112 THE APPLE-TREE 



In some judging contests, the plates are not labelled with the 

 variety name, and the contestant is supposed to make the identifica- 

 tion. 



Precaution : Avoid pressing the specimens with the thumb and 



finger so as to bruise the fruit. The degree of firmness can 



be determined' by gentle pressure with the inside of the 



whole hand'. 



Defects, apparent or otherwise, should not be probed with the 



finger nail, pin, or other hard object. 



Special care should be exercised to replace all specimens on the 

 right plate. , 



Having in mind these definite criteria, the reader will 

 know what is meant by a "good apple" and also a good 

 apple-tree. Measurements of perfection aid us to esti- 

 mate the deficiencies. 



He who knows the apple-tree knows also its region. 

 The landscape is his in every blessed year; he sees 

 the chariots of the months come down from the distances 

 and pass by him into the twilights. Clouds are his and 

 the repeating shadows on the hills. The morning when 

 the blossoms are laden with the fragrance of the night, 

 high noon when the bees are busy, the gloaming when 

 the birds drop into the boughs, these are his by divine 

 right. The smell of new-plowed fields is his, with the 

 urgent promise in them. Seed time and harvest, as old 

 as the procreant earth and as new as the latest sunrise, 

 are his to conjure. The verities are his for the asking, the 

 strong things of cultivated fields and of wild places. And 

 mastery is his, that comes of the amelioration of the land 

 and the education of the tree. All these are everyman's, 

 and yet they are his alone. 



