DWARF PEARS. 



Dear Sir, — Would an acre of dwarf trees bear 

 as much fruit as an acre of standard trees ? (I un- 

 derstand that dwarf trees should be planted ten feet 

 f id) apart, and standard, about thirty five (35) feet, 

 and is the fruit of the dwarf tree, equal to standard 

 in size and quality? An answer through your 

 journal, (If you have such data at hand) would 

 oblige. 



" An Amateur. " 



For the first twenty or thirty yeans prob- 

 ably the most fruit per acre would be pro- 

 duced by the dwarf trees, because they be- 

 g'in bearing- so early ; but afterward the 

 advantage would annually become greater 

 in favor of the standards. 



In quality, the fruit grown on dwarfs is 

 frequently larger and finer than when grown 

 as standards ; some varieties indeed being 

 scarcely worth growing except as dwarfs, as 

 for example the Duchess and the Anjou. 

 •In size the fruit grown on the dwarf trees s 

 much the larg-er of the two — the checking ot 

 the wood growth having that effect in the 

 case of the dwarf. 



In planting a dwarf pear orchard it is wise 

 to set the trees a little deeper than one 

 would standards, because the quince root 

 grows slower than the pear top, which may 

 in time break off, unless set deep enough to 

 throw out roots of its own. 



Pruning- is most mportant, for prolong- 



ing the tip of the dwarf pear, for if allowed 

 to grow tall and spreading, it will be early 

 blown over by the winds, and the fruit will 

 not grow to as large a size as if kept down 

 to the pyramidal form. 



To bring this about, the trees should be 

 pruned to a sing-le stem the first year, and 

 this must be cut back at the end of the sea- 

 son or before growth begins the following 

 spring, in order to develop strong laterals. 

 How low to cut back depends upon the vigor 

 of the stalk and can only be learned by ex- 

 perience, but it is necessary to get strong- 

 lateral branches about 10 or 12 inches from 

 the ground. From year to year the pyra- 

 midal form should be kept in mind, shorten- 

 ing the leader and all side branches to an im- 

 aginary line, drawn from the outmost base to 

 the top of the leader. After about eight 

 years growth, the dwarf tree should have 

 attained as large a size as is desirable, and 

 therefore should be cut back, severely enough 

 to continue it in about the same shape and 

 form, thefurther pruning being directed to the 

 shortening and thinning out of the fruit spurs. 

 With such attention as this, a dwarf pear 

 orchard, if of the proper varieties, will prove 

 an object of especial pride to the owner. 



CROWN GRAFTING. 



OME time since our friend Parker, of 

 Nova Scotia, criticised the method 

 of renewing- an orchard, which we 

 described, because it is so simple that any 

 farmer, without special tools, or even graft- 

 ing wax, can succeed in its performance. 

 We did not advise it as the best way, but 

 simply as a method which might serve in 

 many cases where skill was lacking to do 

 cleft grafting. The following extract from 

 Garden and Field, of Melbourne, Australia, 

 is in the same line, and shows we are not 

 alone in this advice : 



" Reworking old trees can be done in nearly as 

 many ways as kissing a girl. The latter has 

 nothing to do with the subject, but a reference to 

 so serious a matter will indicate how much in 

 earnest I am when I say to every fruit grower, cut 

 down and rework every tree which is not of a 

 first-class sort, or which does not pay to grow, and 

 do it soon by crown grafting. Now, I am quite 

 competent to advise on this matter, for I have read 

 all about it like the experts do, and if that be not 

 enough to establish my authority to an unbelieving 

 world, I may say I have taught it just as a pas- 

 sionate parson has self-control; and if that be not 

 enough, like George Washington, I must say aloud, 

 I have have done it myself. Joking aside, I have 

 never had a failure on either stone or pip trees, and 

 I have done the work from the beginning of Au- 

 gust ou the almond, to the end of October on the 

 apricot. I think it is best to cut old trees oiT 



