HOW FARMER BROWN GREW AN ORCHARD. I49 



So we bo't two hundred apples of that Yeller 'Sparant kind — 



I 'lowed the price seem'd hefty ; he sed thet they war fin'. 



An' then we bought some plum trees, an' pears an' peaches tew, 



An' kept right on a buyin' — we war tired when we war through. 



So when we bought 'bout all he had, with a biznes' sort o' air. 



He sed — "Jes sign yer name in full, on that dot'ed line, right 



there." 

 An' like the 'tarnal fool I war, in letters bol' an' roun', 

 I writ my name so all could read, "John Henry Jenkins Brown." 

 That fall they war deliver'd, an' we sot them with great care. 

 In rows as straight as ar'rers ; they looked purty, I declare. 

 M'randy, she looked happy-like when all war sot complete, 

 An' sed we never more would hav'tr want for fruit, ter cook or 



eat. 

 But hope ar' like a shad'er, an' things what seem ter be 

 Ther means ter make us happy of'n cause us misery. 

 Nex' spring we watched with anxious care those trees from day 



ter day, 

 But nary one put forth a leaf, they all war dead as hay. 

 Yes, all war gone — the agent tew — likewise two hundred 



plunks — 

 I larn'd a powerful lesson though, not ter paternize sech skunks. 

 But that war twenty year ago, an' things hev changed indeed. 

 Now we hev the finest orchard an' all the fruit we need. 

 An' each an' all can have the same if they will only try. 

 Fust, jine this here 'ciety, larn what an' whar ter buy ; 

 Then pass these pesky agents up, no matter who may come 

 With ther stories, so allurin', an' buy yer trees ter hum. 



BEST APPLES AND PLUIVIS FOR SOUTHERN MINN. 



O. W. MOORE, SPRING VAI,I.EY. 



The six best varieties of apples adapted to southern Minnesota, 

 to be named in the order of their merits : 



First — The Wealthy. Most of those present are so well ac- 

 quainted with this variety that it is needless to give an extended de- 

 scription. Not the most hardy, but I think it is gaining in hardi- 

 ness, and rather a slow grower when young. Blights now and then 

 before and about bearing age, but after that time generally out- 

 grows its blighting habit. A prolific bearer that beats the world, 

 of a fruit that has few equals. 



Second — Northwestern Greening. A variety that has been be- 

 fore the people long enough to have its merits or demerits pretty 

 well tested. I find that it is gaining friends and the confidence of 

 prominent fruit growers every year. About on a par with the 

 Wealthy as to hardiness, a quick and vigorous grower and not a 

 bUghter as far as my experience goes. An early, proHfic and an- 



