130 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



The invitation was duly accepted, and standing in the 

 old orchard after supper, surrounded by such a wealth 

 of beauty and fragrance, with blossoms above and below 

 and falling in showers all around, silently like unosten- 

 tatious acts of charity, one could fully realize that 

 "blossom week" indeed brings the full fruition of 

 spring's fairest promises. 



It is difficult to find adjectives to adequately describe 

 apple trees. They are so beautiful, so useful and so 

 generally distributed. Appearing on the earth about 

 the time that man did, in all temperate climes the}^ have 

 kept pace with his improvement and civilization, and 

 mark his progress in agriculture with sufficient exactness. 



Belonging to the highest order in the vegetable Iving- 

 dom, the Bosacae, the apple tree has a flower that is a 

 queen even in that order, equaling the rose itself in 

 color, and excelling it in the delicacy of its fragrance. 

 The tree becomes a bountiful bouquet, the " whole as per- 

 fect as each part, and each part as perfect as the whole." 

 You cannot find in any floral hall such a mass of odor- 

 ous blossoms as some of these trees exhibit, where each 

 separate flower will bear the scrutiny of the microscope. 

 Here a large oval-topped tree presents a double centrifu- 

 gal manner of inflorescence, the top of it being in full 

 bloom, the middle with only the central or terminal 

 flower fully out, while the lower brandies show only 

 pink buds. 



The orchard assists in teaching the lesson that objects 

 which yield the greatest pleasure lie nearest our doors ; 

 that it is not necessary to make long journeys or to ex- 



