140 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



dem in de next, and do apples ain't half so good as dey was before. No! 

 sir-e-o ! You better sliust git right along." 



And if you had met that young man on his way to the next house, and had 

 asked him if "tree-agents ought to be encouraged," he would have said with- 

 out any hesitation or mental reservation, " Yes, indeed ! they need encourage- 

 ment by all means." And I say if ever there was a poor, humiliated boy, who 

 had grown up conscious of trying to do well, and yet, right here at the outset, 

 branded as a dishonest scoundrel, who needed encouragement, it was this one. 

 So the day passed, and at night he returned to his hotel, weary and crest- 

 fallen with that "grafting story," which he had heard reiterated from so 

 many different lips, still ringing in his ears. After about a week of similar 

 experience in that vicinity and the adjoining towns, he came in one evening to 

 find an acquaintance, representing another nursery not far from his own, who, 

 by a strange coincidence, had selected this same field for operations. But little, 

 if anything, was said of the events of the past week, and after another night 

 of "troubled sleep," these two "new-born" tree-agents started out in differ- 

 ent directions. After unsuccessful tramping for two or three days, our 

 "hero" returned to his headquarters to find that his "partner in distress" 

 had tried it only one day, paid his bill, left most of his outfit, and had com- 

 pletely and forever "shaken off the dust," as a testimony against that 

 community for their treatment of tree-agents. The next heard of him was 

 that he had shipped for a five-years' cruise on board of a whaler. Suffice it to 

 say that the subject of our sketch, which is a true one, left soon after for the 

 western part of the State, where he effected a good sale, although he found 

 that the "grafting story " was there sometime in advance; audi am almost 

 certain that the inhabitants of Indiana and Clearfield counties in Pennsylva- 

 nia are to-day enjoying the benefits of good fruit, which they never would have 

 tasted if it had not been for the personal and persistent appeals of that tree- 

 agent. The facts are, that a very large percentage of our population do not 

 realize how necessary good fruit is to health ; but rather consider it as a sort 

 of luxury which they can possibly do without. If I were a physician, and de- 

 sired to do the world a lasting and valuable service, 1 would give them this 

 free prescription : " Eat less pork and more fruit ! " 



Even those who can afford good trees and really want them, are poorly in- 

 formed as to the kinds most desirable and where to obtain them. Every man 

 who controls even a " garden patch " should possess and read his county paper, 

 the leading horticultural paper of his State, and the reports of the "State 

 Horticultural Society." These all are good, paying investments for everybody. 

 How often have we found a single number of a good paper worth more to us 

 than the subscription price for a year. People say, " there are so many hum- 

 bugs that they are afraid to buy anything;" and all we can say to such is, 

 that the best way to avoid imposition is to lay in a good stock of information, 

 and exercise that heaven-born gift of common sense. Some people will never 

 profit by the experience of others, but always want to see the folly of it 

 themselves. To those we would say that the quicker they get the experience, 

 whether good or bad, the sooner they will be in a fair way to prosper. As I 

 have before remarked, there are many, very many, who would never plant a 

 tree if it were not for the personal solicitation of the tree-agent; and the 

 almost prevailing custom at the present day of calling them all dishonest, or 

 at least insinuating that they are so, makes it very difficult to obtain the best 

 class of canvassers. If there is any business in the world that ought to em- 

 ploy the very best men, both as to qualification and character, it is the business 



