My order called for thirty-four hundred three-year-old apple trees of
the highest grade, to be delivered in good condition on the platform at
Exeter for the lump sum of $550. The agreement had been made in August,
and the trees were to be delivered as near the 20th of October as
practicable. Apple trees comprised my entire planting for the autumn of
1895. I wanted to do much other work in that line, but it had to be left
for a more convenient season. Hundreds of fruit trees, shade trees, and
shrubs have since been planted at Four Oaks, but this first setting of
thirty-four hundred apple trees was the most important as well as the
most urgent.
The orchard was to be a prominent feature in the factory I was building,
and as it would be slower in coming to perfection than any other part,
it was wise to start it betimes. I have kicked myself black and blue for
neglecting to plant an orchard ten years earlier. If I had done this,
and had spent two hours a month in the management of it, it would now be
a thing of beauty and an income-producing joy forever,--or, at least, as
long as my great-grandchildren will need it.
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