Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-06-17
BEECHER ON THE APPLE.
a Delicious Horticultural DisuuisitiOn.

Il
ers and Farming" has the flavor of a
picnic on Iona Island, and rewarded
with the prize, an apple pie four feet III
diameter:
"The apple is, beyond all question,
the American fruit. It stands absolutely
alone and unapproachable, grapes not
withstanding. Originating IN another
hemisphere, neither in it's own country,
nor in any other 20 which it has been
introduced, has itflourished asin Amer
lea. It is conceded in Europe that,
for size, soundness, flavor, and bril-
liancy of coloring, the American apple
stands first. First, as to the tree. It
is so easy Of propagation that any man
who is capable of learning how to raise
a crop of Corn, can learn how to plant,
graft, or bud, transplant, and prune all
apple tree-and then eat the apples
It is thoroughly healthy and hardy
tree; and that under more conditions
and under greater varieties Of stress
than perhaps any other tree. 1t is
neither dainty nor dyspeptic. 1t can
bear high feeding and put up with low
feeding. 1t is not subject to govt and
sc1ofula, as plums are to eruptions
and ruptures, as the cherry is or to
apoplexy, as the pear is. The apple
tree may be pampered, and may be rem
dered etfemlnate in degree; but this
is by artificial perversion. It is natur-
ally tough as an Indian, patient as an
OK, and fruitful as the Jewish Rachel.
The apple tree is among trees what the
COW is among domestic animals in
northern zones, OF what the camel of
the Bedouinis. And like all thoroughly
good-natured, obliging, patient things,
it is homely. For beauty is generally
unfavOrable to good dispositions. Ct
am talking to the ladies now.) There
seems to be some dissent, but this is
the orthodox view. It seems as if the
evil incident to human nature had
struck in, with handsome people, leav-
ing the surface fair; while the homely
are so because the virtue within has
purged and expelled the evil and driven
it to the skin. Have you never seen a
maiden that lovers avoided be-
cause she was not comely, who be-
came nevertheless, and perhaps on that
account, the good angel of the house,
the natural lntercessOr for afflicted
children, the one to stay with the lonely
when all the gay had gone away agad-
ding after pleasure the soft-handed
nurse, the story teller and the book
reader to the whole brood of eager eyes
and hungry ears in the nursery in
short. the childs ideal of endless good
nature, self-sacrifice, and intercessor-
ship, the Virgin Mary of the household,
mother of God to their love III that she
tJo bri~
ceptions of what God may peradven-
ture be? And yet, such are stigmatized
old maids, though more fruitful of
everything that is good Except chill
dren) than all others. One fault only
do We find with them-that they are in
danger of perverting our taste and lead
ing us to call LONELINESS beautiful.
All this depression, ladies and gentle
men, is on account of my dear aunt
Esther, who brought me up-a woman
so good and modest that she will spend
ages in heaven wondering how it hap
pened that she ever got there, and that
the angels will be wondering why she
was not there from all eternity. It is
a luxury, too. Kinds may be had so
tender, so delicate, and, as DR.. Grant
the DR.. Grant of the Vineyards
would say, SO refreshing, that not tie
pear, even, would dare to vie with it,
or hope to surpass it. 1he Vanderveer
of the Hudson River, the American
golden russett, need not, in good sea-
sons, we'll ripened, fear regiment Of
pears in genealogical convention, even
in the city of Boston. It may not rival
the melting qualities of the peach, eat
hot bo 20
eating or drinking. But the peach is
the fruit of day-ephemeral and it
is doubtful whether one could carry
through the year any such relish as IS
experienced for few weeks. It is the
popularity of the apple that it never
wearies the taste. It is to fruit what
wheaton bread is to grains. It is life
long relish. You may be satisfied with
apples, but never cloyed. Do you re-
member your boyhood feats ? [ was
brought up in a great old-fashioned
house, with cellar under every inch of
it, through which an ox-cart might
have been wheeled after all the bins
were full. In this cellar, besides pota-
toes, beets, and turnips, were stored
every year some hundred bushels of
apples Rhode Island greening,
the Roxbury russell, the russell round
the stem, as it was calleds and the
Spitzenberg; not daintily picked, but
shaken down not in aristocratic bar
rels set In rows, but ox-carts full not
handled softly, but poured from great
baskets into bins, as we poured pota
toes in their resting place. If they
bruised and rotted, let them. We had
enough and to spare. Two seasons of
picking over apples-a sort Of grand
assizes-put the matter all right.
In all my boyhood [ never dream
ed of apples as things possible
to be stolen So abundant were
they, SO absolutely open to all corners
who went down into the cellar by the
inside instead of the outside steps
that we shoulf'as soon have thought of
being cautious against taking turnips
or asking leave to take a potato. APP
pies were as common as air. And that