Dwarf Fruit Trees Part 7

The following varieties of plums can be recommended for dwarf bush forms:

Green Gage Jefferson Bradshaw Agen Grand Duke Bavay (Reine Claude) McLaughlin Pond Bleeker Italian Prune Cl.u.s.ter Damson (or other Damsons)

Such varieties of the j.a.panese cla.s.s as Abundance, Chabot, Red June, Satsuma, Burbank may be grown on dwarf stocks in bush forms, but they are not altogether satisfactory. There are two objections against them: (1) It is difficult to keep them in restricted bounds, such a result being dependent on constant and severe heading in. (2) They overgrow the dwarf stocks very strongly and thus do not have a very firm hold on the ground. They are apt to blow over or break off after a few years, unless carefully staked up.

The following varieties can be recommended for upright cordons, in which form they will give moderate success if properly managed:

Coe's Golden Drop Agen Victoria Grand Duke Abundance Burbank Bradshaw Bavay Lombard Chabot Cheney Aubert (Yellow Egg or Magnum Bonum)

Also most of the clean-growing Americana varieties such as Smith, Terry, Stoddard, etc.

Mr. Owen Thomas recommends for growing on walls in England the following varieties:

Green Gage Brandy Gage Denniston's Superb Gage Comte d'Athem's Gage Transparent Gage Transparent Late Gage Jefferson Reine Claude Violette Brahy's Green Gage Bryanstone Gage Oullin's Golden Gage Golden Transparent Gage Reine Claude de Bavay Coe's Golden Drop Kirke's Blue Washington

XI

BUSH FRUITS

The bush fruits, so far as I know, are never cultivated as dwarfs. To speak more exactly I should say that no dwarf stock is ever used to reduce the size to which the plants grow. On the other hand, bush fruits are often systematically pruned back in order to restrict their size, and are sometimes trained in elaborate forms as dwarf fruit trees are.

To this extent they are managed in the same way and might properly be treated in the same general category. What is more to our purpose, they are almost always included in the plan of any private fruit garden on a restricted area, such as we have had chiefly in view in this discussion of dwarf fruit trees. These reasons make it appropriate, if not indeed essential, that something should be said regarding these fruits here.

All bush fruits can be grown in such forms as cordons, espaliers, etc.

Anything of this sort which the gardener wishes can become a part of his garden of little trees. Gooseberries and currants offer the most entertainment and remuneration when subjected to special pruning and training, and indeed they should not be omitted from any garden scheme of this kind. Raspberries are less amenable to this kind of education and should be introduced with some care. Blackberries are necessarily difficult to handle and no very complicated schemes of pruning and training can be successfully applied to them. Such other fruits as Loganberries, strawberry-raspberries, June berries, etc., may be introduced "at the owner's risk." Any of them will submit to a certain amount of correction with the pruning knife, and may add to the variety of fruits grown in the amateur's garden. Of course, it is distinctly understood that these special methods of treatment are not commercially recommended for any of the bush fruits in America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 38--CURRANTS AS FAN ESPALIERS ON TRELLIS, HARTFORD, CONN.]

Probably the most interesting and practical way for handling gooseberries and currants in dwarf fruit gardens is the form known as standards. This form consists of a small round fruiting top of almost any desired variety grafted high upon a straight clean trunk or stem.

This stem may have any convenient height from two to ten feet, the most common and practical height being about four feet. The stock used is the flowering currant, _Ribes aureum_, which forms a sufficiently strong and upright growth for this purpose. Nevertheless it is almost always necessary to support these standards with a convenient stake apiece. For the present these standard gooseberries and currants can be obtained only of the European nurserymen. At least the writer knows of no one who propagates them in America. There are several importers, however, who make a business of supplying European stock and who are always glad to import these on order.

The finer varieties are especially chosen for growing as standards. This applies particularly to gooseberries, which are more widely grown and which are more highly prized in Europe than in this country. The varieties grown in Europe are usually finer table fruits than the American varieties. It is generally understood that the finest fruits for eating fresh out of hand are secured from the standard gooseberries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 39--GOOSEBERRY FAN ESPALIER

Variety Industry, trained on wire trellis]

Gooseberries and currants are also adapted easily to the espalier form.

The most elaborate palmettes and other geometrical designs can be worked out. Nevertheless the simplest and most practical form for trained gooseberries and currants is the fan shape. If a suitable trellis is provided, the vines may be easily tied out upon it in very attractive fan forms and these are found to be quite satisfactory, both as regards their looks and their product of fruit. They are also easily sprayed, which is a consideration worth mentioning when one has to fight the currant worm. In general, it is best in our lat.i.tude to run these espaliers north and south, because they receive too much sun when the trellis runs east and west. This rule, however, is not absolute.

