For the Farm, Garden, and Household. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL MOST USEFUL, AND MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF M A N . "—Washington. 
Volume XL.— No. 6. 
NEW YORK, JUNE, 1881. New Series-No. 418. 
mass 
IN THE APPLE ORCHARD WHILE IT IS IN BLOSSOM . —Designed and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
It is generally considered a poor practice to 
reckon up the amount of flesh and feathers 
that may develop under favorable circum¬ 
stances of incubation from a given number 
of eggs. Even if it is a novel method of ar¬ 
riving at results, the process affords a great 
amount of pleasure. Looking into the possi¬ 
bilities of the future, is one of the happiest 
characteristics of the most cheerful minds. 
Every one has a right to “ count his chickens 
before they are hatched,” providing the esti¬ 
mates Jo not lead him into errors that are 
afterward hard for him and others to bear. 
To look upon the yolk and shell as more than 
mere matter, and see in the ovate body, great 
possibilities—a thing of life and growth, is 
not bad in itself, but fitting and proper. The 
egg is the germ of an individual life, which 
only needs certain conditions to develop into 
that from which another egg may come. 
As with an egg, so also with the flower ; it 
is the attractive beginning of that which may 
in time grow into a tree like the one which 
bears it. The flower is the promise of vegeta¬ 
tion yet to be ; the means of continuing the 
species. Why should not the farmer look 
beyond the showy and fragrant apple trees, 
and see branches laden with the richness and 
beauty of well-ripened fruit? Why should 
he not count the blossoms, as the quickly 
passing fore-runners of a more enduring pro¬ 
duction—the necessary display for the per¬ 
fection of fruit and seeds? An orchard, 
white with flowers,’ is a cheerful and attrac¬ 
tive sight; it is one of the most pleasing fea¬ 
tures of the farm, and at a time of the year 
when everything is bright and promising. 
The artist presents a picture of two young 
children sporting with broken branches of 
flowers, thoughtless of their deep signifi¬ 
cance, but greatly pleased with their beauty, 
while an older person—the owner of the or¬ 
chard, it may be, is looking beyond the pres¬ 
ent into the days of autumnal gathering—in 
other words, is “ counting his chickens,” and 
is, perhaps, not very far behind the happy 
children in the enjoyment which he gath¬ 
ers from the apple-orchard’s floral display* 
Copy eight, 1881, by Oeang'* Judd Company, 
Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as Second Class Matter. 
