1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



833 



You know I have been consideritii^ for 

 months a very humble, inexpensive "home 

 in the woods." Perliajis I should say we 

 instead of /, for jSIrs. Rtxit and I have talk- 

 ed it over, and planned, for more than a 

 year; but it was not until Sept. 19 that we 

 g-Qt a\V£iy from our old home. Boxes, trunks, 

 etc., had been shipped aheeid, so that, when 

 we reached the new home, our house with its 

 one room, 14 by 20, was pretty well filled 

 up. I went on ahead on my wheel to g-et 

 the keys, and Mrs. R. came with a friend 

 the last part of the way. As she came out 

 of the bushes and g-ot a g'limpse of the 

 house, I waved my cap, and said: 



"Well, how do you like the looks of the 

 new home?"' 



Before she had a chance to answer, her 

 -companion replied: 



"I think, Mr. Root, perhaps she likes the 

 'home' rather better than the road that 

 leads to it."' 



Although my leafy avenues are usually 

 verj' pretty and inviting, they are not ex- 

 actly suited for a high-seated vehicle so 

 'early in the morning. Her hat was pulled 

 off her head by the bushes that meet over- 

 head, and she was drenched with the dew 

 that is always very heavy, and which some- 

 times lasts until almost noon. Mr. Hil- 

 bert's folks had urged us to stay and rest 

 up over Sundaj'; but we were both very 

 anxious to get to work on our own ground. 

 In a twinkling she was in the midst of the 

 boxes and things, while I stood by as her 

 "obedient servant."' While I was gone to 

 the "spring for water" she had planted a 

 box in one corner, covered it with a white 

 spread, and the china and other useful 

 things began to look homelike and inviting 

 as well as useful. With hammer and nails, 

 scissors, tacks, pins, etc.,' she has been at 

 work now, as I write, a whole week; and I 

 really believe both of us wall often look 

 back and call this one of the happiest weeks 

 of our life. My experiment is, at least so 

 far, a decided success; in fact, it is one of 

 the "happy surprises" of iny life. I will 

 tell you why. There are thousands who do 

 not make "both ends meet," and are sink- 

 ing in debt, because thej' think they must 

 •conform to the usages of society. There are 

 other thousands of j'^oung people who might 

 get married and start a happy home all 

 •of their own if they only knew how few 

 things are really "needful" (the Master 

 has said, "but o/zf thing- is needful"). Let 

 us look at the matter a moment. This 

 house, where I sit writing, and which is 

 dearer to me than any home I ever saw be- 

 fore, cost, all told, less than SlOO. When 

 we moved in, it had cost less than $40. Of 

 course, lumber is cheap here. A big team 

 drew all the materials complete at one load, 

 and in one day the house was fit to live in, 

 in warm weather.* 



* The walls are made of inch hemlock that cost, de- 

 livered, 8!' per thousand >^ e took boards 16 feet long 

 and cut them once in two so that one piece was 954 and 

 the other 0^4 feet long '1 he short pieces made the 

 lowest side, under the eaves, and the long ones the tall 

 side, the roof sloping only one way. The same kind 



Let US go back to that first day. Not- 

 withstanding the hurry and disorder, a lit- 

 tle before dinner-time Mrs. R. hiid a repast 

 on our little round table, fit for a king. I 

 don't believe any king ever enjoyed a din- 

 ner as we did that. We had spotted trout 

 from the bay;* Early Michigan baked pota- 

 toes, grown on our own ground ; Early 

 Crawford peaches from our nearest neigh- 

 bors, and every thing else that two tired 

 children ( "children" over sixty years old) 

 could ask for. 



When I wrote about potatoes for table 

 use, and gave you that picture, I had never 

 tasted the Early Michigan, grown in this 

 region, and really did not knoiv until that 

 time how nice a baked potato could be. 

 This locality, with its bracing air, of course 

 makes every thing nice. 



I want to tell you of some of our happy 

 surprises that we never could have had if 

 we had not been doing the work ourselves. 

 Many people who come to this region for a 

 summer outing go to the hotels and pay 

 several dollars a day for board and lodg- 

 ing. Of course, that is all right if they 

 wish to do so; but Mrs. Root and I find 

 happiness in a different way. On the spot 

 I chose for our cottage there is no level 

 ground. Our house is on a side hill. Well, 

 wood is cheap here, so Mrs. Root asked me 

 to have some of the nice maple-trees made 

 into stovewood when we were clearing off a 

 place for the garden last winter. When 

 the wood was nice and dry we had it split 

 fine, and piled under the floor of the build- 

 ing to keep it out of the rain. For several 

 days I got the wood out from under the 

 building, carried it around to the door, and 

 put it behind the little cook-stove almost ex- 

 actly over, but a foot or two above, the spot 

 where it is stored in bulk. 



One evening Mrs. Root startled me by 

 suggesting if we had a trapdoor in the 

 floor, right under the "door" to the stove, 

 "carrying in wood " covild be done away 

 witli. In a twinkling, that very evening, I 

 made the trapdoor, and now our shavings, 

 kindling", and dry maple wood are all close 

 by the stove, and yet they are where there 

 is never any dirt or litter to be swept up. 

 The surface of the g^round (which is ahvays 

 dry in this region) is about two feet below 

 the floor. I oft'er this suggestion to those 



of 16-foot boards made the ends by cutting them in 

 two once on a bevel. The carpenter said several times 

 my plan would not work ; but he was one of the kind 

 who went ahead when I told him I woiild "take the 

 chances " (he ends of the boards were not squared 

 at all. and there was no need of it, for they were all 

 out of sight when the building was done 'Building- 

 paper was put over the rough^ board walls, and then 

 walls as well as roof were covered with cedar shingles. 

 As this is where cedar grows, the shingles cost me but 

 go c per M The window-casings, cornice, corner boards, 

 etc , are painted green, which makes a very pretty 

 contrast with the cedar shingles 



* Very fair-sized fi.sh, large enough, in fact, for one 

 fish to make me a comfortable meal, are sold here for 

 o\\\y fifteen cents a dozen Thev are scaled and the in- 

 sides removed, at this very low price. I verily believe 

 one secret of my good health here is the abundance of 

 nice fresh fish A great deal of the time mv diet is 

 "bread and fishes," "milk and honey." If you will 

 just think of it. it is what the Savior gave his followers 

 when he wanted to give them a little banquet. 