Probably the most convenient and practical way for growing these fruits in the dwarf tree garden is to plant standards at regular intervals in a row, say six feet apart, and to plant a certain number of fan shaped bushes between each pair of standards in the row. If these standards were six feet apart, two plants for fan training would be enough between each pair. The top of the trellis on which the fan forms are tied, would not be above four feet high, better only three. The heads of the standards then rise well above the top of the trellis. This furnishes some support for the stem of the standard and economizes s.p.a.ce. Economy of s.p.a.ce is one of the first principles of this style of gardening.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 40--TREE FORM GOOSEBERRY]

No list need be given here of the varieties of gooseberries and currants to be recommended for this cla.s.s of planting. It may be said that any of the favorite varieties of currants grown in this country, as for example, Fay, Victoria, Red Versailles, etc., may be chosen, and that these are indeed the varieties usually preferred in Europe. With respect to gooseberries it may be remarked that the English, French, and German varieties are mostly very different from those grown in America, and that while they have some shortcomings in our climate, they are for the most part to be recommended for the purposes which we here have in view.

XII

FRUIT TREES IN POTS

Those who are used to seeing large fruit trees in orchard plantations where each specimen has 1,000 to 2,000 square feet of s.p.a.ce, with unlimited opportunities downward, find a fruit tree in a pot a curiosity. It seems remarkable to see a tree in vigorous health and bearing fruit with less than one cubic foot of soil. Nevertheless this method of handling fruit trees is entirely practicable. In some places it is practised extensively in an amateur way, and occasionally reaches almost commercial proportions. For those who grow fruit trees for recreation there could hardly be a more interesting experiment.

The pots mostly used are the nine, ten, eleven and twelve inch standard earthenware pots. With most trees it is best to begin with small sizes and gradually shift forward to the larger ones. A bearing tree may be maintained for several years in a twelve inch pot or even in a ten inch size. Sometimes wooden tubs are subst.i.tuted for pots. These look better, but are not so good in any other way.

Trees may be grown in pots out of doors, although there is no particular advantage in doing this. If such practise is undertaken the pots should be plunged their full depth in good garden soil. Perfect drainage should be secured by having some broken brick or coa.r.s.e cinders underneath.

Usually potted trees are grown under gla.s.s. They are kept in a cool greenhouse, that is one with little heat. Sometimes they are without artificial heat. In fact this is probably the best way. The houses which are purposely constructed for fruit trees may have a single line of pipe if this is convenient, so that the chill may be taken off the air in severe cold weather. To reach anything like real success, houses must be devoted exclusively to fruit trees. Occasionally trees may be grown with other plants, as in cold graperies, but the results are not the best and often come very close to failure.

In building houses for fruit trees exclusively, the even span construction is nearly always used. Houses eighteen or twenty feet wide, and five feet high at the eaves, will answer the purpose very well. The leading greenhouse designers are prepared to furnish plans for such houses and it is usually best to follow the advice of their experts.

All kinds of fruit trees can be grown in pots. This includes apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, and cherries. Those which give the best returns are plums and nectarines. Apples in pots are very interesting and furnish a superior quality of fruit when grown under gla.s.s. Apples, plums and nectarines take a finer finish and a higher flavor when grown in this way than when grown in any other.

All fruit trees to be grown in pots should be propagated on the dwarfest of dwarfing stocks. This means practically that apples should be on Paradise, pears on quince, peaches and nectarines on sand cherry, plum on sand cherry or St. Julien plum, and cherries on Mahaleb.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 41--A FRUITING PEACH IN POT]

The trees should be potted in good rich soil, preferably the best garden loam. This should have enough sand and gravel in it to insure good drainage. A considerable amount of drainage material should be placed in the bottom of each pot. The trees should be repotted in fresh soil annually in October or November.

Trees in pots require liberal feeding. Besides being given well enriched earth at the time of repotting, they should be supplied from time to time with small amounts of fertilizer. Good soluble chemical fertilizers can be applied either dry or dissolved. A good formula is one part nitrate of soda, two parts of muriate of potash, two parts of high grade phosphoric acid. A very little sprinkling, say a tablespoonful, of this can be given on each pot once a month during the growing season which lasts roughly from December to May. In place of this, or alternately with this, moderate waterings with liquid manure may also be given.

These small doses of food are especially useful at the time when the fruit is forming on the trees.

The trees are usually brought into the house at the time of potting, say November 1. If early fruit is desired, they are kept in a house with some heat. It is necessary only that the temperature should be kept constantly and safely above the freezing point. Rapid forcing with a high temperature is not desirable and is hardly possible. If kept simply above the freezing point, these trees will start into growth in January.

They can then be kept somewhat warmer during February, the heat being slightly increased in March. Peaches and nectarines will stand fairly high temperatures after the fruit is well set and especially toward ripening time. By this method of mild forcing, plums, peaches, and nectarines can be brought into fruit as early as the latter part of May.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 42--A FIG TREE IN A POT]

The main crop of potted fruits, however, need not be expected until June or July; that is not very much in advance of the outdoor crop. The object of growing fruit under gla.s.s is not so much to force it ahead of season as it is to improve the quality. Trees which are to be kept in a cool house without heat need no particular attention except to see that they are watered occasionally and that some plant food is given after growth begins. Even if the temperature goes down considerably below freezing during the winter months in this cold house where the potted fruit trees are, no damage need be expected.

Of course, special care will be given to prevent damage from attacks of fungi or insects which occasionally become troublesome in the houses.

The small size of these trees makes such work comparatively easy.

The methods of pruning are the same as those recommended for pyramid and bush form trees. These forms are the most practical for pot culture, though pot trees are occasionally trained in cordon forms.

XIII

PERSONALIA