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The only drawbacks to dwarfs are that they cost about twice as much as standards and bear about half as long. Creating tiny fruit trees by grafting or budding desired species onto dwarfing rootstock is a fascinating and not difficult hobby for people with the patience to undertake it. Instruction on how it is done is contained in some of the textbooks on fruit culture listed at the end of this chapter. But beginners would do well to familiarize themselves first with dwarfs bought from nurseries. For such purchases a few guidelines will be useful. Dwarf apple trees used to be created in America (and still can be) by grafting thrifty scions (segments of one-year wood, with buds) to rootstock found stunted naturally in the wild. The Paradise and Doucin, grown to type in England and France, were considered the best wild stocks for dwarfing. Nowadays a strain called East Mailing, perfected in England, is preferred. The EM types are numbered to distinguish their characters. EM II grows a semi-dwarf about three-fourths standard size. EM VII is two-thirds standard, little larger than a standard peach tree. EM VIII is widely used as an interstem piece (grafted between a root and scion of the desired species) to produce a full dwarf, sometimes called Clark. EM IX, a rootstock, is considered the best EM dwarfer of all. It produces a tree that will not, with proper pruning, exceed six or eight feet in height after twenty years and will bear a bushel a year. Since 1952, American nurseries have sold dwarf apple trees called Mailing Mertons—obtained by crossing EM strains with the Northern Spy. MM strains are pest-resistant, well anchored. They yield early and heavily. They are numbered from 101 to 115, with Nos. 104, 106, 109, and 111 so far the most promising. |
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