The Story of a Successful Orchard 
PART I. 
P EOPLE ill the Middle West, particularly in Ohio, 
are keenly interested in the work of W. T. 
Maun of Ashtabula County. Mr. Maim has been 
credited with havin'? a secret which may be difficult 
to obtain. This secret, however, is considered by 
many of the best fruit growers of the State as com¬ 
mon sense. During the past year a visitor was 
shown about Mr. Mann's orchards, and his methods 
were carefully explained, yet Die visitor contended 
there still remained something mysterious. The 
careful a ml businesslike methods which Mr. Mann 
has given in the following are the foundation for his 
merited success. Mr. Mann was formerly located 
in Niagara County, N. Y., and came to Ohio in the 
Autumn of 15)34, 
The question which would naturally suggest itself 
in a county where the earlier orchards are sadly 
neglected, comparatively no new plantings are being 
made, and where the local product supplies' only a 
we are located on the watershed between Grand 
Itiver and Lake Erie. We are several hundred feet 
above the lake, which is six miles to the north. 
Grand Liver borders one of our farms to the south.” 
The manner in which Mr. Mann brought hack old 
trees is considered remarkable. Mr. Mann attributes 
the improvement of lx is old trees to tillage and spray¬ 
ing mainly. He says: “They have also had such 
pruning as seemed necessary, and they have been 
mulched with straw to protect the dropping fruit. 
This mulch has helped conserve moisture and has 
added to tile supply of humus in the soil." 
"Will you tell us about your young orchards?” 
“We set 5.000 apple trees in 1015, and have plant¬ 
ed. from time to time since then until we now have 
150 acres of apple orchard, containing about 12,500 
trees. We also have 1.200 quince. 1,000 pear and 
1,000 peach trees. Our apple orchards are set on the 
filler system, with permanent trees 40x44 ft. apart. 
“We most certainly do believe in pruning, but we 
also believe that pruning has been over-emphasized, 
and that much harm has been done by unwise and 
unintelligent, pruning. We have no use for the 
average professional primer. lie measures his suc¬ 
cess by the amount of wood he removes, and not by 
the amount he can properly leave on the tree. The 
productive capacity of a tree depends upon the 
amount of bearing wood it can properly support. It 
is very difficult to establish rules for pruning, but we 
can indicate certain conditions that should be main¬ 
tained. Wlml we may. perhaps, call our philosophy 
of pruning is based upon the fact that the leaves are 
the respiratory and digestive organs of the tree. The 
Sap, carrying the necessary minerals of the soil, 
passes into the leaves, where under the influence of 
sunlight, they are combined with the carbon of the 
atmosphere to form the food necessary for growth 
and fruit. Anything which lessens the number and 
Baldwin Tree Set in 1915, Showing Five Years’ Growth Under Mr. Mann’s Treatment. Fig. 129. 
fraction of the demand is: “Do you consider the 
conditions in Northeastern Ohio favorable for apple 
orcharding?” 
In Mr. Mann’s reply he says: “When I first bought 
land and began planting orchards here. I was con¬ 
vinced the conditions were favorable for apple pro¬ 
duction, and the experiences of the past seven years 
have fully continued that opinion. The few old trees 
on the farms we now own were badly diseased and 
unproductive. They are now vigorous, and produce 
annual crops of fine fruit in such quantity that wo 
find it necessary to protect the trees from breaking. 
Our first planting of young trees, a block of 5,000 
set in 15)15. 1ms borne two crops. As compared with 
my experience in Western New York, 1 believe the 
growth is better, atul my records show twice as much 
fruit per tree as was produced in my New Ybrk 
orchards on trees of the same age. The quality of 
the fruit can scarcely he surpassed. The past season 
some of our early fruit retailed in the Cleveland mar¬ 
ket at 10 cents per pound.” 
Regarding soil and exposure. Mr. Mann says: 
“Our soil is a clay loam containing much decayed 
mineral matter, and underlaid with shale rock. The 
surface is gently rolling, so as to afford good natural 
drainage. We also have excellent air drainage, as 
With the fillers the trees stand 20x22 ft. apart.” 
“Do you advise the filler system?” 
“I would say it is a very dangerous system for the 
average grower. If the tillers are removed at the 
proper time it is highly profitable, hut if the fillers 
are not removed in time, the results are likely to he 
disastrous to the future welfare of the orchard. The 
income from young orchards may he greatly in¬ 
creased by the usx' of fillers, hut it is imperative 
that they In* removed before damage has been done 
to the permanent trees. Some good orchardists find 
it very difficult to remove vigorous, productive young 
trees, and so sacrifice the ideal form of the perma¬ 
nent tree, with a resulting annual less covering many 
years for only a temporary gain. I have even seen 
orchards in which the fillers have not been removed, 
hut. instead, the lower branches of all the trt'es have 
bet'n cut away, so as to allow work beneath them. 
Such an orchard has little or no commercial value 
except as an object lesson of folly or sentimental 
weakness. Personally, we like and use the filler 
system, and find it very profitable, but hesitate to 
recommend its general use." 
“It has been reported that you do not believe in 
pruning. What is your opinion and practice in re¬ 
gard to it?” 
strength of these vital organs, whether it be the 
pruning saw, insects or diseases, lessens food pro¬ 
duction, and therefore lessens the growth and fruit¬ 
age of the tree. Hence on young trees, the less we 
prune the larger the growth and the earlier the fruit¬ 
age. While the permanent trees must be shaped for 
the future welfare of the orchard, yet we should do 
as little pruning as possible to secure the desired 
form. The fillers will not need this shaping, and so 
will need little or no pruning. The loss we prune 
the young tree, the earlier and the more abundant 
is it likely to bear. As the trees increase in size and 
density of foliage, it will be necessary to prune to 
admit sunlight to shaded portions of the tree, so 
that the remaining leaves may properly function. In 
the absence of sunlight the leaves themselves not 
only lose their power to perform this important 
work, but become enfx'obled and finally die. Finally 
the branch upon which they arc growing loses its 
vigor and dix*s. This is nature's method of pruning. 
It will also become necessary to remove such low 
branches as interfere with extension tillage tools. 
As the trees become still larger, it will be necessary 
to open up the tree so that the spray can reach all 
parts, and also in order that pickers can have ready 
access to the interior. In all cases, however, the 
