Voi.. LXVIII No. 4012 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 18, 1909. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
APPLES ON DWARF TREES. 
Are Dwarf Trees Practical ? 
During the past few years we 
have had many questions about 
dwarf apple trees. Are they prac¬ 
tical? Will it pay to plant them 
for commercial orchards? Those 
who are thinking of trying dwarfs 
should first understand what they 
are. Prof. F. A. Waugh in his 
little book on ‘Dwarf Fruit 
Trees” says: 
The quince tree normally grows 
slower than the pear, and usually 
reaches about half the size at ma¬ 
turity. Now, pear scions will unite 
readily with quince roots, and will 
grow in good health for many years. 
But when a pear tree is thus de¬ 
pendent for daily food on a quince 
root it fares like Oliver Twist. It 
never gets enough. It is always 
starved. It makes considerably less 
annual growth, and never (or at 
least seldom) reaches the size which 
it might have reached if it had 
been growing on a pear root. This 
is, somewhat roughly stated, the 
whole theory of dwarfing fruit 
trees by grafting them on slow- 
growing stocks. The tree top is 
always under-nourished and thus re¬ 
strained in its ambitious growth of 
branches. 
Thus a dwarf apple tree is a 
Baldwin, Astrachan or some other 
variety worked upon a slow-grow¬ 
ing weaker root. A Baldwin 
thus worked will still be a Bald¬ 
win, so far as its fruit goes, 
though usually finer and more 
highly colored than when grown 
as a standard. The top of the 
Baldwin will keep pace with the 
growth of the root, and will there¬ 
fore be smaller than when worked 
on a standard root. As we see, 
Mr. Geo. T. Powell plants deep, 
expecting a few roots to start 
from above the bud and thus give 
a stronger root system. We have 
seen Mr. Powell’s trees, and they 
are certainly remarkably fine. 
The pictures this week, Figs. 462, 
463 and 464, show a dwarf tree in 
his orchard compared with a 
standard, and two apples from 
dwarf trees. The latter were very 
handsome and of high flavor. Mr. 
Powell sends us the following 
notes. It must be remembered 
that these results are obtained 
only after the highest culture. 
The Astrachan dwarfs on Para¬ 
dise stock are now five years 
planted, being two years old when 
planted. The trees bloomed full, 
but the cold, wet Spring cut out 
a lot of the fruit. Some of the 
trees, however, bore a half bushel 
each. J hese were sold by com¬ 
mission men in Pittsfield, Mass., 
and Boston for $1.25, $1.50 and up 
to $1.85 a box, which held 40 
pounds or three-quarters of a 
bushel. The cost of the box is 
18 cents, picking and packing six 
cents, freight nine cents to Boston, 
STANDARD DUCHESS APPLE TREE FOUR YEARS OLD. Fig. 462. 
RED ASTRACHAN DWARF APPLE FIVE YEARS PLANTED. Fig. 463. 
seven cents to Pittsfield, and 10 
per cent commission for selling. In 
a good season the trees will now 
yield from one bushel to one and 
a half, and will, when older, yield 
two and a half. These are inter- 
planted, but in a block by them¬ 
selves ; 310 trees may be planted 
in an acre under my plan of 
pruning, which is to keep them 
about 10 feet high, with side 
branches pruned in closely. 
There are different ways and 
plans for planting. My Cox's 
Orange trees are on Doucin stock 
four years planted on the quincunx 
plan, giving them 20 feet space 
in all directions. I intend to grow 
these 18 feet high, with a diameter 
of 10 feet. The Cox is an Eng¬ 
lish variety highly prized, and 
sells for very high price in Eng¬ 
land. I have about 150 trees of 
these, and intend to ship the fruit 
direct to England. I have 200 
Gravenstein, 500 Northern Spy, 
150 Wagener, 150 Wealthy, 200 
Astrachan, and 250 of other va¬ 
rieties, including the Rhode Island 
Greening. The trees are set deep, 
and I expect them in time to put 
out a few roots from above the 
bud, which will make much 
stronger trees, and give greater 
bearing capacity while yet being 
dwarfed^ both by the root and by 
Summer pruning. This is alf 
pioneer work, but I think it will 
have value, and since the Brown- 
tail moth is likely to go through 
our State, I want trees that are 
possible to treat for such a pest 
and others that are yet to come. 
The Duchess standards, five years 
planted, have given a very good 
yield, producing, some of them, 
nearly a bushel of very fine fruit. 
The apples on the dwarf Duchess 
are larger than on the standards. 
While dwarf trees require more 
pruning than standards, I intend 
to prove out the best time for one 
annual pruning only. 
We give thorough and clean 
culture up to the first of July, but 
shall extend this another month. 
It will make the fruit much finer 
to keep up the cultivation for. a 
longer period. It is fruit of the 
highest quality we are after. We 
sow Crimson clover for a Winter 
cover crop. We have pruned the 
trees the last of June, cutting back 
the new growth, and thinning out 
such branches as require it. This 
causes a second growth for the 
end buds, which we prune again 
in August. The object of the June 
pruning is. to develop fruit spurs 
and early bearing. 
GEO. T. POWELL. 
R. N.-Y.—Note the manner of 
marketing these apples. It is not 
only intensive culture, but in¬ 
tensive marketing also with Mr. 
Powell’s dwarf orchard. 
