592 
THE KL'KAL N EW-VOR K HR 
April IT. 1915. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
"Johnny Appleseed.” —Most country 
people of middle age, especially those 
who live in the West, have heard of the 
strange "half crazy” man who in the 
early part of the last century went wan¬ 
dering over Ohio and Michigan planting 
apple seeds and distributing trees. I 
have no doubt there are readers of The 
It. N.-Y. now living who have actually 
seen “Johnny.” When I was a boy I 
heard stories about him, and he seemed 
to fill a place in life about as real as 
that occupied by Santa Claus. The char¬ 
acter has crept into literature. In the 
novel “Lazarre” we have a graphic pic¬ 
ture of Johnny among the refugees at 
Fort Meigs while the British and Indians 
lurked in the woods outside. We can see 
him cooking his frugal meal of boiled 
corn and displaying his apple seeds. The 
author made the mistake, however, of 
supposing these seeds gave trees and fruit 
true to name! 
Tjie Man. —I am very glad that Har¬ 
per’s has published a book by Eleanor 
Atkinson—“Johnny Appleseed, the Ro¬ 
mance of the Sower.” There surely was 
such a man, and he had a glorious part 
in the building of the AVest. Jonathan 
Chapman, owned an orchard and a nurs¬ 
ery near Pittsburg in 1800. This orchard 
was evidently established by the French 
with trees brought from Canada or 
France. There was little or no commer¬ 
cial value in fruit at that time, but the 
orchard had a sentimental value which 
most of us today can hardly realize. The 
great tide of immigration flowed through 
Pennsylvania to Pittsburg and down the 
Ohio River. It was composed mostly of 
New England people who with bold, ad¬ 
venturous spirit broke away from com¬ 
fortable homes and old friends to endure 
the terrors of the wilderness. Imagine 
what it must have meant to some deli- 
cate New England woman, homesick and 
terrified by the journey through the 
woods, to pass Chapman’s orchard while 
the apple trees were in full bloom! 
Southeastern New England is the birth¬ 
place of some of our most famous apples, 
and the most beautiful home memory 
that these people carried with them was 
that of the sweet pink and white bloom 
on the orchard behind the house. 
AATiat It Meant. —Jonathan Chap¬ 
man stood in his orchard day by day and 
saw the long procession of wagons toil 
past. There were big- strong, self-reliant 
men, eager and full of courage, going to 
carve out the foundation of a State with 
their axes. When the State grew strong 
and great, and their grandchildren could 
enjoy comfort and rest, they would be as 
nnthought-of as the stone foundation of 
a great building—deep in the ground. 
They knew it, and still they pressed 
eagerly on to work and die that others 
might enjoy. Reside them were sad¬ 
faced. wide-eyed women bravely facing 
the hardest part of the task which lay 
before. The man would find a certain 
rude joy of conquest in his work, for the 
life ahead of them was one in which 
strength and daring were the dominant 
qualities. It was to be a battle against 
wild beast and wild man and the fierce 
rage of Nature when disturbed in her 
centuries’ old world. Those slender wom¬ 
en from the New England hills could not 
battle and fight as their men could. They 
must face loneliness and suffering and 
want without romance, without the joy 
of battle or the strength to kill. All the 
glory of the life which lay ahead of them 
went to the men—the drudgery, the un¬ 
paid. unheralded home building went to 
the women—as it always has done. 
Tiie Man’s Mission. —Jonathan Chap¬ 
man saw all this and more as the wag¬ 
ons rolled by. He knew what it meant 
far better than we do, for he had seen 
women fade away in the loneliness of little 
forest clearings for the lack of just a 
little touch of beauty and joy. It came 
to him as he stood there—a sudden revel¬ 
ation of what he could do for these peo¬ 
ple. There would be plenty of wood¬ 
men and Indian fighters to subdue the 
wilderness. Skilled workmen would come 
to add wealth to farm and factory, clergy¬ 
men would spread religion and fan its 
fires, lawyers and statesmen would or¬ 
ganize the State and drill its citizens in 
orderly government. Yet with all these 
things there would yet be something lack¬ 
ing—sentiment, beauty and old home 
memories. Unless these could be culti¬ 
vated this wilderness could never be fully 
tamed. And so Jonathan Chapman on 
that mild Spring day determined that 
he too, would go into the wilderness to 
conquer—not with the ax and rifle but 
with the apple. Those of us who love 
this fruit have tried seriously, as well 
as jokingly to paint its virtues, but Jon¬ 
athan Chapman shamed us all in his vis¬ 
ion of civilizing power. He saw that 
an apple tree blooming by the side of 
every lonely pioneer cabin would give a 
flavor of memory to the wilderness life 
that would be felt through all history. 
