174 STATE HOETICDLTUEAL SOCIETY. 



Of its orifjin nothing can be known more definitely than the impli- 

 cation from the simple and concise statement of Holy Writ, in Gen. ii: 

 S, 9: "The Lord planted a garden in Eden and put the man in it ; * 

 * * and out of the ground made to grow every tree that is pleasant 

 to the sight and good for food." 



The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil was there, which, when 

 the woman saw that it was pleasant to the eye and good food, and to 

 be desired to make one wise, she stretched forth her hand, "and ate of 

 that forbidden fruit, whose mortal taste brought death into the world 

 and all our woe ;" and " the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden," 

 the apple tree (not the crab), must have been there. Was it the Tree 

 of Knowledge, as is generally conceded and believed ? It has always 

 been classed among the very best of nerve and brain foods by those 

 of large literary attainments and hard mental labors. Horace Greeley 

 lived largely on fruits. 



ITS HIGH ESTIMATION. 



It was a valuable fruit and "good for food" — how precious, may 

 be learned from the divine word. In Deut. xxxii: 10, "the Lord found 

 him (Israel — the church) in a desert land, and in a waste, howling 

 ■wilderness ; led him about, instructed him and kept him as the Apple 

 of His eye." In Ps. xvii : 8, David prays the Lord to "keep him as the 

 Apple of His eye." In Prov. vii : 2, Solomon advises his son to "keep 

 my commandments and live my law as the apple of thine eye." The 

 Prophet Zach. ii : 8, declaring God's care over his people, speaking for 

 the Lord, says, "he that toucheth you toucheth the Apple of His eye." 



How precious and valuable the apple must be, to be compared to 

 the pupil of the Lord's eye, and to human sight ! Sight, more valua- 

 ble than gold! Of its beauty Solomon (Prov. xxv : 11) compares "a 

 ■word fitly spoken" to " apples of gold in pictures of silver." Again, 

 Solomon ( Song : ii : 3), in speaking of the church, says : " As the lily 

 among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the ajpjjle-tree 

 among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat 

 under his shadow with delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste ;" 

 and asks to be "stayed with flagons and comforted with apples." Again, 

 of the church coming up irom the wilderness, leaning on her beloved: 

 "I raised thee up under the apple-tree, and the smell of thy nose (her 

 breath) is like apples." The prophet Joel, 1:12, weeping over the sin, 

 sorrow, misery, desolation and distress of his people, as the culmina- 

 tion of the whole declares, " the vine is dried up, the fig-tree languish- 

 eth ; the pomegranate-tree, the paim-tree and the apple-tree, and all the 

 trees * * are withered, because joy is withered away from the sons 



