Practical Orcharding On Rough Lands. 7 



THE APPLE TREE, 



"Great blessings on the man who planted thee, 



O apple tree, 

 Within my garden *s safe enclosure kept, 



While winter slept, 

 Then went thou summering with birds and bees 



And other trees. 

 First came thy springtime joy, when rills 



Sang to the hills, 

 And thou didst laugh and shake thy bells of bloom, 



And made sweet room 

 For wandering breezes, murmuring some love song 



The whole day long. 



Great blessings on the man who planted thee, 



O apple tree, 

 For when the wmter storrn wails round my room, 



Thy springtime bloom 

 Lives in the rosy apples on my table here; 



Their fragrant cheer 

 Gives gentle hint of how they grew, and grew, 



When sun and dew, 

 And shadows falling m the evening gray, 



Made up the day. 



Great blessings on the man who planted thee, 



With wh« s„e°.Zu.rh= hoped ,h« d,ou would,, ^^ 



And so and so 

 The slender sapling climbed a little way 



By night and day. 

 All silently and hidden, tender root 



Supplied the shoot; 

 The long, lithe limbs reached further, further yet, 



With green buds set, 

 And lo, a great tree, on whose leafy crown ^ 



The sun shone down, 

 Till every apple, green and garlanded, 



Blushed rosy-red. 



