32 DWARF FRUIT TREES 



formation of the tops. Western New York nursery- 

 men, 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. 



