How One Tree Became an Entire Apple Orchard

In 1938, ordinary apple saplings were brought from the Altai region. Just two decades later, every visitor to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition stopped to admire them. The sight was staggering: an entire apple orchard on a single tree!

One branch was laden with “Belfler-Kitayka” apples, another bent under the weight of “Almaty Aport” fruits, a third bore “Komsomolets” apples, and other branches held “Antonovka 600-gram,” “Oleg,” and “Yakhontovoe.” Listing them all is difficult — there were 84 varieties in total!

In 1950, the apple trees that had thrived in Moscow’s climate were grafted, transforming them into a remarkable creation of human ingenuity: tree-gardens.