170 
Fifty Years of Fruit Farming, 
The art of pruning lias made a rapid advance in late years. 
Much information on this subject has been furnished by French 
writers, among whom may be named M. du Breuil ' and M. 
C. Baltet. The necessity of pruning fruit trees has been now 
impressed upon the most old-fashioned and bigoted growers, and 
daylight has been let into many of the apple trees, through 
whose intertwisted boughs and branches neither air nor light 
could permeate. Though a minor matter, yet of much prac- 
tical import, staking young fruit trees now receives careful 
attention, and protecting them from stock and from hares and 
rabbits. 
An entirely new system of growing fruit upon dwarf trees, 
or trees whose habit has been dwarfed by the nature of the stock 
grafted upon, has been very largely adopted by market-gardeners, 
by gardeners in private gardens, and to some extent by fruit- 
larmers. This system has the advantage of very early produc- 
tion of fruit, and, as a rule, of fruit of finer appearance and 
quality than that grown upon ordinary standards. It was first 
introduced into this country from France, where it is generally 
practised, and has been gradually extending in England since 
1870. To produce these dwarf trees, grafts or buds of the desired 
sorts are worked upon the stock known as the Paradise stock, 
Pommier de Paradis, or upon the French Doucin stock. The 
first of these, the Pyrus Malus prcecox, supposed to be a native 
of Russia, is said to be better for soils that are cool and wet, 
while the French Doucin stock is held to be better for dry soil. 
Trees formed upon these stocks have surface roots with many 
fibres running just below the surface, whereas in the case of the 
crab stock, and in the wild pear stock, there are long roots which 
run down somewhat deeply, being necessary to keep the standard 
tree firin and fast, and have but few fibres. 
The advantages of these dwarf trees are that they come 
quickly into bearing, as they will produce fruit the second year, 
and can be easily pruned and cultivated ; their fruit is fine and 
clear, and the crop larger and more certain than fen standards. 
No prettier sight can be imagined than a plantation of these 
dwarf trees in September, covered with ripening apples, or in 
May, with pink and white blossoms thickly set. 
Pears are grown in this way with equal success upon quince 
stocks which have the same surface-rooting habits as the Paradise 
stock. The trees as well as the apple trees may be trained in 
pyramidal shapes or as ordinary dwarfs. Plums also are treated 
' The Science and Practice of Grafting, Budding, and Training Fruit Trees, 
tranalated, by Mr. Wardle from the Frencb.of M. du Breuil,^ 
