Part 3

Three years old, before 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.

V

SPECIAL FORMS FOR TRAINED TREES

We have already explained the connection between dwarf trees and the practise of training them in special forms. It is true that this practise looks childish to American eyes. It seems to be only a kind of play, and a rather juvenile sport at that. Nevertheless we should understand that in some parts of the world it is a real and profitable commercial undertaking. We should consider also that in other places, where fruit of very high quality is better appreciated, perhaps, than it is in America, the extra trouble is thought to be worth while for the superior quality which it gives the fruit. As this matter is coming to be of more importance in America also, and as the interest in amateur fruit growing is enormously increasing, we may fairly begin to talk about these methods.

The formation of trees into bushes and pyramids, by means of systematic pruning according to a definite plan, as explained in the succeeding chapters, while apparently simpler and more reasonable to our American eyes, it is still a method of training the tree. The fruiting branches are placed at definite points and the fruit spurs are encouraged to grow in regular succession. It is not a very great step from this to a distribution of the branches into a more precise form.

The different forms which are used most commonly are named and classified in the following outline:

_A._--_Forms of three dimensions_: _a._ Vase or bush _b._ Pyramid _c._ Winged pyramid, etc. _B._--_Forms of two dimensions_: _a._ Various espaliers _b._ Palmette-Verrier _c._ Fans or Fan-espaliers _d._ U-form and double U-form _C._--_Trained to a single stem_: _a._ Upright cordon _b._ Oblique cordon _c._ Horizontal cordon (with one arm) (with two arms) _d._ Serpentine cordon, etc.

Among the forms of three dimensions none is of much practical importance besides the pyramid and bush or vase form. These are sufficiently explained in the chapters on pears and apples. Here we need only to define them. The pyramid tree is one which has a straight central stem with branches radiating therefrom. It is especially adapted to upright growing varieties of pears. The bush or vase form has several main arms or branches, all standing out from approximately the same point and growing upward at a more or less acute angle, thus forming roughly a vase. The secondary branches put out from these, bearing fruiting wood, as the gardener may order.

The flying pyramid or winged pyramid, described in all European books, is considerably different from the ordinary pyramid and is more precise in its design. Usually six arms are brought out at the base of the tree. These are grown in a direction approximately horizontal until they reach a convenient length,--say two to three feet. They are then suddenly bent upward and inward and are conducted along wires set for this purpose until they meet in a common point with the main stem of the tree some four to eight feet above where the branches put out. There is thus formed a precise mathematical pyramid. Along these main arms fruiting spurs are allowed to grow, but no branches are expected to develop.

Sometimes the flying pyramid is made more elaborate by bending the arms into a spiral form. Other more or less complex modifications are practised to some extent. All of them are to be regarded merely as curiosities and as of no practical value.

The various forms of espaliers and fan-shaped trees have their special and legitimate uses. It may be said here that the Palmette-Verrier is regarded generally as being the most successful for the largest number of varieties of fruits. It is a safe rule also that the simpler forms are generally the better. With rare exceptions a tree confined to a moderately small space is more satisfactory than one trained over a large space.

Great care must be exercised in forming these trees. If the geometrical style of training is undertaken at all, it should be carried out with considerable precision. If one arm happens to be placed a little higher, or at a little more moderate angle, or otherwise more favorably than the corresponding arm, it will very soon divert to its own use the major portion of food supplied by the top. It will outgrow its mate and the form which the gardener designed will eventually be lost. It will be seen at once that this condition makes the same care and precision necessary in all forms of training.

The U-form classifies somewhere between the cordon and the espalier. It consists of two upright branches joined to a single trunk below by an arc of a circle. The fruit is all borne on the two parallel stems which are treated essentially the same as upright cordons. (Fig. 17.)

The double U-form is made by growing two U's from the same tree. The stem is first divided near the ground into two branches and each of these is immediately divided into two more. The tree thus provides four parallel and equally spaced upright and fruiting stems equal to four upright cordons, except that they are all supported from a single trunk. The U- and double U-forms are employed mostly for plums, apricots, peaches and nectarines.

