Reading my Google news feed this morning was a little like finding a unique treasure in a dusty, out-of-the-way antique store. For some reason, a 1986 story from Mother Earth News was near the top of the page.
Written by Robert Kourik, the article is about miniature fruit trees being studied at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center, a project that was under way about 20 years ago. With bonsai-like authentic proportions, the miniature trees came together to form an adorable Lilliputian orchard. The tree's diminutive size made for easy harvest, I recall, but apparently the compact canopy limited airflow, so there were fruit quality issues. (This isn't mentioned in the Mother Earth article.)
As part of the "throw back" the article says, "Miniature fruit trees are the wave of the future. At the 1980 North American Fruit Explorers conference at Stark Brothers Nursery, Paul Stark Jr. stated that he sees the miniature tree as the predominant commercial tree in the years to come."
The article says yields of miniature peach trees are "being tested at the Kearney station of the University of California Cooperative Extension" and it quotes generic researchers as saying, "Clearly, the gene that dwarfs tree stature does not adversely affect fruit size."
The Internet never ceases to amaze!