. TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 127 



ited future before us. I tell you, my friends, we have got to 

 do things a good deal better than we have been doing. 

 (Applause.) 



The other day I was called upon for a pastoral visitation 

 \\a.y up beyond a certain town, I won't name it, but }-ou can 

 draw on your imagination, I think, and everyone of you will 

 think of a different one, and I went up about 11 miles from 

 the city of Hartford. I had just been notified by my friend 

 the toastmaster, that I should have to make this speech, and 

 so I began to scour through my thought repository for some 

 ideas. And just as I started away from the city of Hartford, 

 I said to myself, keep your eyes open for apple trees, and 

 perhaps you can get a text. And by the way. I had a text for 

 my speech to-night, but I forgot to say it, it was this : "By 

 their fruits ye shall know them.'' Well, by their trees ye shall 

 know them. too. I sat on one side of the car going up, and 

 I sat on the other side of the car coming back, so I might be 

 fair to both sides of the road, I looked at every bunch of apple 

 trees that I came to. and there was a bunch of applee trees I 

 think in every yard, a dozen or more apple trees, great, 

 scrawny, long-horned, unruly beasts they were. They looked- 

 like a lot of old Angora goats, never had been trimmed, 

 suckers had never been removed from them, growths were 

 all around the foot of the tree. There were parasitic vines 

 growing over them. I suppose the farmer looked upon them 

 as a sort of trellis upon which to grow ornamental vines. Well. 

 I didn't see going up on the left hand side of that road one 

 apple tree that looked as though it had been trimmed in 15 

 vears. or properly headed in the first place. 1 didn't see oui: 

 that had the suckers removed from around its roots or upon 

 its branches. I didn't see one that looked as though it ever 

 had the bark properly treated or sprayed, and I didn't see one 

 hunch of apple trees that looked as if it had been ploughed 

 over. 



Well, I came back on the other side. I think it must be 

 that some of those farmers are enterprising enough to take 

 care of the best friends thev have got. but it is like running 



