The Fruit-Farm and the Young Folks 225 



do begin it, ready or unready, — the old folks begin 

 talking of saving for the grandchildren. Doubt- 

 less Methuselah, in the last few years of his life, 

 began saving for his grandchildren of the thirty- 

 third generation. In every valley there are many 

 like Methuselah, only younger and possibly more 

 economical. It might seem there that posterity 

 stands in a fair way of being prosperous, — as 

 the world goes. These orchards and vineyards, 

 sweeping from the lake to the hills, who shall 

 inherit them? Yet, to-day, as for untold ages, 

 and notably for a century and a half past, the only 

 permanent resident of the Valley is the land. The 

 people emigrate. A few ancient families remain 

 on the old site their fathers chose, four generations 

 ago, prosperous fruit-growers, than whom there 

 are no better. It might seem that prosperity would 

 prove contagious, but many who have eyes see not. 

 For more than a hundred years young folks have 

 been born in the Valley with peculiar eyes that see 

 things far away but are blind to the world that 

 spreads about their feet. Many a farmer who 

 saw the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow could 

 not see a living on his own farm. Even fruit-farm- 

 ing requires the seeing eye. No man is larger 

 than his vision. The dream of the old folks is 

 that the young folks shall prosper, and the young 

 folks have dreams of riches. They are daily bred 

 to a creed of things. They will begin life where 

 the old folks left off: riches are the principal 

 thing, therefore get riches. But in the struggle 



IS 



