1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



503 



found a letter from the Akron man. implor- 

 ing him to bring four bushels Thursday 

 morning, without any possibility of failure. 

 Mr. Terry was obliged to decline the order. 

 There were not berries enough to go around. 

 When I was there, the Gandy had just be- 

 gun to bear. Friend T. had taken a sample 

 to Hudson, and they brought a dollar a peck, 

 without any trouble. No wonder, for they 

 looked like luscious peaches or plums, more 

 than like strawberries. As we stood by the 

 buggy, ready to bid our friends adieu, I ven- 

 tured the remark, "'Friend T., why don't 

 you have 14 acres of strawberries instead of 

 14 acres of potatoes ? They would not be 

 very much more trouble, and then think 

 what a lot of money you would have.'' 



He shook his head, and smiled. I don't 

 remember just what he said, but it convey- 

 ed an idea to me something like this : 



'* Fourteen acres of strawberries would 

 make my home a thoroughfare. Its quiet 

 and sanctity would be invaded. My wife 

 and daughters, instead of having this quiet, 

 pretty home all to themselves, would have 

 seclusion and peace no longer. It is true, I 

 might make more money ; but I am not 

 working for money. It is not the end and 

 object 1 have in view. I am a farmer, and 

 I always expect to be one. I love my work 

 because I am enabled by it to demonstrate 

 what farmers' homes may be, compared with 

 what many of them are at the present mo- 

 ment. I want to see farmers' boys and girls 

 find something to do at home on their farms. 

 1 want them to love the farmer's home, and 

 to feel proud of it. I want them to And 

 peace, comfort, contentment, where too 

 many of them have found only drudgery, 

 privation, and long hours of toil. I want 

 them to work at home on the farm, and to 

 learn to lay up treasures in heaven, as well 

 as treasures on earth ; and I want to show 

 them the buried treasures that lie unused 

 only a little way below the surface of the 

 soil — just below the surface of so many 

 farms, where at present we see only an un- 

 sightly and dreary waste of weeds and dis- 

 order." 



Now, my good friend Terry did not say 

 any thing of the sort. He is not as talkative 

 a man as I am, and he did not say very 

 much about it, only that he did not want 14 

 acres of strawberries, with their attendant 

 care and bustle. In going all over the prem- 

 ises, all over his home, and talking with his 

 wife and children, one was impressed at 

 every step that he is not bent on making 

 money. It seems, however, that the kind 

 Father has provided the money. That lit- 

 tle text that has been for so many \ears a 

 hobby of mine, explains it all : " Seek ye 

 first the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 

 ness, and all these things shall be added 

 unto you." So long as friend Terry is work- 

 ing with all his might and main to emanci- 

 pate the farmer from the drudgery of ordi- 

 nary farming, God will see to it that he has 

 the wherewith to do his work. Moody 

 once said that he believed that God would 

 furnish his ministering servants with the 

 wherewith to carry on their work. I said, 

 as soon as I heard it. '' I, too, believe it is 

 true." 



Before I left I told my friend that, al- 

 though there were to be more chapters to 

 the strawberry-book, he could have his pay 

 for what he had done, just as well now as 

 at any other time ; and I added something 

 like this : 



"Friend T., I have been having many 

 heavy cares and burdens to bear during the 

 past few months ; but I am glad to be able 

 to say that lack of funds has not been one 

 of the burdens." 



He replied : 



'• Thank you. Mr. Boot ; but I do not need 

 it. A lack of funds has not cramped me 

 and troubled me in my work either ; " and 

 a pleasant look on his face impressed me 

 with the thought that a spirit of thankful- 

 ness to the great Giver above was in his 

 heart as well as mine, and gave an added 

 enjoyment to his work. 



We bade adieu to that pleasant home. 

 The surrounding homes for quite a little 

 distance seemed to have caught friend Ter- 

 ry's spirit, for they were well-to-do, pro- 

 gressive farmers ; but the potato-fields right 

 over the fence from friend Terry's were as 

 different from his as any thing you could 

 well imagine. Notwithstanding this, they 

 were rather better than any thing we had 

 seen in our drive of 2') miles across the 

 country. I looked in vain on this side of 

 the road and that, but no such farming 

 greeted us anywhere as we saw there.* 



We took a different route home. You 

 never see me going the same road twice, if 

 I can avoid it. At Cuyahoga Falls we call- 

 ed on the veteran strawberry - man, Mr. 

 Matthew Crawford. Friend C.'s whole 

 business is strawberries— not raising them 

 for the market, but testing different varie- 

 ties, and raising plants for sale. I saw 

 something there which I had never seen 

 anywhere else, and perhaps I shall never 

 see it again— little beds of two or three 

 rows, of all the kinds of strawberries known. 

 In some places great luscious berries were 

 rotting on the ground. When I remon- 

 strated, he said so many were coming daily 

 to discuss the different varieties that he 

 left a few so as to be always able, during 

 the season, to furnish specimens of dead- 

 ripe fruit. I mentioned ever so many kinds 

 I had heard of, but I was promptly led to 

 the very variety in question, where I saw it 

 doing its best. Friend Crawford is a devot- 

 ed, faithful Christian. In fact, it shines 

 forth in his face, looks, words, and actions. 

 As my paper is getting long, I shall be 

 oblieed to pass over this visit briefly. As 

 an illustration of our talk I give the follow- 

 ing : 



"Friend C, will you please show me the 

 largest berry known ? " 



" With great pleasure, Mr. Boot. But do 

 you really think you w^ant to invest in the 

 largest berry known V " 



" Why, surely. If it is a good one, why 

 should I not V " 



* Later.— Since our visit I hare received the fol- 

 lowing' on a postal, from friend Terry: 



Well, it dried oir Saturday, so we sold 10 bushels of berries. 

 S26.00; !ind Monday 13 bushels, 836.55. Not quite so thick to- 

 day, but we |.c(it a bushel of Uandy's Prize, that sold for$4.0O. 

 I had a photo taken. The Uandy will not hold out lonir. 



Hiu^on. ().. June 24. T. B. Tf.rrv. 



