The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-08-08
TREES THAT CAME IN A POCKET


The orchard was 30 lovely In Its
dress OF pink. with tiny bits of green
showing here and there. that Daisy.
walking with grandmother between
the rows and rows of great. spread
ing trees, felt as IL she had stepped
into fairyland.
And to think" exclaimed grand
mother, stopping to look about her.
that / once carried this whole or
chard in my pocket all the way from
the State of Ohio"
why, gran'ma." cried Daisy in a
shocked voice, you couldn't get the
very littlest Tree in your biggest peck
et." And she looked up at her grand
mother in much perplexity.
But grandmother, seeing the
shocked look on Daisy's little face,
only smiled and said: THE way it
happened, Daisy, was this. l had just
married your grandfather back in
Ohio, and he brought me out here
to Illinois to live. The country was
then a wilderness, and there was not
a sign of a house within three miles
of where we built our cabin. |
brought from Ohio everything l could
think of that l knew we should need.
Now, at my fathers home we had
fine, large orchard, and l had saved
seeds out of all the different kinds
of apples that grew in it. When we
started on our trip, / tied them all
in a little bag that l tucked in my
pocket. Then, after l got to my
new home and the ground was clear
ed, l planted my seeds; and when
they sprouted, l tended the little
trees almost as if they had been so
many babies. kept the weeds
down, stirred the earth at the roots
Of the trees, and carried water from
the creek when they grew dry and
thirsty. You have no idea how de-
lighted 1 was to see them grow. But
how long do you suppose l had to
wait, dear, before picked the first
apple of those trees?"
Il 'spect it was a month" guessed
Daisy, her eyes very wide and bright
with interest in this true story.
Grandmother laughed. mo, not a
month, but seven whole years I wait
ed for that first apple. 1t was a big
yellow Bellflower, 80 ripe and juicy
that it was worth waiting seven years
for. Well, your grandfather had q
piece and / another, and the rest di-
vided between your father and your
Uncle Dave. Ny babies grew faster
than my apples did
20, gran'ma," laughed Daisy, Il
wish you'd saved a piece for moi"
II know another moro beautiful
story" unused grandmother, about
the orchard that my orchard grew out
Of. There was once . strange man
who came to Ohio when it was still a
wilderness. People called him John
ny Appleseed' because he carried ap-
pie seeds with him: wherever he went
up and down tho land he would select
some favored spot near a stream of
water where the grass grew abund-
antly, and there he would plant some
of his precious apple seeds. In the
course of time these seeds grew into
big, apple-bearing orchards, and
many a man of those days who drove
into Ohio, with his family and all his
household goods tucked away in a
big canvas-covered wagon, selected
home just because he found there one
Of these orchards that Johnny Apple
seed had planted for the good Of man
kind. Some folks thought Johnny
was crazy because year after year he
did nothing but tramp up and down
and everywhere along the pleasan,
streams Of the new wild Ohio carry
ing that pack OF seeds. But I never
think Of Johnny but l bless the old
mans kind heart for this orchard
that you see, the orchard that l car
ried in my pocket from Ohio, and
which came from the older orchard
which sprung from the seeds OF John
ny Appleseed's planting. And so you
see. Daisy, darling" grand
mothers voice grew very tender as
she stood looking up among the
bursting pink bloom-''how strong
and fine and beautiful a thing may
grow out Of tiny, tiny sede. We
are all of US sowing seeds In one
way and another. The words we
speak, the deeds we do for one an
other, are all little seed specks that
We SOW in the world about US. And
it is very possible for them to grow
into things quite as big and beauti-
full and useful to men as any that
ever came out of Johnny'sa pack"
20, gran'ma," cried Daisy In de-
light, that's just what the song says
about
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love-"
She clapped her hands joyously. "Pm
just going to f1ll all my pockets full