One occasionally sees much more elaborate schemes of training than any here mentioned. There are complex geometrical designs, even pictorial figures--birds, dogs, and beer-steins--and sometimes the initials of the gardener, or the name of his kingly and imperial majesty. In every case the method of producing these forms is practically the same. A frame is built of wood or wire in the form which it is desired to give the tree. Branches are developed at suitable points on the tree and these are tied out while they are growing to the wooden or metal form. It does not require any special care or ingenuity to produce the most elaborate designs in this method. It is essentially a job of carpentry.

We come now to the cordons. If we take the simplest form, namely the upright cordon, we have what we may call a tree of one dimension only. The upright cordon has nothing but height, eschewing both breadth and thickness. A cordon is simply a tree trained to a single stem and this stem may be placed in any position. The position or direction of the stem classifies the cordon. There are, therefore, besides the upright cordon, others which are oblique, that is, which make an angle with the horizontal, those which are horizontal, and those which are bent into various forms. The serpent form is one of the simplest of these. This form of cordon is simply bent back and forth against a trellis forming a series of S's one above another. The horizontal cordons are of two varieties, namely one-arm and two-arm forms. It is altogether a matter of convenience which one of these forms is chosen.

In conclusion it may be pointed out that the slower growing trees, pears and apples, are the better suited to the more elaborate forms of training. The more free and rapid growing species, such as peaches, nectarines, cherries, and Japanese plums, are better managed in somewhat simpler forms, preferably the fan. Such trees do well, however, in the U-form or double U-form.

VI

GENERAL MANAGEMENT

The general management of dwarf trees is naturally very much like the management of ordinary standard trees. As dwarf trees are grown more often in gardens rather than in orchards they will receive garden treatment. Heavy tools and extensive methods of culture will hardly find application.

Good soil culture may be regarded as essential. Whatever some American fruit growers may be saying about the propriety of growing apple orchards in sod, no one has yet undertaken to adapt the sod system into the kitchen garden. The close planting which is customary with dwarf trees makes culture comparatively difficult, yet not unreasonably so. Apple and pear trees planted six feet apart each way can be worked for several years with a single horse and cultivator. In fact if the trees are kept carefully headed in, the time need never come when the cultivator will have to be abandoned. When cordons or espaliers are planted in a garden large enough to warrant horse cultivation under ordinary circumstances then the rows of trained trees should be set six feet apart, which will be enough to permit the continued use of the horse and cultivator between the rows.

However, the horse cultivator is certain to be definitely crowded out of some dwarf fruit gardens. Many of the men who have greatest reason for growing dwarf fruit trees are those whose backyard gardens were never large enough to justify the presence of a horse or horse tools. In such cases the spading fork and the hand cultivator are the ready and proper substitutes. Our extensive methods of farming in America have bred a strong prejudice against all sorts of hand labor like this, but experience will show that under some conditions it is quite worth while. A very common mistake in all kinds of agriculture is to allow prejudice to rule experience.

Garden culture means not only good tillage of the soil, but good treatment in other respects. It means good feeding and good spraying. As for spraying we need make only two observations. First, the treatment to be given is almost precisely the same as that which is given to standard trees of the same species; second, the work is much more easily performed because the trees are smaller. If one happens to have a considerable block of dwarf trees closely planted. There may be difficulty, it is true, in driving in with a spray pump. This difficulty is overcome by having long runs of hose on the spray pump, so that the cart may stand on the borders of the garden while the operator carries the nozzle in among the trees. In case of large plantings of dwarf trees alley-ways should be left every one hundred feet, or better, every eighty feet, between the blocks. These alleys will be useful for other purposes besides spraying.

