THE YOUNG OECHAED 229 



without making a reasonable return, will say 

 that I am too conservative, that a well-placed, 

 well-cared-for, well-selected, and well-marketed 

 orchard will do much better than my prophecy. 

 Nature is a good husbandman so far as she goes, 

 but her scheme contemplates only the perpetua- 

 tion of the tree, by seeds or by other means. 

 Nature's plan is to give to each specimen a nutritive 

 ration. Anything beyond this is thrown away on 

 the individual, and had better be used for the mul- 

 tiplying of specimens. When man comes to ask 

 something more than germinating seeds from a 

 plant, he must remove it from the crowded clump, 

 give it more light and air, and feed it for product. 

 In other words, he must give it more nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash than it can use for 

 simple growth and maintenance, and thus make 

 it burst forth into flower- or fruit-product. Na- 

 ture produces the apple tree, but man must cul- 

 tivate it and feed it if he would be fed and 

 comforted by it. People who neglect their or- 

 chards can get neither pleasure nor profit from 

 them, and such persons are not competent to sit 

 in judgment upon the value of an apple tree. 

 Only those who love, nourish, and profit by their 

 orchards may come into the apple court and 

 speak with authority. 