IIis Work. —So Chapman sold his home 
orchard, collected a bag full of apple seed 
and started into the wilderness. The plan 
he adopted was to establish nurseries 
near all the large settlements, so that he 
might distribute trees from them. He 
found protected places here and there 
which could be enclosed, and there he 
planted his seeds, engaging some one to 
care for the seedlings until he returned. 
Of course he knew that only now and 
then out of thousands of these seeds could 
he hope to obtain a superior variety. Yet 
he figured that even a seedling in bloom 
near a cabin would be something of a 
help. Before long grafted trees of good 
varieties would come into bearing, and 
buds from these trees could be carried 
further into the wilderness to provide in 
their turn wood for new grafting. The 
first thing to do was to get thousands 
of seedlings started in his rude nurseries. 
And so Chapman started his first nurs¬ 
ery at Marietta. Ohio, in 1800, and from 
there worked up into the wilderness. His 
Summers were spent in planting and 
caring for his trees—the Winters at work 
around the cider mills in older sections, 
washing seeds out of the pomace. The 
name “Chapman” fell away from him, 
and he became known far and near to 
red man as well as white man as "Johnny 
Appleseed.” He carried the name to his 
grave. He wandered about in this way 
until 1847—just "Johnny Appleseed”— 
the man without relatives or home of his 
own, yet with friends in every farm 
house of Ohio, and children growing in 
every orchard. 
What He Did. —“Johnny Appleseed” 
started west from Detroit at a time when 
the stretch of country west to Chicago 
was mostly swamp—wet and unhealthy. 
Into this wilderness immigrants were 
streaming. There were men who expect¬ 
ed to take land and pay for it in the furs 
taken from wild animals then running 
on it. The giant trees were to be cut, 
the swamps drained so that sunlight and 
wind could get to the soil, and civilize it. 
It was a wild, savage fight with nature 
and disease, and the people of that sec¬ 
tion today owe a great debt of gratitude 
to Johnny Appleseed. On the little hills, 
out of the mud, he started his nurseries, 
brought in his grafts, and saw to it that 
every lonely cabin, every farm which 
slowly grew up out of the muddy swamp, 
had its orchard. Hunter and statesman 
and soldier did their share to save Ohio 
and Michigan for us. but no one can tell 
how much the strong patriotic people of 
this section owe to Johnny Appleseed. 
AA’hen after long years of patient toil and 
wandering his apple trees burst into 
bloom a wonderful change took place— 
a change which could not have come in 
any other way: 
“Suddenly, in a thousand scattered 
places, Johnny’s earliest trees bloomed 
and fruited. The wilderness fell back 
abashed. Birds and bees came in from 
the woods. Cabins which had been but 
rude and unloved shelters in bitter lands 
of exile were transformed into homes 
over night, and people took root in wild 
soil tamed by these domestic trees.” 
It will be easy to call “Johnny Apple- 
seed” a crazy fanatic—a man who gave 
up a comfortable home and went wan¬ 
dering about on a most unbusiness-like 
mission. All who do unconventional 
things or who work outside of the world's 
beaten paths are “cranks”—yet they have 
their place, and I am glad that “Johnny 
Appleseed’s” story has been told. We all 
need the lesson to make us understand 
that if one will only put life and vision 
into the humblest thing he may make it 
far-reaching in its influence. Let us re¬ 
member all this as we plant our trees 
this year. h. w. c. 
A Business Message to 
Successful Farmers 
The live business farmer 
today demands clean values, 
insists upon a thorough know¬ 
ledge of the standing and in¬ 
tegrity of the business house 
with which lie deals and sifts 
all details to a sound under¬ 
standing of the transaction. 
The subject of buying build¬ 
ing materials is, of course, 
given serious attention by you 
when your business calls for 
enlargement or expansion. 
It is only the successful 
farmer who is able to buy 
when occasion demands. 
Good business judgment in¬ 
cludes a keen knowledge of 
values. This message is, there¬ 
fore, directed to you in the 
belief that you will promptly 
recognize its importance. 
The North American Con¬ 
struction Company originated, 
perfected and established the 
ALADDIN Readi-Cut System 
of house construction ten years 
ago and founded its business 
on the Golden Rule—serving 
its customers as they would 
like to be served. It paid. 
Square dealing never yet 
failed to bring success. Cus¬ 
tomers became friends and 
brought new customers, until 
today the reputation of the 
ALADDIN houses stands un¬ 
tarnished and is nation wide. 
