r.iio 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



74;; 



nor carboli?ed ointment, nor any thing else that T 

 have tried will kill them, save mercurial ointment 

 or the tincture of stavesacre seed, both of which are 

 dangerous if incautiously used. After much ex- 

 periment. I found that chloroform, dropped or rub- 

 bed on each separate welt, will stop the itching for 

 about six hours. It is quite harmle.ss. and ple.asant 

 enough to apply. The country people sometimes 

 rub themselves with salty bacon-rind before going 

 outdoors, and claim that this is a preventive: al.so 

 that kerosene will do as well. 



If one keeps an old suit of clothes expressly for 

 chiggertime, puts the suit in a closet, and fumi- 

 gates it thoroughly with the smoke of burning to- 

 bacco stems, no chigger will touch him. Alas that 

 the preventives should all be so disagreeable! 



Concluding this rather painful essay, I will say 

 that the most satisfactory all-around "dope" that I 

 have found, to discourage attack by mosquitoes, 

 flies, midges, fleas, and ticks, is oil of citronella, 

 which, for the two last-mentioned pests, as well as 

 for bed-bugs, must be rubbed all over one's body be- 

 fore going into the woods, or before retiring. I have 

 used it thus, daily, for months, with no 111 effect. It 

 is not unpleasant to use, and can be procured at 

 any cit.v drugstore, or at a barber shop. 



In giving the names of these pests, or, in 

 fact, any thing else, I think it is well to 

 have the names describe the insects as much 

 as possible. The words chiggers, jiggers, 

 etc., in different localities refer to quite dif- 

 ferent insects. In the poultry catalogs the 

 insect that attaches itself to the combs of 

 fowls and on the heads and under the chin 

 of little chicks is called "stick-tight flea;" 

 and this name, if adopted, would describe 

 the insect to everybody so that no mistake 

 could be made, and I would "stick tight" 

 to it. These stick-tight fleas may be very 

 troublesome on human beings; but they are 

 quite a different thing from the redbugs. 

 It is the latter that produce the itching and 

 tormenting sores that last for a week or two. 

 I think "redbugs" is the best name for 

 them. But we should remember they are 

 almost microscopic. I have never tried the 

 oil of citronella, but I will when I get back 

 to Florida. 



EMERGENCY FOODS. 



Now, here is something else in the book 

 that is exceedingly valuable; in fact, the 

 title of the chapter took a mighty hold on 

 me. It discusses what kind of food will 

 give most strength and endurance, that has 

 little weight, and which can be packed into 

 a small compass. After discussing almost 

 every thing that has been tried by hunters, 

 trappers, and others who go off in the desert 

 or through the uninhabited wilderness, the 

 author of the book comes out with a strong 

 indorsement of T. B. Terry and of your 

 humble servant, who is getting youth, vi- 

 tality, and enthusiasm by living mostly on 

 an "emergency diet." Read what I quote 

 from page 221: 



Good wheat is as good as corn, and perhaps bet- 

 ter, while the mixture is very good. Common roll- 

 ed oats browned in a pan in the oven and run 

 through a splce-miU is as good and easy to make It 

 out of as any thing. A cotfee mill may do If it will 

 set fine enough. Ten per cent of poijped corn ground 

 in with it will improve the flavor so much that your 

 children will get away with it all if you do not hide 

 it. Wheat and corn are hard to grind, but the small 

 Enterpr se spice-mill will do it. You may also mix 

 some ground chocolate with it for flavor, which, 

 with popped corn, makes it very fine. . . Indigest- 

 ible? Your granny's nightcap! . . You must re- 

 member that it is "werry fillin' for the price," and 

 go slow with it until you have found yovir coeffi- 

 cient. . . 



Now for the application. The Mexican rover of 

 the desert will tie a small sack of vinole behind his 

 saddle and start for a trip of several days. It is the 

 lightest of food, and in the most portable shape, 

 sandproof. bug and fly proof, and every thing. 

 Wherever he finds water he stirs a few ounces in a 

 cup ( 1 never weighed It, but four seem about enough 

 at a time for an ordinary man), drinks it in five sec- 

 onds, and is fed for five or six hours. If he has jerky, 

 he chews that as he jogs along; but if he has not he 

 will go through the longest trip and come out strong 

 and well on 7J(«o/e alone. — Sliootina and Fi.fhimj, Vol. 

 XX., p. 248. 



There, friends, do you not see how we 

 come around once more to the "dry mash " 

 for chickens'? The very thing that makes 

 the chickens strong and well is exactly what 

 makes men and women strong and well. 

 There is a lot of foolishness in the papers 

 and among the people because it is said that 

 provisions are so high that working people 

 can not "earn enough to live." Now, there 

 are wrongs to be corrected, I am well aware; 

 but while these w rongs are being righted it 

 is sheer folly to say we can not get enough 

 to eat. I feel like using the phrase in the 

 above extract — "Your granny's nightcap !" 

 You can certainly scrape up money enough, 

 any of you, to buy some corn and some 

 wheat. Parch it in the oven as directed 

 above, then grind it in a coffee-mill, and you 

 have got the very best emergency food in 

 the world.* It will make you happy and 

 make you well; and you do not have to pay 

 any profit to the middleman or grocer. Go 

 and buy your corn and wheat of the farmer. 

 If you want a variety, get some rolled oats 

 of Montgomery Ward & Co., at a little more 

 than 2 cts. per lb. By the way, Mrs. Root 

 and I expect to go back to our Florida home 

 about the first of November, and we are go- 

 ing to carry a bag of wheat down there that 

 was raised here on our own farm. We go 

 to the expense of shipping it so far mainly 



* The above reminds me that my youngest sister 

 (whose death I mentioned recently!, in our child- 

 hood days used to be very fond of parched corn 

 ground in a coffee-mill. When .she wanted to 

 please her favorite brother (my poor self) she would 

 select some nice co n from the crib, then parch it 

 just to a turn, grind it in a coffee-mill, then stir it 

 in some nice new milk; and when I came home hun- 

 gry it seemed to "hit the; spot" better than any thing 

 elf.e in the world for a growing boy: and I believe I 

 would now rather have some parched corn ground 

 in a mill, with a cup of milk, than any other menu to 

 be had in our highest-priced restaurants. If you 

 will turnover to the book of lUith you will find that, 

 when Boaz was courting Ruth, while she sat at din- 

 ner among the reapers he said to her, "At meal- 

 time come thou hither and eat of the bread, and 

 dip thy morsel in the vinegar." And we read fur- 

 ther. "He reached her jjarched corn, and she diil 

 eat, and was sufficed." Now. even if this is getting 

 to be a lengthy footnote I want to suggest for the 

 children something more. M.v sister Mattie, when 

 sh3 had plenty of time, would sometimes cut oui 

 just tie germs cl the corn with a r nife. and this 

 chit, or germ, when eaten by itself has the flavor of 

 fine nut.s, ard is a most delicious dessert. And. by 

 the way, the red squirrels that flock around our 

 corn-crib have caught on to the same trick, f'jr 

 they annoy us by taking the germ of he corn in 

 the same way and letting the remainder drop on 

 the ground. Well. I have tried leeding these 

 "gerraless" grains to the chickens: but even they 

 will not acceiu this mutilated corn so long as they 

 have access to the other kind. Here is a chance for 

 somebody to get out a new kind of food or confec- 

 tion. Perhaps sprouting the corn a little would in- 

 crease the amount of sugar: and the Chi ese have 

 for years furni'-hed on t.:e market a choice delica- 

 cy in the way of sprouted p. as. 



