189G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



399 



responsibilities. Human life is often at stake. 

 A man can not get a good position, and one 

 commanding a large salary, unless he is willing 

 to be responsible in a measure for the very 

 lives thai are committed to his care. He agrees 

 to be minister, or, if you choose, servant, to the 

 great busy moving world of people. A great 

 cry is constantly welling up for faithful and 

 reliable men and women— for those who are 

 sutificiently interested to keep thoroughly posted 

 —to know all about everything pertaining to 

 their line of work; and there never was a time 

 in the history of the world when such grand 

 opportunities were constantly opening up as 

 now. There never was a time when men and 

 women were offered such pay as at the present 

 time. But the pay, mind you. goes to those 

 who are willing to serve or minister, and not to 

 those who must be constantly waited upon or min- 

 istered unto. I can not tell just where the trou- 

 ble is in your own particular case; but God's 

 holy book will tell you, if you make it your 

 study. It is full of texts in the line of the sen- 

 timent that I have tried to express and explain, 

 and it gives us the promise that God's Holy 

 Spirit will go with it and make it plain; and 

 when you once get to fully understand its im- 

 port and meaning, oh what a glorious oppor- 

 tunity and privilege is yours! Instead of there 

 being no place for you in this busy world of 

 ours, there will be a place lor you everywhere. 

 Everybody will be glad to see you. to welcome 

 you when you come to call on them, and to 

 assist when you need assistance. Only let 

 these little texts find a permanent abiding-place 

 and lodging-place in your heart. It will not 

 fetter you, for it is not bondage at all when you 

 take it right. In fact, it is the spirit of free- 

 dom itself— freedom that comes with Christ 

 Jesus, the Savior of mankind, and the Lord of 

 all, who came into this world to demonstrate 

 and show us how to live and get along — "Not 

 to be ministered unto, but to minister." 



THE EARLY PEABODY SWEET POTATO. 



Our old friend T. B. Parker, of Goldsboro, N. 

 C, took the liberty of shipping us what he calls 

 early sweet potatoes, and explains by saying 

 that they are the Early Peabody. He sent 

 them without orders, prepaid the freight, and 

 said if they were worth any thing to us we 

 might pay him whatever we chose; if not, they 

 would not cost any thing. They are great big 

 red yams; and when I first saw them I said to 

 myself, " Why, these must be some of those big 

 coarse yams tiiat they raise down south. May 

 be we can sell them, however, if we offer them 

 very cheap." But I put two or three in my 

 pocket and asked Mrs. Root to please have 

 them baked for supper. Imagine my surprise 

 when I found them Uie most delicious and 

 toothsome thing in the line of sweet potatoes 

 or yams that 1 ever tasted in my life; and you 

 know I have eaten sweet potatoes all through 

 Mississippi and Florida, and even away off in 

 El Paso, across the river into Mexico. By the 

 way, over in that Mexican town of Paso del 

 Norte they sell sweet potatoes out in the streets, 

 cooked and buttered. Well, now about the 

 Peabody yam. Mrs. Root says you must allow 

 for my extravagance, because, since I have got 

 off the meat diet, I call every thing of this kind 

 delicious; but I want you to remember I have 

 been testing sweet potatoes this spring, and 



there certainly is nothing equal to a medium- 

 sized sweet Peabody yam when baked as Mrs. 

 Root bakes them. They are not really dry and 

 mealy, but it seems to me they are about half 

 way between the dry sweet potato and the 

 moist ones. The grain is very fine, and the 

 taste is more nearly like an exceedingly rich 

 and sweet boiled chestnut— or, rather, a roasted 

 chestnut — than any thing else I know of. 

 Friend Parker says it is the earliest sweet 

 potato known. Now. why has not somebody 

 made a fuss about the Peabody yam before? 

 We are going to bed a great lot of them for 

 plants; and if I can raise as good Peabody yams 

 here in Medina as friend Parker sent me for 

 samples, then I shall just sail my hat clear 

 into the top of the cut-leaved birch that is 

 looking so handsome just now out on our lawn 

 in front oif the porch. You see, the birch has 

 got on its spring dress of penciled green, with 

 its daintv white branches gleaming through 

 the beautiful foliage for a background. 



TRANSPLANTING VEGETABLE PLANTS INTO THE 

 PLANT-BEDS. 



One would almost think, after the years of 

 experience I have had in this business, that I 

 must have already gotten hold of most of the 

 kinks. But we have just struck on one this 

 spring that pleases me so much that I want to 

 tell you about it. Transplanting when the 

 weather is damp and rainy is all right. If the 

 soil is fine and rich, almost anybody can make 

 every plant grow; but during a dry time, such 

 as we have just had in April, with the ther- 

 mometer up to 90, and hoi dry winds, the plants 

 will die in spite of you. bprinkling them with 

 water right out in the hot sunshine will not do 

 at all; and if the beds are soaked ever so thor- 

 oughly at night, the surface will be all dried 

 up, and the leaves shriveled, before the first 

 night. The way we got at the remedy was 

 this: We had a spell of frosty nights, but the 

 weather was very warm during the middle of 

 the day, and so we were in the habit of putting 

 on the glass over night. Well, one day when I 

 was in a hurry, instead of removing the glass 

 when it became very hot I threw a cotton sheet 

 over it to cut oft' the heat of the sun. Well, these 

 plants were neglected in some way; but the 

 glass and cotton cloth were left over two or 

 three days. When the cloth was finally re- 

 moved I uttered an exclamation of surprise. 

 Every leaf was as perfect as if the plants had 

 never been moved from the greenhouse at all; 

 and they had gotten sufficient root so that they 

 stood the fierce glare of the sun after a very 

 little gradual exposure. Now, here is the se- 

 cret: In transplating, even in very hot weather, 

 use your hot-bed sash for shading; and when 

 the sun becomes too hot, cover the glass with 

 shutters, cotton sheets, or blankets — whatever 

 comes handiest — and you can not only save 

 every plant in a thousand, but there need not 

 be any wilting, and no setback of any conse- 

 quence. The secret of it is. close-fitting sashes 

 that are just right to keep out the frost are also 

 just right to confine the moist air, that is kept 

 moist by the dampness coming up from the 

 shaded soil. 



The above was intended for our last issue, 

 but was crowded out for want of space. Since 

 it was written I have made another important 

 discovery, or, rather, I have run into something 

 that was discovered long ago, and which has 

 been neglected and forgotten. In our book, 

 " What to Do," page 184, you will find some- 

 thing that describes pretty nearly the whole 

 matter. Now, we have noticed for several 

 years past, that, when the weather becomes 

 very hot and dry, our lettuce— Grand Rapids, 

 Boston Market, and all the rest— gets dark, 



