Miscellaneous. 445 



Putting the price at half what Mr. Ross actually received and 

 you have $250.00 per acre. But every orchardist may not be as suc- 

 cessful as Mr. Ross, and to be on the safe side let us cut his yield in two 

 and estimate the output at 40 cents per bushel and you have $2 per 

 tree or $98 per acre, a ten per cent dividend on a valuation of $980 per 

 acre. 



But there are other old orchards still in bearing. The farm joining 

 our ranch on the east is now owned by a thrifty Scotchman, Mr. 

 E. J. Gordon. On this farm is a remnant of an old orchard. Among 

 these old gnarled moss-grown trees are eleven Janetons. Three years 

 ago I chanced to visit this orchard and noted the immense crop of apples 

 of these old Janetons. It did not seem possible to find a place where 

 another apple could grow. The branches hung to the ground under their 

 heavy load. I made another visit to this orchard in company with a 

 friend who had a camera, but the artist would not take a snap shot 

 at the trees as he said his camera would not photograph such a mass 

 of apples and pick them out in detail. Later in the season I again 

 visited this orchard with my friend Major Frank Holsinger. Mr. 

 Gordon had harvested his Janetons and was putting them in the cellar. 

 He said the eleven trees had yielded 300 bushels. Major Holsinger 

 used some characteristic, expressive language and taking out his 

 pencil did some figuring. He said, "If I had an acre of such trees 

 in my orchard near Kansas City the crop would be worth $700. 



These trees stood in an old pasture. They neither asked nor re- 

 ceived any attention from their owner except to gather their annual 

 product. How old were the trees ? No one knew except that they were 

 planted in "the good old days befo' the wah." The hands that had 

 planted them had been folded in rest many years. The children who 

 had gathered their early blossoms and had eaten their first apples are 

 men and v^omen on the down slope of life's journey. They have gray 

 hairs and grand children. 



The farm, has changed owners several times but these old ^ trees 

 still remain and still give their annual yield of lucious apples. 



Mr. Gordon is a prosperous farmer. He has good harvests. He 

 also raises good stock. But when he sells his crops his mows and bins 

 are empty. He must plow and plant, cultivate and reap before he can 

 refill his garners. When he sells his stock his principal is gone. He 

 must raise other stock to refil his stalls. Not so with his apple trees. 

 He merely gathers their fruitage and uses it, well knowing that each 

 recurring autumn will bring an abundant harvest. As I looked at 

 these old scarred veterans I could not help moralizing. They probably 



