THE ORCHARD. 



But the orchard may stand for a group, or a set- 

 ting, of fruit-trees other than apples. There are sev- 

 eral other orchards about the homestead. The cherries 

 ripen the earliest, with their round crimson fruit. Then 

 come the apricots and peaches, all covered with down; 

 next the plums, great long ropes of them dangling 

 there, with the hogs roaming and rooting around be- 

 neath them for those that fall; along with the plums 

 come the pears and apples; and, lastly, the fuzzy, 

 lemon-colored quinces. What a variety there is in these 

 fruits — sweet and sour cherries; white and yellow, early 

 and late, freestone and clingstone peaches; the blue, 

 green, red, and yellow plums, almost like tropical fruits 

 in their nature; and all the different kinds of pears — 

 the juicy Clapp's Favorite, the winy Flemish Beauty, 

 the sugary Seckel, the luscious Bartlett, and the others. 

 Now all these belong to the order Rosacea, and yet 

 what a vast difference in the quality and nature of the 

 fruit. But there they are, pomes or drupes or what- 

 ever you wish to call them, each ripening for us in its 

 season amongst the twigs and leaves. 



Mr. John Burroughs has written a paper upon 

 "The Apple," which is everywhere redolent of the bin 

 and the orchard. I shall give you the pleasure of these 

 few sentences from it: 



"Noble, common fruit, best friend of man and most loved 

 by him, following him, like his dog or his cow, wherever he 

 goes! His homestead is not planted till you are planted, your 

 roots intertwine with his; thriving best where he thrives best, 

 loving the limestone and the frost, the plow and the pruning- 

 knife; you are indeed suggestive of hardy, cheerful industry, 

 and a healthy life in the open air." 



