﻿29 
  

  

  will 
  be. 
  One 
  of 
  my 
  friends 
  told 
  me 
  a 
  short 
  time 
  ago 
  of 
  a 
  very- 
  

   successful 
  young 
  pecan 
  orchard 
  on 
  the 
  gulf 
  coast. 
  Upon 
  inquiry 
  

   I 
  found 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  of 
  reasonable 
  size, 
  nine 
  years 
  old, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  owner 
  had 
  lived 
  in 
  it 
  nine 
  years. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  500 
  acres 
  in 
  

   extent, 
  or 
  1,000 
  acres, 
  or 
  2,000 
  acres, 
  but 
  about 
  20 
  acres. 
  Last 
  

   summer 
  I 
  went 
  into 
  a 
  beautiful 
  apple 
  orchard 
  in 
  Southern 
  In- 
  

   diana 
  and 
  saw 
  about 
  forty 
  acres 
  of 
  trees 
  bending 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  

   with 
  deHcious 
  Grimes 
  Golden 
  apples. 
  On 
  that 
  particular 
  day 
  

   there 
  were 
  great 
  crowds 
  of 
  people 
  walking 
  among 
  the 
  trees 
  and 
  

   admiring 
  the 
  fruit. 
  I 
  too 
  walked 
  among 
  the 
  trees 
  a 
  short 
  time, 
  

   but 
  of 
  greater 
  interest 
  to 
  me 
  than 
  the 
  trees 
  was 
  the 
  old, 
  gray- 
  

   haired 
  man 
  who 
  had 
  made 
  the 
  orchard. 
  The 
  trees 
  could 
  not 
  

   talk, 
  but 
  he 
  could, 
  and 
  he 
  told 
  the 
  story 
  of 
  the 
  years 
  of 
  care, 
  

   and 
  diligence, 
  and 
  work, 
  and 
  thought, 
  and 
  patience, 
  that 
  showed 
  

   why 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  possible 
  to 
  cover 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  a 
  state 
  with 
  

   orchards 
  bringing 
  almost 
  immediate 
  and 
  fabulous 
  incomes. 
  

  

  Some 
  time 
  ago 
  I 
  stood 
  talking 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  superintendent 
  of 
  

   the 
  Botanical 
  Garden 
  in 
  Washington 
  — 
  William 
  R. 
  Smith, 
  now 
  

   deceased 
  — 
  and 
  while 
  discussing 
  with 
  him 
  the 
  requisites 
  for 
  tree 
  

   culture, 
  he 
  said 
  "Young 
  man, 
  you 
  have 
  left 
  out 
  the 
  most 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  all," 
  When 
  I 
  asked 
  him 
  what 
  I 
  had 
  left 
  

   out, 
  he 
  said 
  "above 
  all 
  things 
  it 
  takes 
  the 
  eye 
  of 
  the 
  master." 
  

   So 
  it 
  does, 
  and 
  the 
  master 
  is 
  he 
  whose 
  vigilance 
  is 
  continual, 
  

   who 
  watches 
  each 
  tree 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  a 
  growing 
  child 
  — 
  as 
  indeed 
  

   it 
  is, 
  a 
  child 
  of 
  the 
  forests 
  — 
  who 
  has 
  the 
  care 
  and 
  the 
  patience, 
  and 
  

   who 
  is 
  not 
  dazzled 
  by 
  the 
  glitter 
  of 
  the 
  dollar, 
  but 
  who 
  loves 
  

   trees 
  because 
  they 
  are 
  trees. 
  

  

  Theoretically, 
  one 
  can 
  figure 
  great 
  successes 
  in 
  big 
  horti- 
  

   cultural 
  development 
  propositions, 
  but 
  these 
  figures 
  rest 
  upon 
  

   theory 
  and 
  not 
  fact. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  difficult 
  to 
  state 
  all 
  the 
  reasons 
  

   why 
  I 
  have 
  a 
  firm 
  conviction 
  that 
  such 
  big 
  schemes 
  of 
  every 
  

   kind 
  will 
  fall, 
  but 
  I 
  believe 
  this 
  conviction 
  is 
  shared 
  by 
  the 
  fore- 
  

   most 
  thinkers 
  in 
  the 
  horticultural 
  world. 
  A 
  four-year-old 
  boy 
  

   was 
  once 
  taken 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  animals 
  in 
  a 
  circus. 
  He 
  was 
  very 
  

   much 
  interested, 
  but, 
  when 
  shown 
  the 
  tremendous 
  elephant, 
  

   shook 
  his 
  head 
  and 
  said 
  "he 
  is 
  too 
  big." 
  

  

  A 
  small 
  grove 
  properly 
  handled 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  excellent 
  in- 
  

   vestment. 
  The 
  various 
  uncertainties 
  and 
  vicissitudes 
  involved 
  

   can, 
  in 
  a 
  degree, 
  be 
  compensated 
  for 
  by 
  great 
  care; 
  and 
  I 
  sup- 
  

   pose 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  possible 
  even 
  with 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  big 
  schemes 
  — 
  

   by 
  placing 
  enough 
  money 
  behind 
  them— 
  to 
  insure 
  a 
  fair 
  degree 
  

   of 
  success. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  borne 
  in 
  mind, 
  however, 
  that 
  these 
  pro- 
  

  

  