North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["gorgon zolla" <lazolla@hotmail.com>]

<sheep>

We have cattle.  Generally, grazing animals tend to destroy young trees by 
eating and stepping on them, and damage mature ones by scratching against 
them.  If you wait until the trees are well established, and use rotational 
grazing, you might be able to make it work.  You could also put electric 
fence around each individual tree.  We have done this and it works, but it 
is labor intensive to set up the fence and maintain it, and it gets in the 
way.

If you have five acres of additional pastureland, that is more than enough 
for the 3-4 sheep.  I’d suggest leaving them there and keeping them out of 
the orchard.

<rootstocks>

I have trees on seedling rootstock for the same reasons.  Ultimate size of 
standard trees varies considerably among cultivars, and can be limited 
somewhat by pruning.  We produce apples for our own use and enjoyment and 
don’t mind the larger trees.

You might consider the Bud-9 and P-2/Antonovka rootstocks.  Both produce 
small trees and are said to be hardier than the older dwarfing rootstocks.

> -why would i NOT want a standard?  why would i WANT a standard?

The problems with standard trees are that they take longer to start bearing, 
and they get big, with the ultimate size less predictable than with dwarf 
trees.

I would think you would want a standard if you are in Zone 3, or if 
anchorage is a major concern.  You might also want a standard tree if the 
only dwarf and semi-dwarves available to you are on M.7 and M.9 and you live 
in Zone 4.

> -how many apples/bushels etc, under average conditions, ball park figure (i 
> know there are countless issues to take into consideration) will a standard 
> apple tree give and a semi-dwarf give?

It would not be unusual to get 5-10 bushels from a standard tree and 2-3 
from a semi-dwarf, but these figures vary widely depending on planting site, 
cultivar, and rootstock. They also vary from year to year.  Keep in mind 
that yield per acre is about the same, perhaps higher for small trees.  With 
semi-dwarves, you just plant more trees per acre than you would with 
standard trees.

> -how about pears?  how big will a pear on a standard get?  is it the same 
> as apples just on a different rootstock?  issues of PRO and CON with pear 
> standards and dwarfs?

As a rule, pear trees grow faster and get larger than apple trees.  With 
enough space and good cultural conditions, some pear cultivars are said to 
exceed 50 feet at maturity.  Pears take longer to come into bearing than 
apples.  Mine have been in the ground four years and haven’t started.  So, 
there’s all the more reason to use dwarfing rootstocks.  However, there are 
no dwarfing pear rootstocks that are hardy in Zone 4, so you’re pretty much 
stuck with ‘pyrus betulifolia’ seedling and Winter Nelis rootstocks, both of 
which produce a full size tree.  Winter Nelis is the more hardy of the two 
but more susceptible to fireblight.

> -how many bushels will a standard pear give? a semi-dwarf?

Roughly similar to apple trees of the same size; since pear trees get 
bigger, you get more fruit.

> -how many bushels will a plum tree give?

We have Toka and Superior producing, and each produces somewhat less than 
the apple trees in a good year.

Steve Dunlop
Nerstrand, MN
Zone 4

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