368 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MayI 



furnish us the breed. I once had one little 

 brown U-ghorn hen that I verily believe would 

 have peopled a farm with poultry all alone by 

 herself, and in a very short time too, if plenty 

 of food could have been provided for her and 

 the chicks. 



"Are pelicans' eggs edible?" you may ask. 

 I think my friends told me they were eaten by 

 some people; but as the diet of the birds is 

 exclusively salt-water fish, the eggs are rather 

 rank in flavor. Now, if any reader of Glean- 

 ings can tell me of a successful effort at raising 

 poultry where they manage to raise chickens 

 all by themselves, I should like to hear about 

 it. I suppose yon know the enormous wealth 

 of the great cattle-kinjcs of California, Arizona, 

 and Florida, is secured in something this way. 

 The cattle run wild, and breed after nature's 

 fashion, the hand of man never coming in at 

 all except to put the proper brand on the calves 

 as fast as they arrive at a proper age. The 

 flock grows and multiplies as the years pass, 

 without any management from the owner— the 

 only condition being, indeed, a sufQciency of 

 pasturage. 



On our way home we stopped at a pretty 

 little point called Orchid: and it was quite an 

 agreeable surprise to find, away out in the 

 wilderness, a pretty little home full of books, 

 magazines, and periodicals, presided over by a 

 newly married couple — Mr. and Mrs. Forester. 

 In their beautiful garden, watered by an ever- 

 flowing artesian well, we found orange-trees 

 containing leaves, blossoms, and fruit in limit- 

 ed quantity, unharmed by either the first or 

 second freeze. This little bit of Eden is pro- 

 tected by both water and the great tall spread- 

 ing palm-trees. It is on a stripof land between 

 Indian River and the ocean-beach. We also 

 saw beans under the protection of the palm- 

 trees, that had passed the ordeal of both frosts. 

 This would not have been sufScient, however, 

 were it not for the water on each side of it. 

 The place has been named "Orchid " because 

 tropical plants like the orchid here find a safe 

 place to grow and thrive ordinarily. The plan 

 of irrigation here is to have the artesian-well 

 pipe come up in the center of the garden, say 

 four or fivp feet above the general level; then, 

 to avoid the expense of more iron pipe for con- 

 ductors, the sand is banked up nearly to the 

 top of the pipe; and in the top of this ridge of 

 sand a little ditch is made with a gradual in- 

 cline. This takes the water off in different di- 

 rections across the garden; and with sand 

 ridges to hold the water it is conducted between 

 the furrows where they want it. Of course, 

 much water is wasted by leaching through the 

 sandy loam; but thi» artesian well gives such 

 an unlimited supply from a four-inch pipe that 

 it can waste all it wants to. Of course, when 

 the garden shall have increased so that it be- 

 comes an object to utilize all the water, iron 

 pipes will probably take the place of the 

 ditches on top of the sand ridges. After having 

 had such a visit as I did with friend King and 

 his wife, and with Mr. and Mrs. Forester, it 

 makes one feel like thanking God that there 

 are such real nice people in this world of ours. 



The wind was still boisterous when we un- 

 dertook to climb from the landing down into 

 the little row-boat. I was so much of an in- 

 valid after my recent sickness that I did not 

 attempt to help very much. In fact, I was so 

 unused to such treacherous things as boats that 

 I needed help most of the time myself. Mr. 

 King had charge of the management of the 

 boat, and his wife was obliged to climb down 

 and secure a foothold while the boat was sway- 

 ing to and fro. She came near falling at one 

 time; but instead of grasping for the secure 

 timbers of the pier, she held tenaciously to her 



little purse, or satchel, forgetting she could toss 

 it into the boat and use both hands to steady 

 herself. Friend Forester here broke in with: 



" Look here, Mrs. King, I want you to tell us 

 what is inside of that precious porte-monnaie 

 that makes you cling to it so frantically, as if 

 it were of more moment than life and death." 



Without waiting for her to answer, her hus- 

 band replied: 



" Why, she has not any t?im(/ in the pocket- 

 book except a five-cent piece. That is just the 

 way with women-folks." 



I here came to Mrs. King's rescue by re- 

 marking that I had known quite a few TJien 

 during my time who would hang to a nickel, 

 even though they knew it would carry them 

 down to perdition and death, but that I was 

 sure it was the first time in all my experience 

 where a woman risked her life by holding fast 

 to the root of all evil, and that I for one strong- 

 ly resented the imputation that womankind 

 are given to such penuriousness. Mrs. King 

 did not vouchsafe to open that precious pocket- 

 book and tell us what it did contain; but we 

 laughed long and heartily, especially as she did 

 not go over into the briny deep. Then some- 

 body sang out that a school of porpoises was 

 rounding the point. 



Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? — 



Mark 10:3. 



There are unfortunate and unhappy mar- 

 riages in this world of ours, as we all know; and 

 a good many times it would seem as if the two 

 had better separate — that is, it would seem so 

 to human judgment and wisdom, especially 

 when we attempt to use that judgment and 

 wisdom without asking for grace from on high 

 to guide us. I am not sure but I have, under 

 certain very extreme circumstances, myself ad- 

 vised the separation of man and wife. If I did, 

 however, I am pretty sure that my conscience 

 troubled me about it afterward. There may 

 be a terribly bad state of affairs where they 

 undertake to live together; but the older I 

 grow, the more I am convinced that it does not 

 mend matters to seek a divoi'ce through the 

 courts of law. In the first place, the precedent 

 is a bad one. The example is bad for the com- 

 munity. It is fe?"r{b?y bad for the children. It 

 seems to wrench things asunder — things sacred 

 and holy; and wreck and ruin often follow in a 

 way no one could have expected. Satan's 

 stamp and Satan's seal seem to have been left 

 on divorces of almost every sort. Sometimes I 

 am consulted in such matters when told that 



Earties can not live together. My reply has 

 een invariably— that is. before I knew the cir- 

 cumstances — that they would find it more 

 trouble still to undertake to live separate. 

 Now, the story I have commenced to tell you, 

 perhaps, does not bear me out in this. If we 

 knew all the circumstances connected with it, 

 perhaps it would, after all. 



I presume most of you are familiar with our 

 Savior's command in regard to this whole mat- 

 ter. In fact, it has been read and considered 

 again and again. This much seems to be clear: 

 Christ Jesus gave very little encouragement, 

 and I believe mentioned only one case in which 

 divorce might be considered excusable; and if 

 I am right he at least advised that man and 

 wife who separated on that account should not 

 marry again. 



