COMFORT ME WITH APPLES 385 



not know where I could place 170,000 so that it 

 would pay five per cent this year, six per cent 

 next year, and twenty per cent eight or ten years 

 from now. Of course, $70,000 would be an ex- 

 orbitant price to pay for an orchard like mine ; 

 but it must be remembered that I am old and 

 cannot wait for trees to grow. 



If a man will buy land at $50 or $60 an acre, 

 plant it to apple trees (not less than sixty -five to 

 the acre), and bring these trees to an age when 

 they will produce fruit to the value of $1.50 each, 

 they will not have cost more than $1.50 per tree 

 for the land, the trees, and the labor. 



I am too old to begin over again, and I wish 

 to see a handsome income from my experiment 

 before my eyes are dim ; but why on earth young 

 men do not take to this kind of investment is 

 more than I can see. It is as safe as govern- 

 ment bonds, and infinitely safer than most mer- 

 cantile ventures. It is a dignified employment, 

 free from the ordinary risks of business ; and it 

 is not likely to be overdone. All one needs is 

 energy, a little money, and a good bit of well- 

 directed intelligence. This combination is com- 

 mon enough to double our rural population, 

 relieve the congestion in trades and underpaid 

 employments, and add immensely to the wealth 

 of the country. If we can only get the people 

 headed for the .and, it will do much toward 

 solving the vexing labor problems, and will draw 

 the teeth of the communists and the anarchists ; 



2Q 



