Because the young trees come from the nursery unpruned, do not
leave them in that condition. Before planting, or immediately
after, cut back all the branches at least one-half; and where they
are too thick, cut out some altogether. In removal the tree has
lost much of its root power, and it is absurd to expect it to
provide for just as much top as before.
In many books on fruit-culture much space has been given to dwarf
pears, apples, and cherries, and trees of this character were
planted much more largely some years ago than they are at present.
The pear is dwarfed by grafting it on the quince; the apple can be
limited to a mere garden fruit-tree in size by being grown on a
Doucin stock, or even reduced to the size of a bush if compelled
to draw its life through the roots of the Paradise. These two
named stocks, much employed by European nurserymen, are distinct
species of apples, and reproduce themselves without variation from
the seed. The cherry is dwarfed by being worked on the Mahaleb--a
small, handsome tree, with glossy, deep-green foliage, much
cultivated abroad as an ornament of lawns. Except in the hands of
practiced gardeners, trees thus dwarfed are seldom satisfactory,
for much skill and care are required in their cultivation. Their
chief advantages consist in the fact that they bear early and take
but little space.
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