.S'KrTKMI'.KK. lillS 



a L E A N I N G S - I N BEE CULTURE 



tlint A. I. I\()(>t would have to iiioiiiit :i 

 iiKU'liiiie and drive the team once aio ind 

 the field, half a mile loiiii' on each side. 

 George's mother \olunteered to be my 

 '* eiiaperon " and see that T pulled the right 

 levers and did not fall off. The sister 

 wore while dri\iiiii- what I think they call 

 "feminine ovei-alls," and somebody told me 

 that if any of the five reapers get out of 

 commission the sister would diagnose the 

 trouble, and many times remedy it ([uicker 

 than anybody else. 



Let me pause here to say that 1 did not 

 suppose until this visit there was a place 

 in tlie whole wide world where the most 

 beautiful luxuriant wheatfields were cover- 

 ing acre after acre. In this part of North 

 Dakota thei'e are no fences. The crops 

 come right up to the road, so there is but 

 little chance for weeds. One farm joins 

 another w'ithout fences so there are no 

 fence corners where weeds can go to seed. 

 This year they have had better crops than 

 ever before, and North Dakota, so it seems 

 to me, is better prepared to win the war 

 by doing its part to feed the world than 

 any other spot in the world. The ground 

 is so level there that George says he has 

 seen a furrow a mile long full of water 

 after a big rain, and so level the Avater 

 would not run either way, but stand still 

 the entire length of the furrow. Corn- 

 fields that alternate the wheat are just as 

 handsome as the Avheatfields. In fact. I 

 never before in my life saw miles and miles 

 of cornfields without any poor spots — just 

 a bright rich green; and the crops there 

 are further along than they are here in 

 the East. The war gardens too are just 

 wonderful. The farms are all large; and 

 with the outliuildings every farm makes 

 almost a little village by itself. I think 

 George told me there were 22 different 

 buildings, big and little, ou his father's 

 farm. No wonder they are going in foi- 

 windmills, electric lighting, etc. And it is 

 not all lighting. They have electric motors 

 on little trucks that they can haul around 

 from one building to another; and by 

 hitching on a wire they can turn a grind- 

 stone, cream-separator, icecream- freezer, 

 fanning-mill, mill for grinding grain, cut- 

 ting fodder, and no end of things. Of 

 course, in many places they have sta- 

 ticmary motors, where much power is re- 

 f|uire(l. These little motors can be used 

 anvwiiere, doing the washing, churning, 

 et". 



While out in the harvest field George's 

 mother informed me that in the absence 

 of herself and daughter they had two 

 schoolgirls doing the housework, and she 

 felt a little nnxious about tliem. A little 



later I met and ber'aiiie ac(|uainted with the 

 two. I tliink they were 1 ! j.iid 1 !! A^er.rs 

 old resi>eitively. One of them wore the 

 feminine overalls somewhat abbreviated 

 for a young girl, and they wei-e doing all 

 the housework, getting the meals, making 

 the beds, and even making beautiful bread. 

 In visiting another farm I met and was 

 introduced to different meudjers, of the 

 family. It was just at dusk, and they were 

 congregated in and around a large auto- 

 mobile. After the farmer had introduced 

 all the rest he made a remark something 

 like this: 



"I want you to shake liaii<ls with my 

 hired man. He has been heli)ing me a 

 good many years, and he is the very best 

 hired man I ever got hold of in my life."* 



Well, said hired man seemed to be a little 

 shy about meeting strangers. In fact, I 

 had to go clear around the machine to get 

 a good view of him, as it was nearly dark. 

 What do you think? It was a rather tall 

 slim daughter of the old farmer, dressed 

 in the feminine overalls as a matter of 

 course. By the way, I think I Iiave at dif- 

 ferent times made objection to women folks 

 leaving off th.e skirts, but when it comes 

 to doing farmwork, especially caring for 

 modern machinery, skirts would certainly 

 be very nuicli out of place. A short skirt 

 might be covered by overalls, but during 

 hot weather such as Ave have been having 

 this last Aveek of July and first of August 

 it certainly should be the privilege of the 

 Avomen and girls in the house to Avear just 

 as little clothing as is absolutelv necessary 

 for comfort and decency, exactly as your 

 old friend A. T. Root does. 



Well, after 1 got home I Avas telling my 

 grown-up daughters how the girls and 

 Avomen in the great gi-ain-growing regions 

 of the NortliAvest Avere helijing to win the 

 Avar, and one of my daughters remarked : 



" Fathei', if you Avere a younger man I 

 might (juestion the wisdom of sending you 

 away off to see and become a"(iuainted Avith 

 the women folks in the harvest fields, es- 

 pecially the good-looking girls." 



To this I replied : 



" My dear child, it would be a perfectly 

 safe thing for nnii man, of any age, to go 

 anyAvhei-e in the world, jtroviding said man 

 has in liis lieart tlie l)eautiful text or 

 1>rayei- that has been my comfort and jov 

 daily and I might almost say hourly, for 

 many months past. Here is the text: 'Let 

 the Avords of my mouth, and the medita- 

 tion of my heart, be acceptable in thy 



*Has it ocrurrcfl to you dear rc^iHlcr lliiit neve- 

 Leforo since tlie world l.esran has woiiicm jirovcfl 

 such a " help meet " to man. to the iiatinn. and tlu' 

 vorlrl. as just now? 



