The Proper Use of Dwarf and Standard Fruit Trees 
THE MOST FITTING SITUATION FOR EACH SORT — ESPALIER FRUITS AND HOW 
TO TRAIN THEM — COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR STARTING A FRUIT GARDEN 
W ITHOUT enthusiasts the world would never have pro¬ 
gressed ; and in no line of work is this more true than in 
horticulture. Nevertheless, it is a fact that the enthusiast is 
likely to look upon things from one side only, and some of the 
dwarf fruit enthusiasts have been no exception to this rule. 
While I believe that the dwarf fruit has come to stay—has, in 
fact, been the result of an actual economic demand—still I think 
that in a few instances people have been misled as to the result 
they would obtain from it, not intentionally on the part of their 
informers, but because, 
hearing only one side of 
the case, they have failed 
to take all the necessary 
precautions, and have met 
indifferent success, o r 
even failure as a result. 
It is my purpose in this 
article to present both 
sides of the subject, and I 
hold no brief for either. 
I do not believe, on the 
one hand, that dwarf 
fruit trees are going to 
supplant the standard 
kinds with which most of 
us are familiar, nor, on 
the other, that they are 
but a hobby, doomed to 
oblivion after a few years’ 
experimenting on the part 
of the general public. 
First of all we had bet¬ 
ter get a few definitions 
straightened out so as to 
know exactly what we 
are speaking about. What 
is a dwarf fruit tree? 
Our definition has to be 
largely a matter of com¬ 
parison. When you rec¬ 
ollect those rugged, shag- 
gy-barked old patriarchs 
of the apple orchards of 
your childhood, spreading 
their twisted limbs al¬ 
most fifteen feet upward 
and outward, the neat 
rows of trimmed, com¬ 
pact low-headed trees of 
the modern commercial orchard seem in comparison quite dwarf 
indeed. You can actually pick some of the fruit from the ground. 
But when some enthusiastic suburbanite friend takes you into his 
fifteen by twenty foot fruit farm at the back of the house and 
shows you apples and pear trees the topmost fruit of which you 
can pick without standing on tip-toe, then you realize that your 
definition of “dwarf fruit” has to be readjusted, for the actual 
fruits on these miniature specimens of apple and pear trees are 
fully equal in size, coloring and flavor to those grown upon the 
full-sized standards with which you are more familiar. As a 
matter of fact they are the same apples and pears which you 
already know, the difference being that now they are growing on 
another tree: that is, slips of the standard varieties are grafted 
upon a dwarf, slow-growing stock, and the result is that you can 
have dwarf fruit trees without dwarf fruits. This achievement, 
from the point of view of the horticulturist, is not nearly so won¬ 
derful as it probably will seem to you when you behold for the 
first time one of these specimens of the skill of the nurseryman. 
In fact, for any definite discussion of the subject, we should 
have a more extended 
classification. For i n - 
stance, standards, low¬ 
headed standards, semi- 
dzvarfs, and d zu a r f s 
would enable us to be 
more accurate in describ¬ 
ing the various types that 
are adapted for various 
purposes. The differ¬ 
ence between standards 
and low-headed standards 
is a matter of training. 
That is, the main branch 
is cut back sooner than 
was formerly the practice, 
thus inducing tTie growth 
of the spreading side 
limbs at a point a great 
deal lower down on the 
trunk of the tree. Some 
varieties are naturally 
much smaller than others. 
In fact, it is simply by 
taking advantage of ex¬ 
treme cases of this char¬ 
acteristic that the dwarf 
trees have been made pos¬ 
sible. The semi-dwarf 
trees are made by graft¬ 
ing the standard varieties 
upon what is called a 
“Doucin stock,” that is 
simply a variety of apple 
which normally attains a 
height of eighteen feet or 
so. For dwarf trees, 
standard varieties which 
have been found suitable 
for the purpose, are graft¬ 
ed upon Paradise stock, which is a wild, small, fruited English 
variety. In addition to this the method and thoroughness used 
in training and pruning will affect to a considerable extent the 
shape and size of the tree produced. 
The dwarf fruit trees are not, except in the opinion of a few 
enthusiasts, considered as substitutes for the standard types. 
They can, however, be used where the others can not, and there¬ 
fore it depends upon the circumstances in each particular case, 
whether or no their use will prove profitable. I do not use 
“profitable” in the commercial sense, but to indicate whether the 
Standard trees surpass the dwarf varieties where there is plenty of orchard space 
for branching and room for the proper development of the roots 