In the management of a small garden the gardener is expected to be liberal in his allowance of fertilizers. While it is true that dwarf fruit trees should be liberally fed there is a possibility of overdoing it. It has already been explained that the dwarfing of the tree depends in a certain way on its well-regulated starvation. If the tree top could get all the food which its nature calls for it would not be dwarfed. The rule in feeding dwarf fruit trees therefore should be to give enough fertilizer to keep them in perfect health and in good growing condition, but not enough to force unnecessary growth. Fertilizer rich in nitrogen should be especially avoided, and, as the object in view is to secure an early maturity of the tree and to produce fruit always in preference to wood, a larger proportion of potash would naturally be substituted for the diminished proportion of nitrogen. Of course the amounts and proportions of the different elements (nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid) to be applied will vary greatly with different conditions,--with the nature of the soil, the age of the trees, etc. As a sort of standard we may say that under normal conditions of good soil with dwarf apple and pear trees in bearing there should be given annually for each acre:

400 pounds ground bone 400 pounds muriate of potash 100 pounds Peruvian guano

Peaches and plums require more nitrogen during early growth, and more potash when in full bearing. For a new plantation of these trees the following amounts should be given annually for each acre:

300 pounds ground bone 400 pounds muriate of potash 150 pounds nitrate of soda

For peach and plum trees in bearing, the following formula may be suggested:

400 pounds ground bone 500 pounds muriate of potash 100 pounds Peruvian guano

Inasmuch as many owners of dwarf fruit trees will have so much less than an acre for treatment it will be best to repeat these formulas, reducing them to a smaller unit. Making this reduction somewhat freely, in order to avoid long and useless decimals, we may compute the quantity needed annually for each one hundred square feet of land as follows:

FOR APPLES AND PEARS IN BEARING

1 pound ground bone 1 pound muriate of potash 1/4 pound Peruvian guano

FOR PEACHES AND PLUMS NEWLY PLANTED

3/4 pound ground bone 1 pound muriate of potash 3/8 pound nitrate of soda

FOR PEACHES AND PLUMS IN BEARING

1/4 pound Peruvian guano 1-1/4 pound muriate of potash 1 pound ground bone

Cherries should be treated like plums; gooseberries, currants, and most other fruits, like apples.

In the home of dwarf tree culture, that is, in Europe, trained trees are extensively grown upon walls. The gardeners utilize for this purpose not only the walls of stables and outbuildings, and of the enclosed gardens, but long ranges of brick are built for the special and exclusive purpose of accommodating fruit trees. In southern Germany, in Switzerland, in Belgium, in France, and especially in the neighborhood of Paris, there are hundreds of miles of these walls. The walls may run north and south or east and west. Both sides of the walls are used, even when one side faces the north. Currants and gooseberries are expected to thrive on north walls. West walls are considered especially favorable for pears and plums. The walls are nearly always built of brick. They should have a height of ten to fourteen feet. Each wall usually has a coping at the top with a projection of ten to eighteen inches, which sheds the rain, protecting both the wall and the fruit trees. Where extreme pains are spent on the culture of fancy table fruits there are curtains hung from rods along the outer edge of these copings, and the curtains are drawn to protect ripening fruit from too hot sunshine, or to protect the blossoms in the spring season from late frosts.

Brick walls, with all their appurtenances, are less important in America than in Europe and the advantages to be expected from this particular method of culture are decidedly less. Walls would more probably be useful for peaches and nectarines in northern latitudes than for any other fruits.

Cordons and espaliers require some sort of support, however, and where walls are not used trellises are necessary. These may be of wood or wire. There is a belief current that the wooden trellises are better because they reflect less heat, but wire is so much cheaper and more durable that it will usually be chosen.

Five or six wires are needed to make a good trellis for upright cordons. These should be placed twelve to fourteen inches apart, with the lowest wire thirty inches from the ground. All wires should be tight, and to this end stout, well-set posts are necessary. The wires should be loosened in the autumn, before freezing weather begins, and should be tightened again in the spring.

For espaliers the woven wire fences are better. In fact, the woven wire fencing is excellent for all sorts of fruit trellises. Poultry netting makes a cheap and convenient trellis, but it is neither so strong nor so durable as the better grades of woven wire fencing. On the whole it is very poor economy to buy a cheap trellis or to put it up on poor posts.

