Study Guide

The Compact Fruit Tree has been a significant resource for innovative growers.

From its inception, the International Fruit Tree Association has aided in financing publications dealing with the culture and care of compact fruit trees.

The secretary edited and published the Association’s first newsletter, Compact News, in October 1958. The sub-title of the newsletter was "Information about smaller than standard trees" which is indicative of its timely, informative hints, useful to the grower. Among several short articles in this newsletter, the late Dr. H.B. Tukey wrote:

"...dwarf fruit trees are promising, but are they going to be subject to spring frost injury on low ground because of their low heading? Do they need to be located on special frost-free sites? Does the fruit of different varieties ripen a day or so earlier or later? Does this markedly affect marketability? How about finish? Do fruits from dwarf trees keep in storage as well or better than from standard trees? What about mulching, irrigation, hand pollination, mechanical harvesting, thinning, insect and disease control, pruning, and harvesting?

Here is where and why the new Dwarf Fruit Tree Association is so badly needed. Let everyone make his observations and bring them to the Association for dissemination and discussion. In this way, we will shake the bugs out of the dwarf fruit tree, find where they belong, and how to handle them. The formation of the DFTA could prove to be one of the important steps in the development of the fruit industry."

The IDFTA has continued to stay in touch with its members by publishing its newsletter several times each year. Dwarfed Fruit Trees, published in 1964, contains a tremendous amount of the early rootstocks and tree training methods and has much historic information from Europe as applied to the west continent.

Compact Fruit Tree, published annually since 1971, contains papers presented each year at the annual meetings. These volumes have practical rootstock and culture information presented by fruit growers and researchers.

There has been considerable amounts on rootstock usage published as well. In 1987, Rootstocks for Fruit Crops was published. This book (494 pages) was written by knowledgeable researchers and edited by Roy C. Rom and Robert F. Carlson. It includes valuable and up-to-date data and usage of rootstocks for apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots, and grapes, as well as citrus and nut crops - a very useful reference textbook for anyone interested in rootstocks for fruit crops.

It also became very evident that 40 trees per acre was no longer practical because the trees were not precocious, difficult to prune, spray, and harvest. Thus enthusiasm for dwarf and semi-dwarf trees increased as more information became available.

A generous exchange of ideas and information has transpired since the inception of the IDFTA. And this exchange between horticulture research workers and fruit growers has helped to establish sound and practical recommendations for rootstock performance as to vigor, precocity and yield, tolerance to soils and climates, resistance to diseases and insects, tree life expectancy, and other varied cultural managerial practices.