1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



835 



and clean? Of this I feel sure: Our houses 

 are, many of them, too larg-e. Mrs. R. has 

 for years lon};"ed for a little hovise that can 

 easily be cared for, and now she has one. 



What shall we do with friends when they 

 come to see us ? Well, that is a serious 

 matter. We mig-ht "fix 'em up'' on the 

 roof, in warm weather; and, in fact, our 

 roof is only a little ivay up. So far as 

 meals are concerned, our garden is full of 

 stuff we are trying to give away, and our 

 nearest neighbor has butter, milk, and eggs 

 to sell, the year round. 



Dear friends, I have talked about the first 

 text some, but have had little to say in re- 

 gard to the last. Do you not believe the 

 dear Savior meant to say to us that we are 

 making too much of things that are compar- 

 atively unimportant f Are we keeping in 

 mind sufficiently the "one thing" needful? 

 It is the fashion almost everywhere to have 

 a great lot of dishes with which to serve a 

 meal. Next time you go to a city hotel, 

 suppose you count the number of dishes 

 brought you. All these must be washed ; 

 and in "our homes" dishwashing is al- 

 most as much dreaded as housecleaning. 

 In our home in the woods there are only a 

 few dishes to wash, for, to tell the truth, we 

 haven't got them; but please do not under- 

 stand that our table is uninviting in its ap- 

 pearance. Our 14X20 room is divided in 

 the middle by soft white curtains, and our 

 dining-room and its appointments would do 

 credit to a first-class city restaurant. It is, 

 in fact, cleaner \}cva.-a. many of them (for you 

 may be sure no liquors are served), and the 

 table contains fewer dishes. Mrs. Root has 

 just declared it is easier to do the work 

 here than in that other home that cost — I 

 declare I ain almost afraid to tell the truth, 

 for it really o-o^t forty or fifty times as much.* 



What should we do with our money if all 

 the world lived as we do? First, feed the 

 millions that are starving. Send missiona- 

 ries and expert teachers to the uttermost 

 parts of the earth, and teach the unfortu- 

 nates how to grow potatoes, and how to 

 make evety\?ind "a land flowing with milk 

 and honey." 



Now, although it seems to me such an 

 easy thing to get a living here, I meet peo- 

 ple almost every day who are selling out 

 and moving away. They say it is awful 

 hard work getting ii living where there Jire 

 so many "stumps" and "hills." Oh dear 

 me! I only wish we could get rid of our one 

 saloon as easily as we get rid of stumps. 

 The saloon is taking the earnings of the 

 poor hard-working people, and then they 

 attribute their bad luck to the "stumps." 



It is now the season for "husking-bees," 

 and I told Mrs. Root I thought ive would 



* One reason for this is, that here there is no dust, 

 and almost no mud. Dusting furniture would be labor 

 lost, for no dust can be found As soon as it stops 

 raining we can walk, or ride a wheel ; and the harder 

 it rains, the better the roads, unless in a few spots on 

 swampy ground With xftry little care, no mud or 

 dirt need be tracked into the house. No water ever 

 stands in puddles and underdraining is practically 

 unknown except in springy places. 



go; but when some one said the boys would 

 not "tin-n out" unless a keg of beer were 

 provided from the saloon, I uttered ii mental 

 prayer that husking-bees, at least that 

 kind, Diii^iit go out of fashion. I have no 

 quarrel with the big wide world. Let eve- 

 ry one seek and find happiness according 

 to his own notion; but I have been so happy 

 of late, and in such an innocent and inex- 

 pensive way, I felt as if I must tell you 

 about it. Yes, I have thotight of Diogenes 

 and his tub, and his freedom from care and 

 worry; but I don't think I should like his 

 extreme doctrine. If he would make that 

 tub about "14X20 feet," with a good roof 

 over it, perhaps I might agree with him. 



Does some one suggest that, if I don't 

 look out, I shall get into "small" and 

 "stingy" ways in my old age? God for- 

 bid! It has been my privilege for j^ears 

 past to give material help to missions and 

 industrial schools in our own and foreign 

 lands. I do not expect these annual con- 

 tributions to be lessened as the years go 

 by; in fact, I hope it may be the other way. 

 And now that I think of it, these industrial 

 schools are finding happiness and great 

 sticcess along just the lines I have been 

 writing abotit. The school for ministers, 

 described in our Sept. 15th issue, is one of 

 that kind. 



Finally, dear readers, did not the great- 

 er part of our great and good men come 

 from very humble homes, where modern 

 luxuries were entirely unknown? 



" Wherefore do ye spend money for that 

 which is not bread, and labor for that 

 which satisfieth not?" 



15 Months for $1.00! 



To New Subscribers. 



To any one not a subscriber to the weekly 

 American Bee Journal, who sends us $1.00, we 

 will send it 



From October I, 1901, to 

 the End of 1902, 



or 15 months ; which means over 60 copies. 

 This we will do as long as we have back 

 numbers left from Oct. 1 ; after that, the sub- 

 scription will begin at the time it is received 

 and continue to the end of 1902. 



The Buffalo Convention Reporf 



will appear in full in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal ; that alone will be worth the subscription 

 price for a year, to say nothing of the many 

 other good things it contains each week. 

 Better subscribe now. No matter what other 

 bee-papers you are taking, you can not afford 

 to be without the oldest, and what many bee- 

 keepers say is the best. Ask for free sample 

 copy, and also catalog of 



ROOT'S GOODS AT ROOT'S PRICES. 



George W. York & Co., Chicago, III. 



144, 146 Erie Street. 



