332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August 
ORCHARD IN SUMMER . —Designed and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
A Trouble willi Early Apples. 
Fruit, of all kinds, is very attractive to boys. 
There is something about early apples that will at 
times draw a lad out of his regular course, and 
cause him to even stop beneath a tree—and I have 
known cases where even more than this has been 
done. Just what it is that acts so like a magnet, 
I am unable to say—it may be the sweetness of the 
fruit—and yet some of the apples have been of the 
sour kind ; or it may be that it is the same spirit 
of adventure and discovery that led Columbus and 
even older men than he, to leave all the comforts 
of home and seek some new and unknown country. 
Whatever may be the guiding passion, the fact re¬ 
mains, that boys, both small and large, have been 
known to forsake their nearest relatives and warm¬ 
est friends and go alone, through darkness it may 
have been, to determine certain valuable facts as 
to the productiveness of some neighboring orchard. 
I will not try to describe the longings that prompt 
to, or the instinct that leads the youth in, these 
periodic pilgrimages of adventure and discovery, 
simply because I do not understand them. They 
are frequent, and there is no doubt in my mind that 
many boys know well what I am talking about. 
“ Our folks ” had two farms ; the larger one upon 
which the house stood, and another half a mile 
away, which was reached by a road in shape like 
an L. There was therefore a “ short cut ” “ across 
lots,” which was generally taken by all who passed 
to and fro on foot. As it happened, this foot path 
led through a neighbor’s orchard, and therefore the 
trees with their fruit were frequently seen by “us 
boys ” as we passed, day by day, from the house 
to the corn or hay field on the “other” farm. It 
was in this orchard that I first learned how very at¬ 
tractive in the eyes of a boy were early, ripe apples. 
It was here that I took some lessons upon the great 
subject of pomology, and learned to recognize the 
kind of apple tree by the size of the trunk, the 
shape of the large branches, and its nearness to the 
fence. It was in this orchard that I first acquired 
the habit of taking certain objects, round and 
smooth, at times when the owner was not there, 
and did not know of my “taking ways.” Yes, I 
am sorry to say that the unfortunate position of 
the orchard, being right on the way to and from 
work, led me to my first childish theft. I regret it, 
but I stole apples when 1 was young, and like our 
great, great, great grandmother, gave the fruit 
thus obtained to another person that he might be a 
party in the transaction and transgression. 
I am sorry that I stole those apples, partly be¬ 
cause it did not pay, but largely that it hurts to 
thus take from another that which rightfully be¬ 
longs to him. The boy who is laboring under the 
delusion that it is profitable to get apples without 
first asking permission to do so, has my heartfelt 
sympathy and deepest pity. Let me explain. In 
most cases the desired fruit can •be obtained if the 
proper and manly method is taken for acquiring it. 
It is easy to make it clear to the owner that you 
have a deep longing for a taste of his fruit, which 
he may have in large quantities, and out of the 
abundance of his orchard and the warmness of his 
heart he will give to you. If he has but a single 
tree of “Early Harvests,” and that a small one, 
and few apples upon it, there is all the more reason 
why he should be asked ; all the greater joy if the 
request is granted, and much the more is the risk run 
if stealing is attempted. Even the owner of a few 
early apples likes to hold the rights of ownership, 
and, speaking from experience, the one who would 
rob him of these rights by robbing him of his ap¬ 
ples, may wish before the rising of another sun 
that the unfinished work had never been begun. 
I have said that it hurts to steal apples, and the 
proof of this is given in the accompanying en¬ 
graving, where the artist illustrates and enforces 
the argument in a clearer manner than 1 can put it 
in words. The boys are four in number, surely 
enough to make the owner of the orchard put 
on a long face, two have made their escape—pro¬ 
vided the dog does not get an attachment upon 
their persons. It is an open question which of 
the two remaining lads feels the worse. The one 
on the ground with his jacket and pockets full of 
fruit probably wishes the earth would open, and he 
could pass instantly out of sight. As for the boy 
in the tree, I should think the story of his woe is 
told pretty clearly in his face. What may be his 
fate when he comes down, depends upon the good 
nature of the man who caught him. Aside from the 
stomach ache and other pains, there is the pricking 
of the conscience, so that, taken all together, it 
does not pay to be an Apple Thief. Uncle Hal. 
