274 



GLEANINCiS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. lo 



tie better, so the siii)i)er was prejmred for me 

 alone. Please excuse me here for taking a 

 little space to say that for years 1 have been 

 most of the time clear used uj) before every 

 one of the three meals, and, most of all, 

 when it comes "sup])er time" toward the 

 close of the day. Mrs. Root has for years 

 recognized that, imless I had some good 

 nourishing food for supper, and a good sleep 

 after supper (as well as before dinner), I 

 could never hold out to attend to my letters 

 and reading my periodicals during the eve- 

 ning. "Jess " (my brother) assured me sev- 

 eral times, that, after just a few days, I would 

 get all over feeling faint, and get through 

 my evening's work aff the better; but when, 

 for some reason, my supper had been delay- 

 ed, I had' felt so faint and exhausted I could 

 not think it possible. It is true, I had often 

 read what Terry, the good friends at Battle 

 Creek, Mich., Upton Sinclair, and others 

 have said about two meals a day; but I could 

 not scrape up faith to believe such a thing 

 was possible for me. Well, Mrs. Root ])ro- 

 tests about my "rushing into print" before 

 I have tried it longer; but I really feel as if 

 I couldn't wait, w'ithout telling you I have 

 now tried it several days; and, although it 

 takes a little "self-denial " (about 5 o'clock 

 every day) I feel very much better in every 

 way without any food after our noonday 

 meal. May God be i)raised for the "eman- 

 cipation," not only for myself, but for the 

 "dear wife " w'ho lias been tied down to the 

 slavery (yes, that is the right word) of "get- 

 ting supper " for a nervous used-uj) husband 

 .for almost^/^?/?/eor.s. Through all her busy 

 life she has objected to letting any thing or 

 anybody "go hungry," and even now she 

 worries some for fear /shall "go hungry" 

 and not mention it because of making her 

 trouble. Yes, I do sometimes feel a little 

 hungry when I go to bed (about 10 p.m.) , but 

 in the morning I never feel hungry the least 

 bit; in fact, I feel so exceedinglij well that 

 several times they had trouble in hunting 

 me up (out among the chickens), and get- 

 ting me to "come to breakfast." 



Well, now, sui)iiose you ligure up how 

 many tired women there are in this world of 

 ours who would gladly be "emancipated," 

 like Mrs. Root, from the slavery of supper- 

 getting. It may ])rove a sort of "yoke" to 

 some of us; but, () my friend and brother! 

 you will find, if you go about it in the right 

 spirit, that "my yoke is easy and my bur- 

 den is light." 



If Terry and I succeed in proving that 

 supi)ers are superfluous (or worse), what 

 shall we say of the evening socials and ban- 

 (juets? Who is the unwilling "slave" that 

 l)rovides all these expensive foods, and after- 

 ward washes and wipes the war/onloads of 

 dishes? Is there a Moses coming .s'o/»(! time 

 or somewhere in the future to deliver us 

 from the lash of the cruel driver and bring 

 us into the "))rf)mised land," even a land 

 (lowing with milk and honey? 



My brother has been, most of his life, pro- 

 prietor of a drugstore. His son is a promi- 

 nent physician with a good practice; but 



when he had stubborn night sweats, did he 

 take the remedy from the great array on the 

 shelves of his drugstore? I tell you, nay; 

 he took a cold bath e\ery morning, and ate 

 nothing after the noonday meal. 



Terry suggests that two meals a day gives 

 the digestive ajiparatus a chance to rest uj) 

 a little — a sort of "vacation." In my case 

 I might almost say it has been the first real 

 vacation in thirty or forty years, for I haxe 

 had three good meals a day almost all my 

 life. Omitting supper is a little different 

 from the "no breakfast " plan; but I think 

 it rather better. When you are ready to 

 sleep, the stomach and bowels are or should 

 be i>ractically emjity and at rest; and after 

 you have had a big drink of pure water, 

 when you first get up {a la Terry), your 

 clean and washed-out system is ready to do 

 good work with the breakfast. In fact, we 

 might almost say there has been a sort of 

 "cleaning house" and getting rid of all 

 rubbish. 



Mrs. Root suggests that, while no sujjper 

 may be all right for grown people, especial- 

 ly elderly people like ourselves, it w^ould 

 hardly do for children and youth. This 

 may be true. You know the "chicken 

 books" tell us to feed the very young ones 

 every two or three hours, etc. Well, oin- 

 boy Huber, w^hen at college, of his own ac- 

 cord got on to the no-breakfast plan and 

 kei)t it u]) for years, and declared that, by 

 so doing, he got on with his studies better. 

 When in poor health he urged me to try it; 

 but I declared all the time I was sure it 

 would never answer for me. Perhaps some 

 of you ask, "How about my apples" (the 

 "best medicine in the world," you know)? 

 Well, I didn't have my apples last night, 

 and I feel so well this morning I think I 

 will take my fruit hereafter at noon or short- 

 ly after dinner. 



God told A<lam (and ¥We) not to touch 

 the forbidden fruit, but their love for new 

 things, and their low carnal appetites 

 prom])ted them to listeii to the serpent, and 

 they fell as a consequence of disobedience. 

 God is, in like manner, trying to tell us (if 

 we would but listen) to beware about letting 

 our love for "good things " prompt us to 

 make a bad use of them. Some of us have 

 already acquired unnatural and perverted 

 appetites; but, may the Lord be praised, 

 there is help even for such. "Take my 

 yoke upon you," and you will surely find 

 " my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 



HOME-MADE CRUSHED WHEAT. 



Mr. A. I. Root:—\ have just l^eeii reading what you 

 say in (!i.kanings, Feb. loth, about parched wheat 

 for breakfast food. We have used it for several 

 years, and I should like to tell you how we prepare 

 it. We Kct two bushels of wheat in the fall, when it 

 is first thrashed, and take it to the Kristniill and 

 have it run througli the sniutter so it is cleaned the 

 same as they clean it Iwfore they grind it for flour. 

 Then when we prepare it we take four or five quarts, 

 or as much as we wisli to grind at once, and wash it 

 In two or three waters, and then put it in deep tins. 

 Have the wheat about two Inches deep in the tins, 

 and put it in a warm (not too hot) oven and let it 

 dry. Heating it when it is wet cooks it and roasts 



