Remarks on Dwarfing Fruit Trees. 393 



Art. III. Remarks on Dwarfing Fruit Trees. By R. Er- 

 RiNGTON. With Remarks. By the Editor. 



No subject, at the present time, is more generally interest- 

 ing to cultivators of fruit, than the growth and management 

 of dwarf trees. For all the purposes of garden culture, 

 they are rapidly taking the place of standards, which, with 

 few exceptions, do not come into bearing for a long period ; 

 and occupying much space, shading a great part of the 

 ground with their large heads, exposed to injury from high 

 winds, and, withal, rendering the gathering of the fruit labo- 

 rious and troublesome, they are much better adapted for 

 orchards than for the neat garden of the amateur. 



To derive, however, all the great advantages from dwarf 

 trees, which they are capable of affording, requires some 

 little knowledge of their management. True, they will 

 thrive and produce fruit under very ordinary culture ; but 

 from the great variety of soils and aspects where trees are 

 planted, it is necessary that they should have varied treat- 

 ment according to the conditions in which they are placed. 



In our last number we presented our readers with an ex- 

 cellent article on root-pruning, the object of which practice 

 is to accomplish early bearing on trees planted in rich deep 

 or trenched soils, where they run too much to wood. Under 

 such conditions of vigor the trees, unless so treated, become 

 one dense mass of branches and shoots, running out of the 

 reach of the cultivator, producing no fruit, and, eventually, 

 no better than standard trees. Root-pruning, in such cases, 

 is the only remedy to keep them within bounds ; cultivators 

 and amateurs, therefore, who object to the labor of root- 

 pruning, should reject trenched ground and plant on rather 

 thin soils, where the roots can be " fed up" and receive their 

 nourishment from the surface, in the annual dressings of 

 manure and the " mulchings" from the stable. Mr. Erring- 

 ton's remarks on this head are particularly valuable, and 

 those who possess only shallow soils, and who may have 

 been told that their land was not adapted to the pear, should 



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