TRIMMING. DWARFING. I47 



are headed 2 to 3 inches taller. Sour cherries are gener- 

 ally not headed-in, because they make a less tall growth ; 

 but if they go much above 3 feet they are headed back. 

 Soon after the trees are headed back this second spring, 

 they are "sprouted." This operation consists in hoeing 

 the dirt away from the base of the tree and cutting off all 

 sprouts which start from the root or the crown. After 

 heading-in, the tree "feathers out" from top to bottom. 

 It is a common practice to rub off these new shoots which 

 appear upon the body, allowing only those shoots to remain 

 which spring from near the top of the trunk, and which are 

 presumed to form the top of the future tree. This rubbing 

 off of the side shoots early in the second season is gener- 

 ally to be condemned. It tends to make the tree grow 

 top-heavy, whilst the body remains spindling and weak. 

 A better plan is to allow the shoots to remain until July 

 or early August, when they are cut off close to the trunk. 

 The wounds will then heal over, or nearly so, by fall, and 

 the tree will have grown strong and stocky. 



Dwarfing. — The dwarfing of trees depends upon two 

 factors, — working upon a slow-growing stock, and subse- 

 quent heading-in. In particular cases, dwarfing is also 

 accomplished by growing the trees in pots or bo.xes. The 

 nurseryman supplies the first factor, — the tree united to the 

 dwarf root. But this factor alone rarely insures a perma- 

 nently dwarf tree. The vigorous top will soon impart 

 some of its habit to the stock ; and if the tree is planted 

 so deep that the union is a few inches below ground, roots 

 may start from the cion, and the tree will become half- 

 dwarf, or even full standard. The capability of keeping 

 the tree dwarf lies mostly with the grower, although, unfor- 

 tunately, the grower usually ascribes it wholly to the nur- 

 seryman. An excellent illustration of all this is afforded 

 by the cherry. If cherry trees are to be dwarfed, they are 

 to be worked upon the Mahaleb cherry ; and yet the greater 

 part of the sweet cherries, and some of the sour ones, are 

 budded upon Mahaleb roots in eastern nurseries, but our 



