Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-04-23
Apple-Thoughts for Apple Time,

Apple-Th0ughts for apple Time,
This has been the season of iull, not to say
ifelessness, in our fruit markets. Flaming
Tokavs have subsidized like other flames the
Rose of Peru has played its last rose OF sum
mer Black Morroccos, like the other blacks,
have become lazy and shltlcss {; lsabelas arc
very naughty and reserved. Peaches plead
not to the soft impeachment. Pears prove
themselves, like many pairs, too soft to be
sound. and too sweet to be safe. We have
no recourse but to comfort one another with
apples; and, 50 far as grapes 90, 10 stay
each other with ti4gOns. Apples alone re-
main consistent in their coDstancy and cor
dial in their cores.
Our vile has Just handed us an apple, rs
she vanishes from the room. Is 1t peace
ofFsring? Is 1t a thank Offering? 1t becomes
food for thought We MUNICH muslngly.
AppIes are crisp stanzl of fruit poetry.
Thy streaks of variegated richness, hed-
Streak, are a magician mirror, where one
can see the faded past take line and tint.
Thy delicate fragrance is not like scent il)w-
crs, limiting breeze of spring and redolencc
of summer, slightly contuse1 the wahe with
closer odor of the hot-house, the party-crush,
the wedding nuury, and tie funeral silence.
The smell Ola choice apple has quiet chtrn
to take one back to the domestic comfort oj
his early DAYS It brings t. memory the
fragrance of tircsides, with pensi7e perfume
Of bountifnl autumns and OF winter well
housed and warmly clad. Tie very pairing,
halving. auartering, and delicious crunc!unS,
sound like tunes OF l)ng-ago, bringing back
upon us, bv melody Of association, tlc hearth
stone where our child daOod nestled, IN which
1t was our first impulse Of atieclonate cx-
change, possibly our first conception OF a bar
ter that since has grown heavy IN cur length
of days. to say to our little brother in the
other chimney corner " GIVE me bite ct
yours. and will give you bite of mine.
Some apples, it is true, are more eloquent
than others. and become - apples o.! gold IN
pictures of silver And the different Va
rites speak IN dialects destinct. Your I P
pms and your Lady : Fingers call up tie
ample - keeping-room, with the big cup
board and the hospitality shown to all.
Sometimes they recall the lJrdiy baskets
sent to - Cousin Mary, or T. ''t'e dear,
good minister, packed always 50 iuH anu
piled so high, that one mlschicvDus, dIscon-
tented apple would keep tunbiiIg down.
Greetings and Bell-howers, like stcrcoscopIc
views. call up the little stand in the corner.
the sta led lamp, the family circle grouped
around the fender; grandma knltting lying
in her lap. while her head drOops forward,
and Frank, hlmmcring away at the whole
nuts with tue hammer, and at hal!-nuts with
his hammer-like teeth; the pitcher OF III
nocuous cider. which was simply apple
Juice set iree-n0t applc-Iulce run mad
looking like muddy water, but tasting like
], 70 all
even as a str ing tempered viii is 70 gentle
| disposition
I'VE spoke Of nuts Nuts are simply sauce
for apples. The man who Will eat nuts wirt-
out apples is capable of rcllshing butter
without bread. Later on, in our eastern
homes. the Rusty-c0ats come to the rescue,
their sharper lavors slowly mellowing, as
cravities OF early thoughtiulness rlpcn TO the
i0cund checrluness of later days. But, as
we muse. it all comes back, the orchard ,with
its bending bUughs, the bronze and golden
bues of iuicv wealth blending; the casual
shower upon the heads and shoulders OF the
group below the soft thump on the grassy
ground, already thickly strcwn aud the
tones of human laugh and talk, clearer IN
such an atmosphere.
Now the winter deepcns, and sn1wwreaths
coil about the bases OF the trees, a7 though
thew would festoon their entire trunks.
Boughsand twgs are coated with iuc0ngru
Gus iciclcs; nevertheless, upon tie topmost
limb, we can espy two Newtown Pippins,
shaking in the breeze, only to shake them
selves free from the icy crystals, and stand
it out until the spring. 50 We did not drop,
thew seem to say, under the equln0ctlas
gales, nor could the greedy climbers
reach US. We will not be buried in that
snowbank. We hang here until there are
signs of our successors in their io:crunnln5
| blossoms. Spring vii! arrive anon; and then
| we W i'll make our last bed softly, mo!derng
amid fresh apples blossoms-pink. and white,
and warm Hold on - Emblems, these,
o. certain lives that linger, outlivng their
own times, rejoicing in coming generation;
| of Ger tain forms. fashions, institutions, that
| link the days which fade. with days that
| flush anew Hold on amid the winter, stlll,
to hail the the spring. The last to llhger is
the first to see The hardy apple-tree catch
es the softest kiss of spring. and its snow
white petals supersede the likes OF snow.
Meantime, reflect, ye chilled Fasteners,
how much this generous lruit has done Tor
you. Something, with Its clear juice, to
clear the juices Of your body, di pei the blue
vapors, and drive out that vile imp which
| We call uyetcpSid IbOASiOAC, So1AOpd4ic, w
set to rights the f1res of nerve and the cells
of brain lobes. The malic acid dispersed
much malcontent and malice. How often the
rine ample has furnished wholesome fool and
plenty at way-stations, ard in those out Of
tbe-wav places where all other food was
either crude. stale, or uninyiting And, Just
think of the even slices in the ple-slices not
masses, not jams-the neat deliciousneSs, the
delicious neatness, which pleasantly instruct
ed YOU to keep all your afft;rs g in apple
pie order"
For some Of US, the apple has performed a
higher service, and taught a higher lesson
when we were well, and when we were i'll.
When we were well, we learned our little
all about geography, navigation, and astron-
omy, through the medium of single teach
ing and illustrative apple. A round one, to
render the subject more ineligible rosy
one, probably to charm the attention. Then
the shining knitting needle running through
the very core of the subject, how it cleaned;
how real seemed the axis, or, as We thought,
the axle Of the earth. 1t was so plain. that
when the reddest side came before the fire.
the earth was turned toward the sun Or
when the lamp. light bore steadily on the
round globe. tipped Oh one end, the day and