On this page, you will find 
ALADDIN houses thoroughly 
described; you will find our 
famous Dollar-a-Knot guar¬ 
antee described; you will find 
(by comparison) the lowest 
prices ever quoted on the kind 
of buildings you want to own ; 
and more important than all 
else, you will find a knowledge 
of what real service to the 
customer means. 
OTTO E. SOVEREIGN, 
General Manager 
North American Construction Co. 
Y OUR dollar never had more value—more buying power than it has today. 
You can secure better value and better measure at prices that have not 
been equaled in years. The market today is low, but on the very edge of 
an increase. The European situation is demolishing and destroying hundreds of 
buildings every day. Tomorrow, the great work of rebuilding, remodeling and 
repairing will be started. The demand for building material will go higher than 
ever before. Now is the time to build and get your choice of the material at your 
price. The ALADDIN catalog points the way for you. It tells the wonderful 
story how thousands of farmers in every state have saved from $200.00 to 
$1,000.00 on their houses or barns. You have the same opportunity—you are able 
to save as much. Get the ALADDIN Catalog now. 
Seven Mills- 
Quick Shipment 
Aladdin mills are located in 
every corner of the United States 
—Michigan, Florida, Louisiana 
arid Oregon. Canadian mills— 
Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. 
Short routes make possible quick 
shipments and low freight rates. 
The four United States Aladdin 
mills, with a capacity of forty 
houses each day, enable us to fill 
your order a short time after it is 
received and send it on to ypu. In 
a few weeks more, you can move 
into your own Aladdin home, or 
complete your barn or farm 
building. 
Investigate. 
A Complete Barn 
$193 
ALADDIN Dollar-a-Knot Guarantee 
ALADDIN QUALITY has set a new standard for lumber 
quality—is raising the old-time lumber standards of quality to a 
new plane. The ALADDIN Dollar-a-Knot guarantee is the plainest 
and strongest guarantee ever offered the home builder. ALADDIN 
houses are not made by a trust or combine— we tlo not ask you to 
buy lumber according to any mysterious Association grading rules. 
A guarantee of simply a Dollar-a-Knot—anyone knows what a knot 
looks like. No other lumberman in the world has had the courage 
to equal the ALADDIN Dollar-a-Knot guarantee. But you can 
secure knotless lumber— at a distinct saving in price, too—in an 
ALADDIN House. 
Cut Out Waste 
The average waste of lumber in build¬ 
ing a house is lSTi; $18 out of every $100 
of your money goes into the waste pile. 
You pay $loo and get $82 value. The 
ALADDIN Readi-Cut System saves you 
this loss. It puis the $18 into llie house. 
It gives you a better house for less money. 
We own and operate the largest mill in 
the world devoted to the manufacture of 
Ifeadi Cut Houses. We ship more com¬ 
plete houses than any manufacturer in 
tiie United States. We give the strongest 
guarantee of satisfaction ever made to 
tiie home builder. 
Build It Yourself 
Yen can build an ALADDIN 
Readi-Cut house yourself. All 
material is cut to lit accurately and 
leaves our mills both marked and 
numbered. All you do is follow 
the instruction sheet and drive the 
nails. Thousand of A I, A D D I N 
customers in every state have en¬ 
joyed the simple work of erecting 
their own Alnddms. And they 
have saved the cost of high priced 
labor by doing the work themselves 
in spare time. You can do this, 
too, and save ns milch. 
Here’s What You Get 
ALADDIN HOUSES ARE COMPLETE. You get material 
absolutely guaranteed to be sufficient for the completion of your 
house, as follows: Sills, cut to fit; joists, cut to fit; studding, cut 
to fit; building paper; subfloor, cut to fit; rafters, cut to fit; roof 
sheathing, cut to fit; siding, cut to fit; outside finish, cut to fit; porch 
columns, baluster, rail, flooring and framework, cut to fit; lath and 
plaster or plaster board, inside finish, doors, casings, base board, 
windows, sash, glass, nails of all sizes, locks, binges, tin flashing, 
paints, oils, varnishes, stains, putty and shellac, with complete 
drawings, illustrations and instructions for erection— The Complete 
House —also barns, poultry houses, hog houses and other modern 
farm buildings. The big Aladdin Catalog No. 340, tells all the 
interesting facts. 
North American Construction Co. 
951 Aladdin Avenue, Bay City, Mich. 
Mills in Michigan, Florida, Louisiana and Oregon. Canadian Branch—Sovereign Construction 
Company, Toronto, Ontario. Mills in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. 
