
annual pruning (sometimes one pruning every five years!) is considered
sufficient, and systematic summer pruning is seldom or never given. Now
summer pruning tends much more to repress the growth of a tree than
winter pruning does. In fact, heavy winter pruning leads rather to
increased vegetative vigor. Aside from any special system of pruning,
therefore, this rule is to be remembered, that summer pruning is
desirable, on general principles, for dwarf fruit trees.
[Illustration: FIG. 10--BUSH APPLE, THREE YEARS OLD
Showing strong leaders formed during the summer]
3. Side shoots usually need pinching during the growing season. Leaders
are more frequently allowed to grow unchecked throughout the season, or
are stopped only late in their period of development. In the pomaceous
fruits, which form distinct fruit spurs, the checking of these side
shoots helps toward the production of fruit buds. As long as every bud
is allowed to push out into a strong shoot no fruit spurs can become
established. Thus the summer pinching of the side shoots on apples and
pears has the purpose of encouraging the formation of fruit spurs. On
peach and plum trees equally distinct fruit spurs do not form; but if
the side shoots are allowed to push forth unrestricted they are apt to
choke one another. There will be too many of them, they will not get
light enough, their growth will be weak and sappy, and they will not
form fruit buds. Good fruit buds on a peach tree, for example, form on
strong, clean, healthy shoots of this year's growth for next year's crop
of fruit. It is seen, therefore, that in nearly all sorts of dwarf fruit
trees the summer pruning is especially directed to the suppression or
regulation of the growth of side shoots.
This part of the treatment becomes of prime importance in dealing with
cordons and espaliers.
4. The control of the fruit spurs or of the side shoots here
contemplated requires that the trees be gone over more than once during
the growing season. In fact, four successive examinations of the tree
are usually required. Old trees can sometimes be managed with two or
three, but young ones, on the other hand, will sometimes require six or
more. Of course, there are usually only a few shoots that need attention
at each succeeding visit, and the work can be very rapidly performed.
The first pruning, or pinching, falls about three weeks after the trees
have started into growth. The next one comes ten days later, the next
one ten days later again, and the fourth pruning two weeks after the
third. From this time onward the intervals lengthen. These
specifications, of course, are only approximate and suggestive. Some
judgment is required to select just the proper moment for pinching back
a shoot and even more to select the time for a general summer pruning.
Those trees which enjoy the sympathetic presence of the gardener every
day are sure to fare best. The bulk of this pruning can be done with the
thumb nail and forefinger, but I find a light pair of pruning scissors
pleasanter to work with.
5. Root pruning is sometimes advisable. Since the whole program is
arranged to check the growth of the dwarf tree, root pruning would
naturally fit well with the other practises recommended. Root pruning
checks the growth of a tree about as positively as any treatment that
can be devised. When dwarf pear or apple trees seem to be making too
much wood growth and not enough fruit, they can be taken up, as for
transplanting, during the dormant season and set right back into place.
This digging up and replanting is always accompanied by some cutting
of roots. The whole root system is disturbed and has to re-establish
itself before the top vegetates very strongly once more. Such root
pruning ought to be done late in the fall. It is a special practice,
suited to refractory cases, and the gardener is not recommended to
indulge in it too freely.
[Illustration: FIG. 11--BUSH APPLE
Three years old, before pruning]
[Illustration: FIG. 12--BUSH APPLE
Same tree after pruning]
6. A certain equilibrium between vegetative growth and fruit bearing
should be established at the earliest possible moment, and should be
maintained thereafter. Of course, some such equilibrium is sought in the
management of a standard tree; but it is secured earlier in the life of
the dwarf tree and should be much more accurately maintained. The tree
must make a certain amount of growth each year, but this must be only
enough to keep it in good health, and to furnish foliage enough to
mature the fruit. Beyond this wood growth the tree should bear a certain
amount of fruit every year, for annual bearing is not only an ideal but
a rule in the management of dwarf trees. This equilibrium once
established must be maintained not by haphazard pruning, but by some
suitable system. If there is the proper balance between summer pruning
and winter pruning, combined with proper control of cultivation and
fertilization, then the balance between vegetation and fruitage can be
kept up. It is a delicate business, like courting two girls at once, but
it can be carried out successfully.
7. The training of trees into mathematical forms is largely a mechanical
process. For the most part the trees are shaped while they are growing.
The young shoots are twisted and bent to the desired positions, and
are tied into place until the stems become hardened. There are many
clever little tricks for expediting this sort of work and for making the
results more sure, but a rehearsal of them here would be tedious. The
most important rule to remember is that constant attention must be given
the shoots while they are growing. Mistakes are corrected with
difficulty after an undesirable form has been allowed to harden.
[Illustration: FIG. 13--CORDON PEARS
Before pruning]
[Illustration: FIG. 14--CORDON PEARS
After pruning]
V
SPECIAL FORMS FOR TRAINED TREES