1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



355 



any thing, but started off on another branch 

 of the fish business. At supper the first course 

 ■was some sort of soup. It looked a Httle like 

 oyster broth. I was feeling a little faint, and 

 longing for something nourishing and easy of 

 digestion. Malted milk, it seemed to me then, 

 would be just the thing ; but this broth or 

 soup at friend Detwiler's was more delicious, 

 nutritious, and nourishing than any thing 

 else in that line I ever tasted in all my life. 

 Yes, I think that is so, come to think of it 

 very deliberately. You see I am finding ^Z'^rv 

 day something better than I ever found before. 

 That is one of the grand things about this 

 world God has given us to live in. I looked 

 across the table at my wideawake friend, and 

 saw he was watching me. 



"Well, Bro. A. I., what do you think of 

 that sort of soup, any way ? " 



I told him just what I have told you. 



" Oh ! you do think it is nice, do you ? And 

 yet you are the chap who would not listen 

 when I talked about clams for food." 



" Why, friend Detwiler, you do not mean to 

 say this is clam broth ? " 



"Yes, Mr. Root, that is exactly what I do 

 say. This broth was made from a little bit of 

 clam with shells about as large as a pea or 

 bean. People around here call them peri- 

 winkles ; but that is not the correct name. 

 This is a salt-water clam, and there are beds 

 of them where you can scoop them up with a 

 scoop-shovel — bushels of them if you want 

 them. Mash them up and they make the best 

 chicken feed in the world— eggs and shell both 

 at one feed. Wash oflF the salt water, mash 

 them up, stew out the meat portion, strain the 

 broth from the shells, and you have the deli- 

 cious soup you are eating now, which certain- 

 ly is the finest soup in the world, and the most 

 nourishing and wholesome for people of weak 

 digestion. If it could be put up and put on 

 the market as a food for invalids I verily be- 

 lieve it would take the place of every thing 

 else in the whole wide world." 



A part of friend Detwiler's scheme is to in- 

 troduce this periwinkle clam in thousands of 

 places where it will thrive and flourish. And, 

 by the way, before I forget it, let me tell you 

 what friend Brown said about Mr. Detwiler. 

 He said he was working with all his character- 

 istic energy and zeal for the fish business 

 throughout Florida, but that so far the State 

 had never paid him a copper in the way of 

 salary, and he had not much encouragement 

 to think it ever will. The railroads are recog- 

 nizing his value at large, and have given him 

 free passes ; and they also help unload his 

 fishes, and place them where he wants them. 

 As yet, friend Detwiler has the happy con- 

 sciousness of having a job where he " works 

 for nothing and boards himself." 



After supper he said, " Mr. Root, would you 

 like to see such a net as Peter had in his hand 

 when the Savior bade him cast his net on the 

 other side? " 



" Why, yes, I shouldX\^^\.o see such a net." 



" Well, here is a cast net. Very likely it is 

 pretty much the same thing as was used by 

 the fishermen on the sea of Galilee, when the 

 Savior was present. It is called a ' cast net ' 



because it is thrown with the hand by a pecul- 

 iar motion." 



Then he picked up the apparatus and start- 

 ed out in the dooryard to show me how it was 

 used. Finally he said, "Why, look here, we 

 might as well go out on the landing." So we 

 walked along out in the darkness. The net 

 was circular, like a big umbrella. Around the 

 outer edge were fastened leaden weights with 

 a cord attached to the center. As friend D. 

 took one edge of the net in his teeth and ask- 

 ed us to stand back a little so he could get a 

 swing I said, " Why, you can not get any fish 

 right up close to the shore, can you ? " 



" Well, probably not, but I might strike 

 one." 



Suiting the action to the word he gave the 

 machine a sling and a whirl. It spread out 

 like a parachute in the air, and then dropped 

 with a chug into the water, the leaden weights 

 sinking it to the bottom. As he began to pull 

 in slowly on the rope, a bystander suggested 

 it had got caught on a root or something else. 

 Friend D. said they did not have roots around 

 in there. Then he began to haul up what was 

 evidently a stump or an object of some kind 

 about as large as the rim of your hat. When 

 he landed it on the boards beside us, then, oh 

 my ! what a flopping there was ! He said it 

 was not the very best kind of fish, but he 

 thought it would do very well for breakfast. 

 It was what they call in Florida a "sheep- 

 head." It looks like what we here in the 

 North call a sunfish, only it has brilliant bars 

 across its sides, painting it something like a 

 zebra. Then my friend had to show me the 

 scientific way of preparing a fish for the fry- 

 ing-pan. He scaled it in a very few moments, 

 then made a few cuts at just the right spot 

 with his knife, and removed one whole side of 

 the fish, clear of the bones and every thing 

 else — just clean meat. 



"There," said he, " you see how quickly it 

 is done. Now, that side of the meat is all 

 ready for the frying-pan ; or you can hang it 

 up under proper conditions and it will dry out 

 in the air without spoiling, and furnish excel- 

 lent wholesome food for a long tramp across 

 the desert or anywhere else." 



The next morning we had some of that 

 sheephead for breakfast ; and, even if they 

 have better fish in Florida salt waters, I think 

 I should be well enough satisfied with the 

 sheephead. But I would have a better name 

 for it. 



The next day we had a buggy-ride, and 

 some of that same fish made us a most lus- 

 cious dinner — at least it was luscious to me. 

 We called during the day on many of the old 

 friends whom I met six years ago. Harry 

 Mitchell and his good wife are keeping a verj' 

 pretty little country store, but they are still 

 bee-keepers, and making good results too. I 

 forgot to say that Mr. Case, Florida's great 

 queen-breeder, has right along during these 

 poor years secured something like 100 lbs. per 

 colony, besides rearing hundreds if not thou- 

 sands of dollars' worth of queen-bees annually. 



It began to rain in the afternoon, and we 

 had quite a trip to make, so our calls were 

 very brief. We looked into friend Hart's or- 



