76 THE SUBURBANITE'S HANDBOOK 



other facts have not yet been fully demonstrated, but that is no 

 reason to claim they are fallacious, but merely that they require 

 further investigation and practical experiment to fully develop their 

 full force. 



Of the many facts already fully established and beyond cavil 

 are the following : 



First Ordinary fruit trees are susceptible under certain treat- 

 ment to the dwarfing process. 



Second The dwarfing process has the power of reducing the 

 size of the trees, so that they may be planted at distances of 9x9, 

 8x8, 4x4, 2x4 feet apart, and even less. 



Third That the dwarfing of fruit trees hastens their maturity, 

 causing them to come into bearing in two years, and frequently the 

 first year from the bud or graft. 



Fourth Dwarfing also has the effect of increasing the yield of 

 fruit, enlarging and beautifying the fruit both in color and quilty 

 and enlarging its size. 



Fifth From the small size of the trees and their adaptability 

 to training in various fancy forms they are especially adapted for 

 use in suburban lots or small patches. 



In addition to this all the cultured manipulation from the nature 

 of the case are reduced to a minimum, and such operation as train- 

 ing, thinning the fruit, spraying, destroying insects, pests and dis- 

 eases, gathering the fruit and pruning, can all be done while standing 

 on the ground without the use of ladders or climbing the trees. 



These are all well established facts and fully settle the question 

 of adaptability for suburbanite's use. The above facts also settle the 

 question of their adaptability for use in commercial orchards as 

 "fillers" to secure early and profitable crops of fruit while waiting 

 for the large standard trees to come into bearing. 



When we come, however, to the question of full competition 

 with the large standard trees there are some facts and data that 

 require further elucidation, not because favorable conditions do not 

 exist, but merely that we have not yet exploited them sufficiently 

 for practical purposes. 



Among those questions the most important probably is the 

 securing reliable data of the yield of dwarf trees when planted 

 ' * en bloc ' ' by the acre for commercial purposes. As I am not aware 

 of any extensive experiments having been made to settle this ques- 

 tion and consequently a reasonable conservative caution would teach 



