January, 1999

Bob Carlson, pioneer of dwarfing rootstocks dies

When Bob Carlson emigrated to America from Sweden at the age of 17 he couldn’t speak English. He learned to speak the language by reading newspapers and going to Saturday night silent movies, which had subtitles.
That early drive and ambition stayed with him his whole life and led him to help the Midwest apple industry successfully adopt and manage dwarfing rootstocks during his long and internationally-renowned career. The Mark rootstock was developed through his research and was one of the first dwarfing rootstocks available outside the rootstocks developed at the East Malling Research Station in England. He was also one of the driving forces in forming and running of the Dwarf Fruit Tree Association which was organized in 1958. Carlson was the first executive secretary and stayed in the position 28 years. The organization went worldwide when it changed its name to the International Dwarf Fruit Tree Association (IDFTA) in 1974.
“I certainly didn’t do it alone. A lot of people have been involved - the association leaders, the research people, the Extension people who were involved in getting these newer ideas across. I don’t want to take much credit. I’m just part of a wheel, I guess just one spoke,” he said in an interview for a retirement story in the July 1979 edition of The Great Lakes Fruit Growers News. “I don’t know of any better groups to work with than fruit growers and nurserymen. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been my life.”
Carlson or “Dr. Bob” as he was known in the industry, died November 26, 1998 at the age of 89 in East Lansing, Mich. He was born June 27, 1909 and emigrated to America in 1927, settling in Belgrade, Minn. He then pursued an education in science and horticulture at the University of Minnesota and Michigan State University. He started his career as a research horticulturist at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva from 1944 to 1946. He then served as a professor of horticulture at MSU from 1946 to 1979.
Wally Heuser, owner of Summit Sales in Lawrence, Mich., who was the first president of the DFTA in 1958 and sat on the board for 25 years, said Carlson had a real impact on the industry.
“Bob was down to earth, not pretentious,” Heuser said. “He could talk to growers on their level and yet he was well informed. He was a great communicator and that’s one of the legacies he left.”
Carlson edited the IDFTA newsletter for many years and organized the annual convention and tours to all continents of the world. Heuser remembered that the first tour Carlson organized was to Europe for three weeks in 1964.
“Any tour you went on with Bob was truly an educational experience. It was a working tour with a full schedule,” Heuser said.
Carlson was also a visiting professor in numerous locations around the world including the University of Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan from 1956 to 1958 and the agricultural experiment station in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1978.
Carlson was also recognized around the world for his work. Awards include The British Royal Horticultural Society Veitch Memorial Medal, the American Pomological Society Wilder Award and the American Society of Horticultural Science Stark Award.
The family has requested that memorials be made to the IDFTA Research Fund at the association’s business office at 14 Main St., Middleburg, PA 17842.

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