HOUSE AND GARDEN 
t 
184 
March, 1913 
ing—under conditions which would be likely to prove fatal to a 
dwarf form of the same variety. Last, but not least, there is the 
question of cost—and this is not limited to the original cost, 
which at present is from five to twenty-five times more than that 
of standard stock. Also, as far as present indications go, most of 
the standard varieties would outlive two or three plantings of 
the dwarf stock, at least in our hot, dry climate. Abroad where 
rainy, cloudy weather is much 
more frequently encountered 
than here, there may not be so 
much difference. It is abroad 
that the dwarf fruits have 
been developed and are still 
much more widely used than 
here. 
So there are at least two 
sides of the question for any¬ 
one contemplating the plant¬ 
ing of fruit trees, and he will 
do well carefully to consider 
the conditions which surround 
his own particular problem, 
before making up his mind 
that either dwarfs or stand¬ 
ards are to be unconditionally 
declared the better, even for 
go without fruit of their own at all. Its stronghold will be the 
suburban garden and the grounds of the small place. There the 
amateur and the enthusiast will be glad to give the careful atten¬ 
tion which they require, in return for apples, pears and peaches 
in variety, and of the first quality, which they will begin to yield 
him, not only after several years of 
“fruitless” labor, but almost immedi¬ 
ately. It should not be forgotten, 
however, that as far as quantity of production is concerned, the 
larger trees will probably give far better satisfaction. The 
superior quality of fruit from dwarf trees which one frequently 
reads or hears about is, I believe, largely fictitious; that is, it is 
due not to the fact that it was grown on dwarf trees, but that 
the trees themselves were given better care than standard trees 
ordinarily receive from the hands of the average fruit grower. 
There is another point to 
which I have never seen at¬ 
tention called in discussions 
of dwarf fruits, and that is 
the possibility of having 
several varieties of apples or 
pears upon one standard tree. 
We have an old but still very 
medium sized Pearmain tree 
in our orchard, which bears 
more summer apples than we 
can ever use, a good number 
of Hubbardsons for autumn 
use, and Rhode Island Green¬ 
ings for winter. Why should 
not some enterprising nurs¬ 
eryman make a point of sup¬ 
plying several varieties of 
apples grafted on a suitable- 
stock to afford dessert fruit 
at least through the season in 
gardens where there is not 
room for more than two or three fair-sized trees? Of course 
such stock would have to be larger and older than the usual sizes 
sent out, and it also would be much more expensive, but it seems 
to me that there would be many people who would be willing to 
pay a very good price for the combination tree of this sort. There 
is also, of course, the possibility of having a combination of the 
larger size and the dwarf trees, using, 
perhaps two or three of the former for 
( Continued on page 205) 
private use. 
The fact is that the dwarf 
fruit tree offers a solution, 
and a very advantageous solution, to those who would otherwise 
Training the dwarf fruit on the wooden fence is almost as easy as train¬ 
ing the rambler rose 
One upright and two lateral shoots should be 
trained along each wire as the tree grows 
The dwarf plum tree on the lawn rivals the 
flowering shrub in its beauty 
Small space brings large results by training 
dwarf trees to the wall as is shown here 
