196 
Old Time Gardens 
like New England, the frequent absence of Apple 
orchards makes these farm scenes unsatisfying, not 
homelike. No other fruit trees can take their place. 
An Orange tree, with its rich glossy foliage, its 
perfumed ivory flowers and buds, and abundant 
golden fruit, is an exquisite creation of nature ; but 
an Orange grove has no ideality. All fruit trees 
have a beautiful inflorescence — few have senti- 
ment. The tint of a blossoming Peach tree is per- 
fect ; but I care not for a Peach orchard. Plantations 
of healthy Cherry trees are lovely in flower and fruit 
time, whether in Japan or Massachusetts, and a 
Cherry tree is full of happy child memories; but 
their tree forms in America are often disfigured with 
that ugly fungous blight which is all the more dis- 
agreeable to us since we hear now of its close kin- 
ship to disease germs in the animal world. 
I cannot see how they avoid having Apple trees 
on these Long Island farms, for the Apple is fully 
determined to stand beside every home and in every 
garden in the land. It does not have to be invited ; 
it will plant and maintain itself. Nearly all fruits 
and vegetables which we prize, depend on our plant- 
ing and care, but the Apple is as independent as the 
New England farmer. In truth Apple trees would 
grow on these farms if they were loved or even 
tolerated, for I find them forced into Long Island 
hedge-rows as relentlessly as are forest trees. 
The Indians called the Plantain the “ white man’s 
foot,” for it sprung up wherever he trod; the 
Apple tree might be called the white man’s shadow. 
It is the Vine and Fig tree of the temperate zone, 