These trellises will need to be comparatively high. Nothing less than eight feet will be satisfactory, and for upright cordons a trellis ten to fifteen feet high will be much better. Of course, this entire height is not needed the first year, but upright cordon apples will cover a twelve foot trellis in five years. Peaches or Japanese plums will cover the same trellis in three years.

In the selection of varieties for growing in a garden of dwarf fruit trees the horticulturist will naturally be guided by principles altogether different from those which control him in the selection of varieties for a commercial orchard. He must, of course, consider which varieties are best adapted to the special stocks on which they have to be propagated. He must also bear in mind that certain varieties are better adapted than others for the special forms in which he may wish to train his dwarf trees. Beyond all this lies the great consideration that in the very large majority of cases dwarf fruit trees are grown to secure fancy fruit, not to produce a large quantity for a general market. All varieties of inferior quality would therefore be eliminated from consideration at the beginning, no matter how productive they might be, nor how famous for other things.

Varieties of specially good flavor would be given special thought, even though they might lack in hardiness or productivity. The special favorites of the man who owns the garden should be chosen, no matter whether they are popular or not. Then for similar reasons a comparatively long list of varieties will be chosen instead of the very short list always held to by the commercial grower. From first to last one should remember that the growing of dwarf fruit trees is essentially the enterprise of an amateur, not of a man who grows fruit for money.

VII

DWARF APPLES

Dwarf apples are the most interesting and valuable of dwarf fruits. We have become so thoroughly accustomed to the standard apple tree in this country, however, and it so fully meets all the apparent requirements, that there seems to be no call for dwarf apples. Nevertheless dwarf trees have some real advantages under certain circumstances. Some of these have already been pointed out in the general discussion in previous chapters, and some of them will bear reiteration here. Where so much interest is taken in apple culture as in America, the advantage which dwarf trees offer for the rapid testing of new varieties cannot be overlooked. Still more important is the value of the dwarf trees in producing extra fancy specimens. Thus in growing very fine apples for exhibition or for a particularly fastidious market, one would naturally choose the dwarf trees.

Inasmuch as dwarf trees are recommended chiefly to the amateur and are grown generally less for cash profit than for other considerations, the great and obvious advantages of standard trees quickly disappear. For men who like to play at fruit growing, nothing can equal a selection of apple trees on Paradise stocks. They are the most engaging of all dwarf trees, in fact of all fruit trees whatsoever.

The general matter of selecting stocks has been referred to under the head of propagation, but the statement should be repeated here that the French Paradise stock is preferable for very dwarf garden trees, and is almost necessary for cordons and espaliers, while the Doucin (sometimes called the English or broad-leaved Paradise) may be chosen where only a moderate amount of dwarfing is desired. Some of the most expert apple growers of North America are beginning to think that the Doucin may be required for the commercial orchards in the future, when spraying for the San José scale becomes an established routine and smaller trees are an accepted necessity.

Dwarf apple trees may be cultivated in nearly all the artificial forms ever given to fruit trees. Undoubtedly the simplest is the bush or vase form. This requires less care and attention and probably gives as much fruit to the same area as any other. The pyramid form is somewhat difficult to produce. It can be secured successfully only with the varieties which have a tendency to grow strong, straight branches, as for instance Sutton, Gravenstein and Northern Spy. On the whole the pyramid is not to be recommended for dwarf apples.

Apples succeed very well as upright cordons and in all the simpler modifications of this form. As these trees can be planted very close together--as close as fifteen inches certainly--thus occupying very little room, a large number of them can be planted in very limited areas of the city lot or backyard. They are especially adapted to stand on the property line where they seem to use no space whatever, and where in fact they do occupy space which otherwise would be lost. The upright cordon can be bent into the form of an arch in order to make delightful arbors along the walks. The illustration, Fig. 2, shows a good example of this sort.