34^ An American Fruit- Farm 



natural vocation. Hunting? Fishing? Grazing? 

 Farming? Bartering? Fighting? Commerce? 

 Science? Law? Medicine? Engineering? Writ- 

 ing? Is it anything? Is man by nature a fruit- 

 grower ? In the old days of pioneering, his supreme 

 fimction, in the Valley, was clearly stated by the 

 answer to the first question in the Westminster 

 Catechism. Then the chief end of man was ''to 

 glorify God and enjoy him forever." In the Valley 

 now, quite all that is left of the direction is "to 

 enjoy! " Indeed, to-day a heaven without a Mid- 

 way Plaisance would be no heaven at all. Then, a 

 heaven with pleasin-e would have been an embar- 

 rassing surprise. If there is the old earth there 

 is also the new heaven. Each generation sees its 

 own earth and conceives its own heaven. The 

 children in the Valley to-day do not see with the 

 eyes of pioneers. Could those worthies return 

 to the Valley, — or possibly to other valleys, — ^they 

 would not, they could not, see their world. Long 

 as the oldest of them lived, — ^and I remember two 

 centenarians, — ^they witnessed only the strange- 

 ness of change; the faculty of adjustment had 

 wholly failed them. This is growing old, — ^the 

 increasing feebleness of adjustment. Perfect ad- 

 justment means immortality. The aged man may 

 have managed to adjust himself to new condi- 

 tions for many years, when suddenly his power 

 ceases; his collapse may be wholly physical; his 

 mind is still attuned to the rhythm of men and 

 things. Here is the cue to old age, a sound mind 



