I am the grandnephew of Forbes and Martha Merkley. My great aunt and uncle were good friends of the Motts. I remember a time back in the early 1970’s when Mr. and Mrs. Mott came to my great aunt and uncle’s farm (ForMar). Mr. Mott asked me to pick some of the Merkleys apples for him. I remember asking him why he wanted the Merkleys apples when he had a lot of apple trees himself. I’ll never forget his response. He pointed to the Merkley apples I’d gathered into a bag and said “Those apples are the best apples because they are free!”