ifferent Apples from the Same Tree

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Lady Angela was always very proud of her flower garden and the fruit tree orchard. But when her chief gardener announced his retirement, Lady Angela said that it would be hard to replace a man of his talents.

The Baron said he would help in finding a new gardener for Lady Angela, but after several months no one could be found that impressed Lady Angela with his gardening experiences.

Finally, a Chinese man, passing through Lilliland on his way to Spain, inquired about the job. His credentials were not very strong but at the interview with Lady Angela he said he could grow four different kinds of apples from the same tree. If he did not succeed he would not accept any wages.

Lady Angela agreed to give him a try. Several weeks went by but Lady Angela noticed something new going on in her greenhouse. Finally the gardener said that the tree was ready. It was a small tree with four bandages on four separate branches.

As the weeks went by the tree grew slowly at first and then began to reach normal size. Four slightly different little flower buds appeared. As summer passed into fall and apple-picking season was ready, the little tree had matured and four different types of apples appeared. The Baron and Professor Hamblin were called in to see this sight.

Sure enough, the Chinese gardener did what he claimed he would do and Lady Angela gave him the job for as long as he liked.

As the apple tree bore more apples, the Baron asked for three different apples from the four types and then gave the apples to his chief baker and asked him to use them to bake an apple pie.

When the apple pie was served to Lady Angela, Professor Hamblin, the Baron and the gardener, they all agreed that it was the best apple pie that they had ever tasted.

Lady Angela said that the gardener was also very successful with growing prize-winning flowers in her flower garden.