HOME OF THE APPLE. 81 



thought it would rather open the eyes of the farmers of Massa- 

 chusetts. As we drove out of the grounds I saw the reason, 

 and it was a very good reason, that he had for rooting out tliose 

 apple-trees. You have said, Mr. President, that the soil of 

 Massachusetts is not specially adapted to the culture of the 

 pear. I thinli I may safely say that it is eminently suited to 

 the culture of the apple. If you go farther north than Massa- 

 chusetts, to Maine and New Hampshire, you find that many 

 varieties of apple are tender, and, more than this, the fruit does 

 not attain that size and perfection that it does in this State. If 

 you go still further north, into Canada, you find the fruit be- 

 comes crabbed. Then, if you go further south or west, you find 

 that, although the fruit grows larger, it is watery, and docs not 

 attain that flavor and excellence, just the happy medium of 

 crispness and spirit, which is desired. Massachusetts is emi- 

 nently the home of the apple ; and I hope that one of the lessons 

 taught at the Agricultural College, and on the Agricultural 

 College grounds, will be that the apple is eminently a Massa- 

 chusetts fruit. It seems to me fitting that this institution should 

 demonstrate this fact ; for, as I have had occasion to say re- 

 cently, this is a long experiment, the culture of the apple. It 

 is an experiment which very few young men are inclined to 

 undertake. It may be very well to say, " Plant the apple ; 

 plant it, if not for yourselves, for your children ; " but mankind 

 are selfish. We must take them as they are, and they will not 

 do it. It is too long an experiment for most young men, who 

 have an eye to immediate returns. They cannot wait fifteen, 

 twenty, or thirty years for a fair return on their investment of 

 money and labor, and they must wait longer than that for a full 

 return from an apple orchard. Now, the Agricultural College 

 can do this. I am not perfectly familiar with the location of 

 the grounds, but I trust there is a good slope somewhere for an 

 apple orchard, and an extensive apple orchard. 



As I look over our State, I am inclined to think there are 

 very few good specimens of apple culture — very few perfect 

 specimens of apple culture. In the language of the orator of 

 the evening, it is a shame that Massachusetts should be com- 

 pelled, year after year, to import the larger part of her fruit, 

 when we can grow very much better fruit at home. The only 

 reason for this is because it is so long an experiment. There 

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