SIXTEHNTH .INNUAL MEETING. 5 



tiinic. Let us as an association do all we can to have the 

 present law repealed, in the interests of fair play and justice. 

 If worthy of all praise is the man that makes two blades of 

 grass grow where l)ut one grew before, wliat shall we say of 

 the man that takes acres of our roughest hill-tops, of no practi- 

 cal present value, and by the hardest kind of work, plants 

 orchards tliat will in the future produce thousands of dollars 

 worth of the most luscious peaches and rosy apples? What 

 siglit is more beautiful than a large orchard in full bloom or 

 when loaded with ros}- fruit, multiplying a thousand-fold the 

 vision seen by the poet Bryant in the last century when he 

 wrote : 



"Come, let us plant the apple tree. 



Cleave the tough greensward with the spade; 



Wide let its hollow bed be made; 



There gently lay the roots, and there 

 . Lift the dark mould with kindly eare. 



And press it o'er them tenderly. 



As, round the sleeping infant's feet 



"We softly fold the cradle sheet; 



So plant we the apple tree. 



What plant we in this apple tree ? 



Buds, Avhieh the breath of summer days 



Shall lengthen into leafy sprays ; 



Boughs where the thrush, with crimson breast 



Shall haunt and sing and hide her nest ; 



We plant upon the sunny lea, 



A shadow for the noontide hour, 



A shelter from the summer shower. 



When we plant the apple tree. 



What plant we in this apple tree? 

 Sweets for a hundred flowery springs, 

 To load the ]\Liy wind's restless wings, 

 When, from the orchard row, he pours 

 Its fragrance through our open doors: 

 A world of blossoms for the bee. 

 Flowers for the sick girl's silent room. 

 For the glad infant sprigs of bloom. 

 We plant the apple tree. 



Wli;d ])hint We in this npplc ti'ce? 

 Fruits that shall swell in sunn\- June 



