LXXIII 
TREES THAT ARE DWARFS 
I SN’T IT ODD that man has found a way to grow 
choice apples of any variety on dwarf plants that fit 
into the small space of city yards! 
Seeing these sturdy little trees bearing their loads of 
fruit, one is likely to wonder what magic has been worked 
on them, that they produce in this way. 
Back of it is much of the lore that plant-breeders have 
developed through the passing centuries. In the first 
place, there is the study of the many varieties of apple 
trees that grow in the world. Some are bigger than 
others, just as draft horses are bigger than Shetland 
ponies. 
A plant-breeder may select the variety of apple tree 
which is the smallest of them all. He may sow seeds from 
that tree. Occasionally a plant will result that is a dwarf 
even among dwarfs. Seeds from this tree may be planted, 
and a new variety developed that is, like the parent tree, 
unusually small. Then seeds from the most dwarfish of 
this generation may be planted, and still smaller trees 
may be developed. 
In the end, a variety of apple trees may be established 
that grows no more than four feet high. Its fruit may 
be quite poor, but the plant-breeder does not mind 
this. What he wanted was not fruit, but a small-sized 
plant. 
This apple-grower wants to grow his favorite Baldwins 
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