GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



just such exercise in the open air. I am not 

 only full of love toward Gofl, but of love and 

 charity toward my fellov.-men. 



Do yon want to know the moral of this 

 chapter '? It is this : If you want to be 

 happy in doing the work that lies before 

 you, get up bright and early, even if it is 

 stormy. ("lotho yourself warmly and w/seZy,- 

 then go out into the storm, and do whatever 

 has to be done imtil your whole physical 

 body glows with the effects of exercise in 

 the cold wintry air. Then shall you find 

 despondent and dismal feelings gone ; and if j 

 your experience is like mine, you will find ; 

 your aches and pains are gone too. Work in ; 

 the dirt, even if the dirt is freezing. It is i 

 cheaper than doctors' prescriptions, and ! 

 more wholesome and profitable every way. | 

 If the work to be done is something that j 

 your heart is in, you will soon be full of en- 

 thusiasm, for you will be in your natural 

 and normal state. Xow, then, don't say 

 you can't get ready for the gardening op- 

 erations of next year because the weather is 

 too bad. If you have already something on 

 hand more profitable than the ^^•ork I have j 

 suggested, then you do not particularly need j 

 this chapter. 



It is now four o'clock. As the storm con- 

 tinued unabated, when the noon hour ap- 

 proached it seemed even more important 

 that our excavating for the time be finished 

 to-day. I knew it was rather unpleasant to i 

 work out of doors ; and so at the noon ser- I 

 vice I mentioned the reason why I was anx- 

 ious to have the work done, and suggested 

 that if any of the men employed in other de- 

 partments of the factory would like to take 

 a couple of hours digging the dirt, I should 

 be quite glad of their services. Before half- 

 past twelve, one came forward saying that 

 he would work in the dirt if I wanted him 

 to, and then another and another, until we 

 had all the help wanted ; and by the time I 

 got back from the Saturday afternoon pray- 

 er-meeting, the work was safe from the 

 weather, and a roof of boards placed over it. 



Just at this time it was suggested that 

 some apples in an out-building were in dan- 

 ger of being frozen. By the way, before I 

 get through with these talks, I expect to 

 have a chapter on apples. Well, one of the 

 men handed me an apple, telling me it was 

 frosted on the surface a little already. It 

 To be continued 



was a Peck's Pleasant; and if I had been 

 governed by my feelings at the time I tasted 

 of that apple, and I had been appointed to 

 decide which was the best apple in the 

 world, I should have unhesitatingly said, 

 "Peck's Pleasant, by all means." Why, 

 the flavor of that apple was most exquisite. 

 I do not know that I ever tasted of any thing 

 in my life — apple or any thing else — so 

 loonderfuUii refreshing and delicious. Do 

 you know why ? Bless your heart, I had 

 been working in the dirt, in the frosty air, 

 imtil I was full of animal spirits, and just a 

 little thirsty — just where I could appreciate 

 to the fullest extent a nice apple. It was 

 just frosty enough to make the juice cool 

 and refreshing. Ice-cream and ice-cold lem- 

 onade are nowhere. Do you see the point V 

 One who sits in the office all day, reading 

 agricultural papers and letters from the farm- 

 ers, can no more enjoy to the full a good 

 apple than any thing in the world. Perhaps 

 everybody is not like myself ; but God made 

 me to stay outdoors — at least a great part 

 of my time. There is a short verse in the 

 first chapter of Isaiah that reads this way : 

 " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat 

 the good of the land." 



At another time, when I had been at work 

 out in the frosty air, one of the men was 

 pouring some California honey into a can. 

 It was so cold that it did not run well ; but 

 it was beautifully transparent for all that, 

 and I thought I would just sample it. The 

 honey was like the apple. It seemed to me 

 that everybody ought to go into ecstasies 

 over the exquisitely beautiful flavor of this 

 mountain-sage honey. Why, if it would not 

 have been undignified, and out of place, I 

 should have thought it the proper thing to 

 swing my hat and thank God for such a 

 beautiful gift to man. I think this kind of 

 honey was some that my friend II. Wilkin, 

 of San Buenaventura, Cal., sent me; but as 

 it had been standing in that can a year or 

 more, I had never thought before about its 

 being particularly nice. It was not the apple, 

 nor was it the honey. It was just myself, 

 because I had been out of doors, pushing 

 ahead with mind and muscle in exploring 

 God's gifts. My friend, do you think it a 

 hardship because God has said, " In the 

 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread "V I 

 do not. I thank him for the pri^'ilege. 

 Jan, 15, 1885. 



