Apples, 209 
of time: often in striving to get the most value from 
our time it slips from us as the reality did from the 
dog that greedily grasped at the shadow: simply 
dream of what you will, with apples and plums, nuts 
and filberts within reach. 
Dusky Blenheim oranges, with a gleam of gold 
under the rind; a warmer tint of yellow on the 
pippins. Here streaks of red, hete a tawny hue. 
Yonder a load of great russets; near by heavy pears 
bending the strong branches ; round black damsons ; 
luscious egg-plums hanging their yellow ovals over- 
head; bullace, not yet ripe, but presently sweetly 
piquant. On the walnut trees bunches of round 
green balls—note those that show a dark spot or 
streak, and gently tap them with the tip of the tall 
slender pole placed there for the purpose. Down 
they come glancing from bough to bough, and, strik- 
ing the hard turf, the thick green rind splits asunder, 
and the walnut itself rebounds upwards. Those who 
buy walnuts have no idea of the fine taste of the fruit 
thus gathered direct from the tree, when the kernel, 
though so curiously convoluted, slips its pale yellow 
skin easily and is so wondrously white. Surely it is 
an error to banish the orchard and the fruit garden 
from the pleasure-grounds of modern houses, strictly 
relegating them to the rear, as if something to be 
ashamed of. 
