Page 32 - English Expedition Class 2

5 Johnny Appleseed

John Chapman (1774 –1845), popularly nicknamed Johnny Appleseed, was an American
farmer who introduced apple trees to many parts of America. He was greatly admired because
of his kind nature and his spirit for the conservation of nature.
In this chapter, we will read the local folk tale based on how Johnny Appleseed changed
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the landscape of America by planting orchards .

Once there was a poor farmer.
He had always wanted to do
something that would make many
people happy, but did not know

what he could do. He had no
money. All he had was a small boat.
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As he trudged along one day,
he saw some old sacks lying under

a tree. Suddenly, he had a splendid 3
idea. He picked up the sacks and
placed them in his boat, jumped
into it and floated away.
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As he rowed down the stream,
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the farmer watched the shore carefully. When he saw an apple orchard he rowed
towards the land and tied his boat there. He went into the homes near the orchards
and asked for work.

He cut their wood, carried their water and did all sorts of odd chores. In payment
for this work all he asked for was food and the seeds from the apples on the ground
under the trees – only the seeds. The people were very surprised at what he asked for
his work.

They gladly gave him such a simple thing. As he cut the fruit, the children of the
neighbourhood gathered around him. He shared the fruit with the children and told
them lovely stories but saved the seeds in his sack.

1 4
orchard: a plot of land where fruit trees are grown rowed: moved a boat through water
2 5
trudged: walked slowly as if tired shore: the land at the edge of a water body
3
splendid: wonderful
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