204 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



the pictorial farm pageant, even though 

 the giant mangles, like lumps of beef, 

 pile up the wagons, and onions, car- 

 rots, and turnips yield greater profit. 

 The pumpkin still exists and grins 

 among the cornstalks, but the apple, 

 though pursued by moth and rust, is 

 yet the bright, crisp fruit our forbears 

 deemed it, and every autumn sees its 

 panorama. The apples are picked and 

 sorted into heaps, and the surplus being 

 shaken down, the ox carts crawl with 

 them to the cider-mill. With what a 

 crunch the teeth meet in the fruit, 

 when exercise and the keen air make 

 the blood tingle and parch the throat, 

 and what a pleasure lies in the quick 

 gush of the responsive juice ! The 

 apple is the friend of every one. 



The cider-mill, on one side half 

 fallen down, and patched with rough 

 chestnut boards, hangs over the tum- 



