G'day Gary,
Long answer I'm afraid, because the answer isn't entirely simple or
capable of being condensed to one sentence. Probably those not
interested in apple-growing should leave now.
I can't say with respect to the strength, durability etc of the new
varieties, but on the basis of my Ag Science degree, living in what was
once "The Apple Isle" , and using scavenged apple and pear wood there
are a few things I can say.
First of all, every apple will be of the species /Malus domestica/, so
the physical properties of the wood will show some variation between
trees and perhaps varieties, just as there will be natural variation
between individual trees in a stand of Douglas fir. But all the working
characteristics will be much the same. The way in which the tree has
been grown, trained, pruned and forced to shape will have much more
effect on any subsequent use of the wood.
No apple-grower in Tasmania has used seedling trees, ie tops growing on
their own roots within living memory. All have been cloned tops,
cuttings from an example of a known variety grafted onto a seedling or
onto a struck rootstock. I have seen a few huge open grown apple trees
in the UK, mainly cider varieties which pretty much look after
themselves. I have never seen such a tree in Tasmania, nor in Australia
more generally
Here old varieties of apples and pears were grown on heavy clay ground
because that helped to keep down the size of the tree in the days when
they were open-grown, ie shaped like a vase or goblet and not grown as
hedges on trellis systems. The rootstock used was one known to cope
with such conditions, the top grafted to the stock was the desired
apple: red or Golden Delicious, Lady in the Snow etc. In the early
1900s a series of dwarfing rootstocks were developed in the UK at the
East Malling Horticultural Research Station, later cooperating with the
Merton Research Station. If you know a commercial grower of apple stock
(as opposed to apples) he or she will almost certainly know of the "M"
(Malling) or "MM" (Malling-Merton) series of rootstocks. Some are still
used, others have fallen out of use, replaced by newer rootstock
selections. See http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malling_series, or
http://en.wikipedi
a.org/wiki/Fruit_tree_propagation (Scan down to
"Rootstocks").
So, an apple tree can be "dwarf" because of its own genetic makeup, or
because the rootstock that the fruit-bearing top has been grafted onto
is suppressing the vigour of the top, or because the overall growth is
being limited by the conditions in which it is being grown.
More and more the tendency is for production systems which increase the
number of stems per unit area of land, restrict the height and width of
individual trees, allow for mechanical pruning ("hedge systems") and
even mechanical harvesting. A young tree grows more good fruit per unit
area of land and per unit weight of apple wood than does an old widely
spreading tree. So, once they are past the juvenile stage a young
orchard planted at high density is more productive and cheaper to run
than an old orchard using an old cultural system. Sweeping
generalisation I know but good for almost all cases. In addition growers
will cut trees right back and graft on cuttings from newer varieties if
old varieties fall out of favour.
So, all in all the chances of finding pieces of clear strong apple wood
suitable for saw handles or whatever, are diminishing. When I drive
through apple-growing areas I keep an eye out for old open grown
orchards being pushed out to be replaced with new training systems and
varieties, or increasingly commonly, replaced by cherry orchards.
Sometimes I can get one or 2 foot butt sections for the asking and the
gathering. That is rare now but.
The other type of dwarf apples are the "mutants": breeders have been
seeking out individual trees with very short internode lengths. These
are "natural dwarfs" Again a tree with desirable fruit characteristics
will be selected and cuttings from that individual grafted onto seedling
rootstocks grown from the same variety. This ensures that the grafted
trees stay tiny, but all the fruit is identical because the fruiting
part of the all the trees is genetically identical. These are aimed at
the patio and tub specimen market and with the short intenodes would be
full of knots and twisted grain, assuming one ever survived t a size
large enough to produce a billet large enough for a chisel handle. You
would never get a saw handle out of one of these trees.
And if you come from an orchard owning family, my apology for telling
you stuff you already knew.
Regards,
Tony B
In Hobart where the 30 yo backyard apple hedge is just coming into flower.
On 29/09/2014 3:51 AM, Gary Katsanis wrote:
> Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move
> from standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.
>
> Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its
> desirability for handles?
>
> Gary Katsanis
> Albion NY, USA
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