COMFORT ME WITH APPLES 385 
not know where I could place $70,000 so that it 
would pay five per cent this year, six per cent 
next year, and ‘twenty per cent eight or ten years 
from now. Of course, $70,000 would be an ex- 
orbitant price to pay for an orchard like mine; 
but it must be remembered that I am old and 
cannot wait for trees to grow. 
If a man will buy land at $50 or $60 an acre, 
plant it to apple trees (not less than sixty-five to 
the acre), and bring these trees to an age when 
they will produce fruit to the value of $1.50 each, 
they will not have cost more than $1.50 per tree 
for the land, the trees, and the labor. 
I am too old to begin over again, and I wish 
to see a handsome income from my experiment 
before my eyes are dim; but why on earth young 
men do not take to this kind of investment is 
more than I can see. It is as safe as govern- 
ment bonds, and infinitely safer than most mer- 
cantile ventures. It is a dignified employment, 
free from the ordinary risks of business; and it 
is not likely to be overdone. All one needs is 
energy, a little money, and a good bit of well- 
directed intelligence. This combination is com- 
mon enough to double our rural population, 
relieve the congestion in trades and underpaid 
employments, and add immensely to the wealth 
of the country. If we can only get the people 
headed for the land, it will do much toward 
solving the vexing labor problems, and will draw 
the teeth of the communists and the anarchists ; 
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