602 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



I stayed so long to hear Bishop Watterson 

 through that I missed the boat again for San- 

 dusky. In order to reach home at the appoint- 

 ed time Friday morning I must talie the first 

 train and go straight through. By telegrauh- 

 ing to have my wheel brought down to the de- 

 pot I managed to get hold of it once more, and 

 at fifteen minutes of four on Friday morning, 

 July 19t,h. I was speeding on my way from the 

 town of Berea, 18 miles due north from home. I 

 reached home before breakfast was ready, and 

 made the IS miles without tasting food or drink. 

 As the wind was at my back I made it easily: 

 and I could have repealed my text at the head 

 of this talk over every one of the 18 miles, and 

 have it come honestly from the bottom of my 

 heart. 



My traveling-companions on the train from 

 Lakeside to Berea were Mrs. Ellen J. Phinney 

 and Mrs. Stephen Laird. State President of the 

 N. P. W. C. T. U.; and the long pleasant talks 

 and conferences we had together on temperance 

 work I shall always remember. By the way, 

 what a wonderful faith and inspiration and en- 

 ergy it gives in this Christian warfare, to feel 

 that there are plenty of other dear friends and 

 kindred spirits all over this land of ours! It 

 may be somewhat of a speckled land, like the 

 map we had up before us at Lakeside; but, 

 God helping us, we are ijoi7ig to make the wick- 

 ed flee, and that, too, with a good man after 

 him every time; and who knows but there shall 

 be also a good woman at the man's side? 



FLORIDA TRAVELS. 



Every thing in the way of fertilizers can be 

 used on the Florida soil. Friend Keck told me 

 that he saw an orange-grove where a pig- pen 

 was made around three different orange-trees, 

 situated in different parts of the orchard. 

 These three trees bore great crops of fruit, 

 away beyond any other trees in the orchard 

 not so treated. 1 did not learn how many pigs 

 were put into each pen, nor how large the pigs 

 were; but the pens were just a cheap structure 

 of rails; and it almost looks as if the pig busi- 

 ness and the orange business might be run to- 

 gether, at least for a part of the year. 



AVON PARK. 



On the road to Avon Park, through the great 

 piny woods, there were many interesting fea-- 

 tures. When I speak of the sand and the pine- 

 trees, you must not get an idea that Florida is a 

 desert waste, without water. On the contrary, 

 our road sometimes lay right through the 

 water for almost a quarter of a mile. The 

 roadbed was almost as solid and hard under 

 water as above it; and where the water is not 

 more than a foot deep it often seems best to go 

 through a shallow lake rather than around it. 

 So you see it is not alone sand that hinders a 

 wheelman. Another thing, these watery roads 

 often crook around through a swamp full of lux- 

 uriant vegetation. If I were alone it would be 

 a very difficult matter indeed for me to keep in 

 the road right where it is under water; but 

 most of the horses in that locality, if allowed to 

 take their own way, would, by instinct or 

 memory, follow along where otht-r horses and 

 wagons had gone before them. A stranger 

 would be in a pretty bad fix in a Florida wilder- 

 ness. "Stop and inquire," do you say '? Well. 

 I do not know whom you would inquire of un- 



less it is the gophers; and you would not get a 

 glimpse of even them unless you happened on 

 them about daylight. You may ride miles and 

 miles without seeing any house or any traces of 

 human habitation. 



Avon Park looked all the prettier as we 

 emerged from the woods, after our long ride. 

 It is located on the banks of one of the prettiest 

 of Florida's pretty pure-water lakes. At the 

 time of my visit it was about 20 miles from any 

 railway station; but a narrow wooden-gauge 

 track was being laid at the lime, to connect 

 Avon Park wiili the outer world. The hotel 

 and Doarding-house were beautiful structures, 

 and every thing is arranged for the comfort of 

 the guests. While there has been a great boom 

 in real estate at this place there are a good 

 many discontented people there now. They 

 say it is all right, anu a very pleasant place to 

 live, but there is nothing for anybody to do. 

 Well, there are people in almost every town in 

 the whole Unileu States saying this very thing. 

 At first it did seem to me something of a ques- 

 tion whether occupation could be found for all; 

 but when friend Keck and I got up early in the 

 morning and went out prospecting, I changed 

 my views somewhat. Avon Park has suffered 

 less from the frost than almost any other part 

 of Florida I visited. On the south side of the 

 lake, close by the water, at the residence of 

 Rev. F. D. Rood, we found orange-trees with 

 both foliage and blossoms. On other parts of 

 the lake, however, the trees were more or less 

 injured. The severe blizzard came from the 

 northwest, and the protected spot seemed to be 

 on the southeast. The warm water of the lake 

 had tempered the blasts. Tomatoes were also 

 growing thriftily and in full bloom. Of course, 

 1 became thirsty, and was told they got their 

 drinking-water out of the lake. Just imagine 

 the purest and nicest water you ever drank, 

 glittering in the sunlight, with pure white sand 

 for its bottom, ready to be dipped up by the 

 cupful or by the pailful, as you choose. In the 

 early morning it was very cool and refreshing. 

 Various windmills around the lake bring the 

 water where it is wanted, or take it from wells, 

 put down wheiever a well is needed. On the 

 east side of the lake we visited some beautiful 

 grounds that attracted my attention on account 

 of the great cluster of giant bamboo — a sort of 

 reed like our cane fish-poles, sending up shoots, 

 in a single season, 50 feet high. We saw some 

 that had been cut down, and were lying on the 

 ground. They were as large around at the 

 butt as a man's leg. Each section looked as if 

 it were polished and varnished. In the center 

 is an air-tight cavity like a keg or bottle. The 

 inside is also nicely smoothed and polished. It 

 is claimed that there is more strength, for the 

 weight of material, in these bamboo sticks or 

 timbers than in any thing else in the world, 

 not excepting even iron and steel; and I believe 

 it is generally conceded, especially since the 

 day for wooden rims for bicycles, that a pound 

 of the right kind of wood will bear a greater 

 strain, and stand a greater concussion, without 

 injury, than a pound of steel. It is thought 

 that this giant bamboo is to have great value 

 in the arts. It is only recently that it has been 

 grown in Florida. It is now used as masts for 

 vessels. The wood is very hard, but so light 

 that, with these air-tight chambers, it floats 

 on water like a life-preserver. The owner of 

 the plantation was absent; but his good wife 

 answered all his questions, and told us that 

 this wonderful plant makes a growth in the 

 summer time, of one foot a day. In fact, dur- 

 ing the month of May, 1894. it averaged a foot 

 every 24 hours. The green stalk looks some- 

 thing like an asparagus shoot, but, of course, 

 ever so much larger. In the clump of bamboo 



