Apple-tree

One apple-tree had been stripped; its branches were bare, every leaf was torn off, and all the fruit had been gathered except a single apple, which grew upon the top of the highest branch. This apple was very large and beautiful, and its fragrance alone excelled the united fragrance of many others.

Then she went on a little bit farther, and came to an apple-tree, so loaded with fruit that its branches were breaking down, and the tree said, "Little girl, little girl, help me shake my fruit. My branches are breaking, it is so heavy." And the girl said, "Of course I will, you poor tree."

Apple-tree, apple-tree hide me, So the old witch can't find me; If she does she'll pick my bones, And bury me under the marble stones.

The blackbird calls anxiously to her mate from the top of an apple-tree.

And then Marie-Celeste proceeded to narrate at length her unexpected encounter with Ted under the apple-tree.

And I'll sing a song as rare Of the apple-tree! The red-bloomed apple-tree; The red-cheeked apple-tree;

Many years ago, my old friend, the late Dr. J. A. Lintner, State Entomologist of New York, compiled a list of 356 insects that feed on the apple-tree. Later authorities place the number at nearly five hundred species.