382 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



not grow well upon the quince, while others behave better when 

 dwarfed than when grown upon free stocks. Apple varieties, 

 however, are supposed to grow with equal readiness upon Para- 

 dise or upon Doucin stock. 



Cherries may also be grown as dwarfs. The stock most gener- 

 ally used in such cases is Prunus Mahaleb, but the top must be 

 kept severely pruned, otherwise large trees will be formed; but 

 the dwarf trees are rarely grown in this country.* In Europe, 

 however, the small cherry bushes have the reputation of being 

 exceedingly productive, the fruit at the same time being of very 

 fine quality. These plants are grown mostly by amateurs. 



Plums have long been dwarfed by pruning the roots severely 

 every year or two, so that the top growth of the tree may be 

 checked. Such trees bear regularly and abundantly; cherries 

 mav be treated in a similar manner with the same result. 



ft/ 



II. Dwarfing the Apple. 

 Apples are at present regularly dwarfed by grafting or bud- 

 ding the desired variety upon some small form of the common 

 apple species, Pyrus Mains. The species is extremely variable, 

 having produced the bulk of the varieties now in cultivation (all 

 save the crabs are of this species) as well as the dwarf forms, the 

 Doucin and Paradise apples, which at present serve as stocks to 

 check the growth of the more vigorous sorts. These dwarf apples 

 were originally seedlings, the same as our present varieties are; 

 and no doubt similar varieties appear at the present day, but we 

 do not look for them and save them. Gardeners have known the 

 dwarf varieties of apples for many centuries, and the introduc- 

 tion of these forms into cultivation can no longer be traced with 

 certainty. The subject is made the more difficult because of the 

 repeated transfer of the same name to different varieties of ap- 

 ples; this has been done so frequently that the term "Paradise 

 apple " may more properly be considered to refer to a class of 

 apples rather than to a single variety. 



* As a matter of fact, the sour cherries, and very often the sweet ones, are 

 grown u])on Mahaleb stock in New York state. Tlie Mahaleb stock is more 

 easily worked and managed than the Mazzard or Sweet Cherry stock. The 

 trees which are grown tipon Mahaleb ordinarily reach their full stature. 

 They are made dwarf only by judicious pruning. l. n. b. 



