American Pomology. Apples

by J. A. Warder

Du Breuil recommends laying bare the principal roots of the tree in the spring of the year, so as to expose them for the most of their length, and leaving them in this condition during the summer. This exposure of roots to the sun and air diminishes the vigor of the tree, and hence it tends to the production of fruit. He also recommends the removal of a part of the roots in the spring, and replacing the earth; considering this a more energetic operation than the preceding, he advises caution, lest we injure the tree. This is simply root-pruning, a plan that has been pretty thoroughly tested in this country, where, perhaps, its beneficial effects are more needed than in any other, and where we shall even find it advantageous to have recourse to mechanical means for its performance in large orchards by horse-power, as will be set forth in another place.

A very successful method of obtaining the desired effect of dwarfing, which is early and abundant fruiting, consists in transplanting the trees in the autumn; this should be done very carefully, so as to preserve the roots from mutilation as much as possible. The effect of this will be to check the wood-growth the ensuing summer, and fruit-buds will be formed, for it is well known that these two opposite conditions of plant life are complementary the one to the other, and while we always desire to see them both proceeding together in a healthy tree, the wood-growth must have been moderated before we can expect to receive any fruit.

The French and English excel us in training upon walls and espaliers, and we may willingly yield them the palm; since, in this country, it is rarely necessary to incur so great expense for the production of good fruits, and as a means of dwarfing our trees, it is more expensive and requires more skill, care, and watchfulness, than other methods of producing this effect. Espalier training, however, affords the most beautiful opportunity for the illustration of many of the important principles of vegetable physiology, but it should never be undertaken by any one who is not familiar with these, and at the same time willing to exercise great patience and perseverance in their application to the subjects under his control. No blind pursuance of the abstract rules of the art can enable the mere routine gardener to become a successful grower of espalier trees. The modes of training are various, to suit the whims and necessities of the artist. Trees are fastened directly to the walls, or to trellises of wood or of iron, that are placed at a little distance from the masonry, or they may be entirely independent of any such structures, and exposed to the air and light freely on both sides. The trellises may be either vertical, or inclined. The limbs may be made to issue nearly opposite to one another, and be trained horizontally in two directions, with successive stages to the top of the wall or trellis, or they may be trained in a fan shape, with various modifications of what M. Du Breuil calls the palmette form. And a simple modification of this method of dwarfing may be made with some varieties of fruit, by training a single stem horizontally within a foot of the ground, as a border or edging between the path-ways and the cultivated ground.

The favorite method of training in France, at the present day, appears to be that called the cordon. This may be either the vertical or inclined. In this kind of espalier, the trees are dwarfed by crowding them closely together, and by successive pinching and other mutilation, such as bending and even breaking the shoots, which results in early productiveness. The trees are planted sixteen inches apart, and are trained to single stems, and so treated as to be furnished with the requisite number of fruit-spurs on their whole extent. This is quite a new application of principles, and one which is rudely imitated by Mr. Field's pear hedges, which, however, bear but little resemblance to the elegant cordons of Du Breuil beyond that of dwarfing by crowding and pinching. We are told that among the many advantages of this method, are the diminished time required to cover a wall or trellis with fruit, and the greater facility of replacing a dead or defective tree, which, in the usual espalier methods, is a very serious matter, requiring several years for its restoration and the production of a crop.

We are so blessed, in most parts of this country, with soil and climate that are well adapted to the production of fruit in the open field, upon sturdy orchard trees, that there is less necessity for introducing these elegant methods of pursuing the fine art of horticulture; and yet there are reasons in the uncertain climate of our winters, why these plans of training and dwarfing should be pursued by those who have the talent and the means for doing it. Until within a few years, there were not many dwarfed pear or apple trees in this country, and they were confined chiefly to French gardens and to the establishments of the wealthy. But since their more general introduction, immense numbers have been propagated and planted, and extensive orchards, particularly of dwarfed pears, have been set out with a view to profit. Some of these have been eminently successful, others are failures; the results will very much depend upon the amount of care which may be bestowed upon them.

The French have long practiced the dwarfing of certain varieties of fruits, and have been very successful in their results; but that wonderful people, the Chinese, excel all others in this branch of horticulture, for which they display a remarkable talent.

Dwarfing by Uncongenial Stocks.—The usual mode, which is literally a partial starvation of the tree by limiting the supplies of crude sap, consists in the use of uncongenial and dwarf-growing stocks, upon which the desired varieties are budded or grafted. These are, for the dwarfed pear, either Quinces, Thorns, the Mountain Ash, or the Amelanchiers; for the apple, the Paradise and the Doucin varieties of apple stocks; for the peach and plum, the Chickasas, or other dwarf plum stock may be used. The free-growing cherries are worked on the Mahaleb or the Morello varieties; but it must be confessed, that some of these do not produce a perfect dwarf without other treatment.

To produce a dwarf by grafting on an uncongenial stock, this should be so uncongenial as to form an imperfect union, which checks the downward circulation; the sap that has been elaborated by the organs of the scion is thus kept above the junction of the two woods, and, being so checked, the result is the early formation of fruit-buds, and a premature fruitage of the trees results in a direct proportion to the incompleteness of the union of scion and stock. This is often so very imperfect as to be very easily ruptured, the grafts are often broken out by a very small force being applied to them, sometimes even the weight of the fruit is sufficient to effect a separation, and an examination of the rupture will show how very slight or imperfect the union between the parts has been; in other cases, however, it is difficult to trace the fibres of wood-growth that belong respectively to the stock and to the scion, even when these have been so different as pear and quince, or plum and peach.

It is also considered desirable that the roots of the stock should be small and fibrous, and not long, naked, and straggling; the former will furnish the crude sap in more limited amounts, and are less likely to produce an excessively rampant or luxurious growth in the scion.

Many persons have been disappointed in the Mahaleb cherry, which has been reputed to be a dwarfing stock. It is found, that without the application of other means, the so-called dwarfed cherries grow as freely, at least in their early years, as those worked on the free stock, known as the Mazzard cherry. They will never make such large trees, however, and those who would enjoy dwarf cherry trees, should combine the different methods of producing the result.