44 DWARF FRUIT TREES 



main arms fruiting spurs are allowed to grow, but 

 no branches are expected to develop. 



Sometimes the flying pyramid is made more elab- 

 orate 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 pre- 

 cision. 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 cor- 

 don 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 



