30 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1 



Our Homes 



By A. I. Root 



Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate 

 in all things.— I. COR. 9 : 25. 



WHAT SHALL WE EAT TO "KEEP WELL AND 

 LIVE LONG"? 



It rejoices my heart just now to see how 

 the pages of our magazines and other peri- 

 odicals are gladly thrown open to let Horace 

 Fletcher tell us of his discoveries in the way 

 of simple diet. Much good is certainly com- 

 ing from it. The trouble is, that so many are 

 unwilling to give up the old way and adopt 

 the new. But a wave of reform is fast 

 spreading over the whole wide world; the 

 need of reform seems to be more appreci- 

 ated just now than ever before since the 

 world began. Somebody has suggested that, 

 a few years ago, the flag that waves over the 

 United States was saved from being trampled 

 in the dust by the patriotism and self-sacri- 

 fice of the North; but in God's wonderful 

 providence it seems now as if the tables were 

 being turned, and that the South were now 

 about to take the lead and teach the North 

 some wholesome lessons. The North, years 

 ago, took the lead in abolishing slavery; 

 but just now the South is, without doubt, 

 taking the lead in abolishing, if not a 

 greater evil, one just as great. The tyranny 

 and dominion of strong drink and the liquor 

 forces die so hard that it looks very much as 

 if troops and soldiers would have to be call- 

 ed out to enforce our just and righteous laws. 

 In Atlantic City we have recently had an il- 

 lustration of this. Now, while it seems as if 

 the influence of every man and woman, and 

 perhaps of the children too, is needed to 

 preserve and enforce our laws, it seems to be 

 more and more evident every day that every 

 man, woman, and child should be exhorted 

 as never before to rule his own appetites 

 and other low passions. May God be praised 

 that President Taft had the grace and cour- 

 age to decline to take a glass of mint julip 

 that was prepared especially to give him a 

 hospitable welcome. We are told that he 

 smelled of the mint, and probably admired 

 its aroma; but he set the glass down with- 

 out even tasting the intoxicating beverage. 



Now, the success of Fletcher's and Terry's 

 teachings depends on self-control. When 

 you have discovered that certain things dis- 

 turb your digestion, let them alone, no mat- 

 ter how much the effort costs you. I am 

 often tempted to taste of apples, grapes, and 

 other fruit between meals; but I have learn- 

 ed by experience that bad results are sure 

 to follow; but if I go and get a drink of nice 

 cool boiled water, which I always keep on 

 hand, the longing for fruit soon passes away. 

 Of course, I can not prescribe for other peo- 

 ple; but it is certainly very much better for 

 myself to take nothing in my mouth but 

 pure water except at meal time. In the 

 same way, I am tempted, like other people, 

 to have a piece of pie or dessert when it is 

 offered me after I have already eaten as 



much as is good for me. When you are vis- 

 iting, and you have reason to think the good 

 housewife has prepared a little sometning 

 extra, perhaps because of your presence, 

 it seems almost uncivil to refuse to taste pie, 

 ice-cream, or other desserts; but I am sure 

 it is best. My strength holds out ever so 

 much better when I pleasantly tell the good 

 friends who have invited me that I nave 

 made an excellent dinner, and have already 

 partaken of all that is good for me. These 

 things, as I have said, require the exercise 

 of self-control over the appetite, and other 

 things in the same way. Let your motto be, 

 not what you want or greatly desire, but what 

 is best for you. Let duty, not inclination, de- 

 cide the matter. Terry has told us that it is 

 sometimes necessary for him to exercise 

 self-control in order to stick to his uncooked 

 wheat when there are so many other things 

 round about him in such profusion. But ne 

 got back his health and a robustness of mind 

 and body beyond what falls to the lot of 

 common mortals by exercising self-control, 

 and eating that which he knows from past 

 experience is best for his health. After he 

 has for quite a period exercised this self- 

 control he tells us that he enjoys the uncook- 

 ed food more than he ever enjoyed eating 

 any thing before in his life. I think he is 

 recognizmg, however, that no two of us re- 

 quire exactly the same kind of diet. Some 

 of his followers are eating common wheat 

 just as it grows on the farm; but they cook 

 the wheat in a corn-popper or parch it 

 slightly, then grind it in a little cheap mill, 

 and eat it that way. For variety they some- 

 times add a small proportion of popcorn. 

 And, by the way, I have found that popcorn 

 is a very wholesome food, especially if it is 

 put through a little mill, and then eaten with 

 milk. Fletcher tells us that, when he per- 

 forms his great athletic feats, he eats nothing 

 but a cereal and milk, and a little lump oi 

 maple sugajj. I am well satisfied that maple 

 sugar is more wholesome than the refined 

 sugars in common use. Fletcher says it does 

 not make so much difference what cereal 

 you use, providing it is thoroughly chewed. 

 By the way, some people think that eating 

 slowly means chewing slowly. Not so. 

 Fletcher says that he chews just as fast as he 

 can make his jaws go, especially when in a 

 hurry. Get every thmg into a liquid state, or 

 semi-liquid, before swallowing it.* If your 



*In the last issue of the Practical Farmer, Terry tells 

 us more about that Quaker City mill No. 4 that they 

 use to grind their graham flour and other things. The 

 mill cost all together $3.80. The address of the com- 

 pany is A. D. Straub & Co.. 3739 Filbert St., Phila. 



By the way, you are probably reading up about that 

 terrible disease called "pellagra." Well, McClure's 

 Masazine says it is caused principally by moldy com 

 that is used to make corn meal. Sometimes some mil- 

 lers purposely put in a little moldy corn to get it off 

 their hands. They think the quantity is so small that 

 nobody will notice it, and that it will do no harm. And 

 it is well known that it is almost impossible to get gen- 

 uine graham flour on the market. Millers and mid- 

 dlemen seem to think they can dump almost "any old 

 thing" into graham flour, and it will be all right. 

 The remedy for this terribly bad business is to get one 

 of these little mills and make your own corn meal and 

 graham flour from the best corn and wheat of your 

 own selection. 



