THE SECRETAliY'S PORTFOLIO. 349 



fort of nil living creatures, tlie glory of the earth, they are but the monuments 

 of those poor leaves that tlit faintly past us to die." 



It is evident that, unless the only procedure of nature be in some way dis- 

 turbed, each twig, branch, and bough, and the very structure of the trunk 

 itself, should conform to this law of spiral development, the entire fabric being 

 reared after the plan marked out by the lirst live leaves. 



And thus it is, in the fine old tree here held up as an example of what a tree 

 is capable of becoming. All its conditions have I'avored a symmetrical and 

 uninterrupted development. Hence one can trace the spirals from the ground 

 to the outmost bough, except where they lose themselves by being knotted 

 together. 



Five buttressed roots, each one foot in diameter, mark the emergence of 

 the tree from the ground. The circumference of the trunk immediately above 

 them is nine feet ; and it is made of live distinct strands, like those of a rope, 

 twisted around each other, until at the height of six ieet from the ground and 

 exactly over each corresponding root, each strand puts forth a branch. The 

 girth of the tree, midway, is eight feet ; just below the whorl of branches it 

 increases again. The branches, five in number and arranged in a spiral, meas- 

 ure at the point of divergence respectively, three feet, three feet and six inches, 

 three feet and eight inches, four feet, and four feet six inches. The height of 

 the entire tree is about forty feet. The diameter of its canopy from north to 

 south is forty-three feet, and from east to west it is forty-five feet. 



It should be added that this patriarchal apple tree enjoys a green and fruit- 

 ful old age ; being still a prolific bearer, although it has stood where it now is 

 for forty-four years, and is probably as much as forty-six years old. 



RUSSIAN APPLES. 



Some people have nearly gone crazy over Russian apples, and tree agents 

 have sold anything and everything to meet the demand. The ardor of a good 

 many has lowered as they have come actually to have experience with these 

 varieties even when true to name. C. G. Patton in the Iowa Homestead, who 

 has had a large experience, contributes to that paper his views, from which we 

 abstract as follows : 



Eight years ago I received from Washington sixty varieties of the govern- 

 ment importation of Russian apples, which list [ added to the next year and 

 the year after. Four years ago I bought cious of apple, pear, plum, and cherry 

 of Dr. Regel of St. Petersburg, Russia, that cost me thirty dollars. What I 

 had two years ago from the college farm of these Russian fruits and those I 

 had as before stated and from other sources in Vermont and Wisconsin would 

 number nearly two hundred sorts. By hard winters, grafting upon unsuitable 

 stocks, and the labor and care incident upon testing so many varieties, I have 

 lost quite a number of them. And no one who has never tried it has any 

 adequate idea of the cost of experimenting v/ith so many varieties. Had I 

 received fifty cents for every tree of these Russians that I have grown, it would 

 not pay me in a pecuniary way for the thought and labor and money bestowed. 

 And I shall do myself no injustice if I say that I have tried those fruits faith- 

 fully and honestly for my own and others' good, and to say that I am disap- 

 pointed does not fully express it. 



