1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



31 



teeth are poor, the little mills that you use 

 in the home, described by Terry, are an ex- 

 cellent aid. He uses them for grinding nuts 

 as well as wheat and other things. It is all 

 right to assist the teeth in every way you 

 can; and I think a little cooking — at least 

 many times — not only assists the teeth, but 

 renders the food more nourishing. 



Fletcher differs from Terry in saying one 

 may eat whatever the appetite calls for par- 

 ticularly. In other words, let nature decide, 

 as far as you can conveniently, what she wants 

 to make a balanced ration. Terry makes a 

 balanced ration of wheat, fruit, and nuts; and, 

 if I am correct, Fletcher, especially since his 

 repeated visits at the Battle Creek sanitari- 

 um, is leaning toward an exclusively vege- 

 table diet. Somebody has suggested that 

 his directions, to take whatever the appetite 

 craves most, might include beer and even 

 whisky; but you all know that Fletcher nev- 

 er intended to say any thing of that kind. 



Now, I want to bring in another one of my 

 "discoveries;" but let me digress a little be- 

 fore I do it. 



There is now a great craze to know how to 

 feed poultry so as to get the most eggs; and 

 most of us have discovered, I think, that a 

 change of diet helps to make the biddies 

 contented and happy, and, as a consequence, 

 bring more eggs in exchange for the food 

 provided. Let me suggest that you make 

 an experiment. Teach your fowls to eat let- 

 tuce if they have not already learned to do 

 so; and, finally, give them all they want, no 

 matter if it does cost something; and if it 

 does not immediately increase the number 

 of eggs I shall be much mistaken. After 

 they become a little tired of the lettuce, cook 

 up some cull beans and mix them with bran 

 middlings or meal so as to get them started 

 on a bean diet. You will soon find that the 

 beans, in a like manner, give an increase in 

 the egg output. Then try lean meat or 

 ground bones. Do not give them too much 

 at once, but accustom them to the new diet 

 gradually. This meat diet almost always 

 produces a mai'ked result; and all three of 

 these different foods are equally beneficial 

 in growing chickens. When I was on the 

 island a large brood of chickens were chirp- 

 ing around as if they wanted something they 

 did not have. I finally concluded they want- 

 ed animal food, and gave them all the fresh 

 fish they would eat. They were just crazy 

 for it; and after they had eaten enough the 

 whole thirty or forty went and sat in a row 

 on a log. Their natural craving was satisfied, 

 and they were contented and happy; and 

 since that time I have seen my chickens do 

 the same thing here in Ohio. When they 

 seem to be uneasy and dissatisfied, try dif- 

 ferent things. When you hit the spot you 

 will see your chicks go and roost on the 

 fence or on a log, in a long row, contented 

 and happy. Nature has been satisfied. 

 When they do this they will grow and keep 

 well. 



Now, I hope our vegetarian brothers and 

 sisters will excuse me if I suggest that, so 

 far as my experience goes, we "humans" 



are much like the chickens. It looks to me 

 as if there were times when growing chil- 

 dren and elderly people need animal food 

 just as the chickens do. There may be, 

 however, some substitute that will answer 

 equally well; my discovery comes in right 

 here. Mrs. Root complains sometimes that 

 I do not eat the things I have been calling 

 for all along after she nas got them all ready 

 for me. For instance, for quite a time I 

 thought that shredded biscuit was just the 

 thing; and I was not satisfied unless I had it 

 at every meal. Finally I " switched off " on 

 to the Battle Creek graham crackers, and I 

 almost lived on them. (It occurs to me right 

 here that one of our children said to some- 

 body a little time ago that I almost "lived 

 on ' ' apples, and if you were to see me eat- 

 ing a great plateful every evening when 

 looking over my agricultural papers you 

 might think that apfles were the " chief part 

 of my diet." Well, after I had been on the 

 graham crackers about so long I took a start 

 on puffed wheat, and it was puffed wheat 

 and nothing else, three times a day. After 

 that I took a great fancy to hulled corn — you 

 know I told you about the hulled corn. 

 Well, all of these things did me good. The 

 change did me good, it gave me new vigor, 

 almost as well as new strength of body; but 

 three or four weeks ago, in some way I did 

 not hold out, either in mental or physical 

 strength, and I have had an increased amount 

 of mental work lately in order to prepare for 

 my trip to Florida. Evidently, nature was 

 admonishing me, just as she admonished the 

 chickens, that something was lacking. I tried 

 my Hamburg steak, and it helped me some- 

 what; but my vigor and enthusiasm did not 

 hold out clear up to the next meal as I want- 

 ed them to do. Just then I saw a lot of nice 

 chestnuts in a grocery, for "chestnut time " 

 had come. They were 25 cents a quart; but 

 even at that price the expense was nothing 

 compared with what people pay for stuff in 

 bottles at the drugstore. I nave often ex- 

 plained that apples are my medicine, and I 

 still consider them one of the very best med- 

 icines in the world. Well, I bought two 

 quarts of these chestnuts and put them in a 

 pan in the oven in order to "cremate " the 

 "live things "that might be inside of some 

 of them. They were left over a slow fire 

 until they were just right. At supper time 

 I said, "Sue, there has been some discussion 

 as to what kind of food is the most delicious 

 that God ever furnished tot" children. I 

 think now that I shall put roasted chestnuts 

 at the very top of the list." 



After a few days of having a good-sized 

 handful of chestnuts at the close of every 

 meal, I can add that not only were they the 

 most delicious food I ever tasted, but they 

 seem to be, in my case, a most strength-giv- 

 ing food. I dictate and answer my letters 

 with more energy and zeal than I have be- 

 fore for many years; and I feel more like 

 running a race with the boys, and climbing 

 the ladders to get to the top of that great 

 warehouse where they are just now putting 

 on a cement roof after having put in two 



