138 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



LESSON I — WATCH. 



Some lasting impressions, mentally and physically, were made 

 when I was a school-boy by the teacher, with sprouts from a line or- 



s 



chard hard by the old school-house, and the frowns of the owner — a 

 venerable minister of the gospel — wlien I failed to raise apples in it 

 without being caught at it. But by diligent study and vigilance, I suc- 

 cessfully evaded the rod of the teacher, and the wratli of the preacher, 

 graduating with honors in the lesson of " watch as well as prey" on 

 the delicious fruits of an orchard. Lesson I — " I say unto you, watch." 



LESSON II. 



Half a century ago markets were not accessible, as now, in twen- 

 ty-four to forty-eight hours. To utilize the wasting fruits in the valley 

 of the beautiful Ohio it was necessary to concentrate them into some- 

 thing that would keep and improve with age. The people were not 

 troubled with temperance orators, denouncing the evils of a morning 

 appetizer, a noon stimulator, and an evening refresher. A distillery 

 was a necessity, and at tlie old homestead I took my first lesson in dis- 

 tilling and tlie evils of strong drink, and my second in the frnit 

 business. 



There were no State entomologists to describe the destructive 

 habits, the voracious appetite, and to warn against the deadly venom of 

 the "worm of the still," as it poured forth its poisonous stream of 

 spiritus pyrus malus and perslca vulgaris increased by spiritus fnimenti. 

 But I soon learned from the oaths of men, tears of women, the cries of 

 children and the wretchedness .of their homes that "wine is a mocker 

 and strong drink is raging, and he that is deceived thereby is not wise." 

 Also, that Solomon, with all his wisdom, gave no better counsel to 

 young men than when he said " Look not upon the- wine when it is red, 

 when it giveth its color in the cup; for at last it bitcth like a serpent 

 and stingeth like an adder." Lesson — No entomologist or temperance 

 fanatic can portray in too lurid colors the destructive, death-distilling 

 and damning habits of the worm of the still ; or too strongly urge its 

 destruction, even to calling forth the energies, powers and resources 

 •of the government, as for stamping out the cattle plague. Lesson — 

 Beware of the worm of the still. It is but the chrysalis of the "worm 

 that never dies." 



