You Think Your Garden Is Small for Trees Get A Dwarf by L.W. Hillan Tribune Garden Consultant If your have wanted to produce your own home fruit but have been handicapped because your property is too small, it is possible that dwarf fruit trees could be the solution to your problem. These trees, not much bigger than a large shrub, are very ornamental and shapely. Come spring they have beautiful flowers, followed by delicious, ripened fruits in season. pear, apple, cherry and peach are the fruits most commonly available. Popularity Grows Dwarf fruit trees in the home garden of the small property owner are becoming increasingly popular. They offer a combination of many advantages over standard fruit ttees. They are small enough to allow several of them to be grown in the limited space of the small yard. This enables one a produce a wide variety , home grown, tree fruit. Their small size ages the home owner to own pruning, spraying, ng and harvesting, sav ie extra and rather heavy se of hiring this work in spraying especially is this noticed. Ordinary garden spraying equipment is large enough to do the job well and best of all it can be done at the proper time and as often as necessary to assure the best results. Claims that these common orchard practices can be done more easily and efficiently with dwarf trees than the standard fruits are not to be denied. Performance Good Dwarf tree enthusiasts have been known to assume several other claims and advantages for their trees. They are reputed to come into bearing earlier; are said to have more highly colored and better developed fruits; and to have comparable yields with standard trees where equal areas are considered. Though many of these claims cannot always be substantiated and available information, though not official, would indicato that there is a great variation within the performances of dwarf fruit trees, the performance of most of the available popular varieties has not been disappointing in these cultural qualities. On the unfavorable side, these trees, for the most part, are shallow rooted and unless planted deeper than usual may blow over. Their roots at times have been known to sucker badly and some trees have not proven as hardy as the standard varieties. Other investigations indicate that suckering was more apt to be from tillage injury rather than from shallow planting or winter injury. However, a periodical examination of the roots by the removal of some of the soil from about the base of the tree is suggested as a good practice to follow. Dwarf trees are more likely to suffer from neglect than are the standard fruit trees. They particularly need extra attention in regard to their feeding and soil fertility if they are to keep up in their expected production. Proper thinning is also of utmost importance. Sizes May Vary The size of these trees will vary somewhat with the type of roots they have been grafted or budded on. They seldom grow taller than 10 feet in height. Some of the more dwarf, horticultural types such as the dwarf Mandarin Peach, may not exceed more than 4 5 feet in height. Because of their limited size and limb spread it is possible to plant them from 10 15 feet apart. Dr. William R. Middlemiss shows height of one of his Mandarin peach trees. Despite size, tree has good crop.