DWARF TREE PRUNING AND TRAINING 365 



care depends upon the grower, who by neglect or ignorance may 

 develop standards from those intended to be dwarfs. 



When grafted or budded "dwarfs" are planted so deeply that 

 roots are developed by the cion above the union with the stock, the 

 tree will become "half dwarf" or even "standard." Such roots 

 must be cut off from time to time as they develop. Dwarf cherries 

 are grown on mahaleb stocks, but so is probably the majority of 

 standard cherry trees. Annual removal of roots from the cion and 

 heading-in will keep the trees dwarf in habit. So, too, of plums 

 upon myrobalan, and apples upon Paradise and Doucin stocks. 



Grafting or budding on a slow-growing variety or 

 species, then, is only the first step toward the making of 

 dwarf trees. The trees must have the expanse of their 

 tops restricted by pruning and training. The expanse of 

 their roots must also be restricted by pruning or by 

 keeping them confined in limited space. 



Root pruning (87) to restrict growth is little practiced 

 in America. Our tillage methods largely replace it be- 

 cause they compel deep rooting. In the growing of 

 dwarf trees and grafted grapevines it finds its most im- 

 portant application in the removal of roots which develop 

 from the cion above the union with the stock. 



Top pruning of dwarf trees is done to train the tree 

 in some special way and to restrict growth. The latter 

 is a winter practice for the most part — heading back 

 (106). Various factors influence the amount of such 

 work — age, vigor, variety, individuality of tree, etc. A 

 terminal growth of 20 to 30 inches is common in the 

 upper parts of dwarf pear and apple trees, especially in 

 those under, say, ten years old. Some good pruners cut 

 off 50 to 80 per cent of the annual growth all over the 

 tree; and also remove inferior twigs entirely; others cut 

 out a total of fully as much wood, but include a good deal 

 of older wood, their idea being thus to keep the tree with- 

 in bounds rather than to run the risk of getting too many 

 small stubby twigs as might be the case were the former 

 method followed too closely. In the former case the tree 

 is more likely to grow too large than in the latter. In 

 either case the lateral growth that develops on the in- 



