CHAPTER IX 

 DWARF TREES AND CORDONS 



WITH the greater knowledge of the various fruit stocks now in 

 process of development, which will in the very near future have an 

 increasing influence on the character of young trees, we shall un- 

 doubtedly rear and plant a greater proportion of dwarfs than 

 hitherto. Notwithstanding its variability, this type of tree has long 

 been popular, but limits have been set to its use. Compared with 

 the free orchard trees it has a comparatively short life, and in its 

 age tails off into the production of second-size fruit ; but even 

 though its life is shorter, it must become more and more a matter 

 of practical politics, by reason of its economy in space, its 

 precociousness and fecundity, it will yield quicker, yet adequate, 

 returns than the freer growing and longer lived trees of the 

 orchard. 



We do not infer by this that dwarf trees will ever supplant those 

 on the " free " stock ; this they will never do, and, if for no other 

 reason, then because certain varieties of apples, pears, and plums 

 will only do their best when they are on such stocks ; but what we 

 think is that dwarfs will become a much more important supplement 

 to the others and be planted in considerably increased quantities, 

 and that, not only because in its turn, it is the best stock for certain 

 varieties. 



The fact is, that as the times are changing, ideas are changing 

 with them. The label " Quick Returns " has a tremendous attrac- 

 tion in these days, far more than in the quiet and complacent days 

 of the past. Then, a man would plant an orchard, firmly convinced 

 that he was planting for the benefit of his immediate successors, 

 scarcely expecting to himself reap the reward of his labour unless 

 he enjoyed some years of life in excess of the average. And, in 

 practice, he was more often right than wrong. In our dwarfs we 

 have a type of tree which from the age of three years begins to give 

 returns, and at five years are profitable. Supposing they are short- 

 lived, what then ? If during that short life they have been grown 

 and yielded a profit equal to that of any other crop, then they have 



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