GETTING AC^AINTED WITH THE TREES 



Rather between, as to beauty, is the native 

 crab -apple of the Southland, which is known 

 as the Soulard crab. It is not as attractive 

 as our own Eastern gem, a pure native pos- 

 session, and one which our foreign friends 

 envy us. 



Curiously enough, our own fruiting apple 

 is not a native of America. It was at a meet- 

 ing of a New England pomological association 

 that I heard, several ye^rs ago, an old man 

 of marvelous memory and power of observa- 

 tion tell of his recollections of seventy years, 

 notable among which was his account of see- 

 ing the first good apples, as a boy, during a 

 visit in the state of New York. Think of it ! 

 the most widely grown and beautiful of all our 

 fruits hardly older than the railroad in America! 

 We owe the apples we eat to Europe, for the 

 start, the species being probably of Himalayan 

 origin. America has greatly developed the 

 apple, however, as one who has looked over 

 the fruit tables at any great exposition will 

 promptly testify, and nearly all our really good 

 varieties are of American origin. Moreover, 

 we are the greatest apple-growers in the world, 



86 



