THE RESPONSIVENESS OF 

 THE PEAR 



WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Is BUT THE BEGINNING 



A CORRESPONDENT who is seemingly prone 

 to personify inanimate objects writes to 

 ask which tree among our cultivated ones 

 I regard as the most "human." 



And then, without awaiting reply, my corre- 

 spondent supplies the answer: 



"The pear, of course,'* he says with full assur- 

 ance. 



But when he goes on to state the reasons for 

 this decision, I am not quite sure that his argument 

 carries conviction. 



Perhaps the most striking bit of analogy that 

 he offers is the fact that a pear tree sometimes 

 fails to reach maturity until it is from fifteen to 

 twenty years old, coupled with the cognate fact 

 that the tree may continue to thrive for three 

 score years and ten or even longer. 



He cites a good many other analogies, or sup- 



[VOLUME IV CHAPTER IV] 



