GETTING AC^AINTED WITH THE TREES 



all the better for the apple, which is not 

 only most desirable and pleasing in its relation 

 to the dessert, the truly celebrated American 

 pie, the luscious dumpling of the housewife, 

 and the Italian's fruit- stand of our cities, but 

 is at the same time a benefaction to the eye 

 and the sense of beauty, in tree, in blossom, 

 and in fruit. 



It is of the esthetic value of the apple I 

 would write, leaving its supreme place in 

 pomology unassailed. Look at the young apple 

 tree in the "nursery row," where it has been 

 growing a year since it was "budded" — that 

 is, mysteriously changed from the wild and 

 untamed fruit of nature to the special variety 

 designed by the nurseryman. It is a straight, 

 shapely wand, in most varieties, though it is 

 curious to find that some apples, notably 

 the favorite Rhode Island Greening, start in 

 promptly to be picturesquely crooked and 

 twisty. As it grows and branches under the 

 cultivation and guidance of the orchardist, it 

 maintains a lusty, hearty aspect, its yellowish, 

 reddish or brownish twigs — again according 

 to variety — spreading out to the sun and the 



76 



