The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1891-03-12
SELECTED.
WHY THE PEAR TREE FauiTE

There is certain corner plot of ground
| on road which | have occasionally to
pass. That piece of ground | describe
| by the adjective "uncanny'. True, no
| love lorn cats, wearied of existence, have
st lccted it as the spot ON which to hreaih he
out in signs the last remnants of dss-
pointed life; no antagcnstic dogs have
laid down their animosity and stretched
themselves beside their feline enemies in
peace, acting up to the principle that there
should be no haiti eds in death. But, all
the same, it is an uncanny corner plot,
and Will continue to be so. | expect, uu-
Til some enterprising builder takes it in
h nd, and erects on IL ''most desirable
property" of some kind. As it stands at
tie present moment it is ripe for de-
velOpment" of this kind; and | must say
that the sooner 1t is developed, the bet
ter.
The present tenants of this uncanny
spot are pieces Of brckbat, small heaps
of sand and pieces of rubbish OF various
kinds. There is no wall about it, so that
it loofs like "nobody's land y for W hich
indeed, ii might pass unless one were
prompted either by curiosity or business
to ask "how much it was per foot?" He
would come away thoroughly satisfied in
his own mind that somebody owned it
and valued 1t, too.
But that piece of ground, with all the
miserableness on it, has one object of
attraction 10 me. This is pear-tree that
no one cares to prune, but that stands
there, living, hlossoming, fruiting, in
spite of its uncongenial and melancholy
surroundings.
That bit of ground is remnant of n
,l,f I.
sister trees are to be seen here and there
made much of in the little gardens in
which they stand; but in this out cast
spot no one cares for this outcast tree.
But though am only passer-by from
time to time, this tree has an interest for
me- it suggests to me question and ans
wer which, running into daily life, does
me some good. l say TO myself, "Why
does this tree fruit amid these dismal
surroundings, and under these unfavor-
ib.e circumstance?
The answer is, 'Because it has prin-
ciplc of life within it-and not only of
life, but of pear-life; and because of this,
despite brickbats and rubbish, it brings
forth pears. Cut down that tree, and il
woull soon be a piece of mere rotting
wood-an addition to the other pieces of
ri Jbsh around; but MS il IL, life diiiereu
tiates IL from taem, and enatl IS 1t to GO
IN leatng, tlossomiug, fruitng, as the
season for each of these functions comes
ON It,"
''Peartlee' say to myself, "why is
il thus with your
Then it says, Il live; and my life Is in
dependent of all things which dlshgure
The ground on which grow. | am con-
Linually performing life functions; my
business is to put forth the life that Is in
myself, and not give heed to the death
chat there is in them.
All these lie on the surface Of the
ground; they have nought to do with
what Is beneath 1t, or what is overhead.
| draw my susteDance from both.
could not live on the surface; | am made
with roots, and roots must go telow. |
I'm made with leaves and branches; and
they have to do with what is above,
must assimilate. | must make my own
the nourishment in earth Juices, which
my roots can assimilate-and that in oxy-
gen, and dews, and sunlight, on which
my leaves feed.
IN me there is the law of life-of growth,
If flower, of fruit; by that law | anu en-
lbled to be what | am, Development is
, necessity of my being; my life Graves
it, my life compels it; what | shall pro-
luce is pear, for my life is pear-lfe.
have life in common with all vegetation,
but pear-life is my particular lie; and
live 1t, to work it out, no matter what are
my surroundings. My roots 90 under all
this rubbish-it stands In no relation to
me; il there were a thousand times as
much, should pursue the even tenor of
my life, my one idea is to fruit"
don't know which to praise most
the courage, or the endurance, or the
good principle and conscientiousness-i
| might so speak, or the philosophy of
my roadside friend. They are all con-
spicious so far as they can be credited to
a tree.
cannot but think that there are many
persons who are placed in very much the
| same circumstances as this tree. They
get into region Of Observation-Disclosures
some place or sphere In which every
thing Is uncongenial to them--foreign
to them-in which they have to live the
life that is In them, and to bring forth
the fruit that belongs to them, without
any help from surroundings.
My pear-tree says to me, BE your
self In spite of what Is around YOU.
With that you have nothing to do. You
cannot help the rubbish being near you
you cannot help great deal more COM
ing for ell you know, something equiv
alent to the dead cat or dog may come
next; II you heed the external-that with
which you, with your own individual life,
have nothing to do-you will never per.
form your own functions, work out your
own destiny
We have to try to live the beautiful
amid the ugly-the Christian amid the
ungodly-the sensitive amid the irrespon.
slve; we have to DO living amid what IL
dead-and that, alone, without affluity
with, or sympathy from surroundings
the life that is In US must do Il; and. by
Gods blessing and help hope 1t will.
have observed that my friend the
pear.tree was not now standing In gar.
den ground, but II had not always been
thus with It. The spot on which It stood
had once been part Of garden; and nov
standing In smaller gardens, aud nov
Cleft In their places when the ground VA,
cut up Into building plots) we're many Of
~ forner companies tEeeA