1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



?9i 



enjoyed such a sight as that? But no such 

 work as that is goiug on right in sight of 

 where I live." My friend, do not be too 

 sure. Theie is a wonderful work going on 

 right in sight of your homes, and right be- 

 fore the eyes of almost every one of you. 

 In fact, 1 have become, especially of late, 

 much in the habit of employing my leisure 

 moments in studying the machinery of the 

 universe ; and I have enjoyed it so much is 

 what prompted me to take up the subject. 



In studying the machinery of the universe, 

 I find that I can, to a certain extent, make 

 my work and my plans harmonize with God's 

 work and plans. It is true, I am only a 

 speck of this great universe — a very small 

 cog-wheel, you may say ; but for all that, I 

 am a piece, and so are you, my friends, and 

 there is a work for you to do. 



The machinery of the universe is ever 

 changing. You may not have noticed it, 

 but there is something going on and some- 

 thing new under way every minute of your 

 life. There are currents of wind, away up 

 high over your head, that you know nothing 

 about. Important changes are going on up 

 there, even when the sky is clear during a 

 summer day, and at the same time there 

 are things moving in the earth away down 

 under your feet— things that you do not 

 suspect or dream of, and things that human 

 beings like you and me have only recently 

 learned to let out. I have told you how 

 much I love springs of water, and how de- 

 lighted I have been when able to bid them 

 come forth, where I did not even dream it 

 was possible. When I was up at Green Bay, 

 Mr. Smith, the great gardener, showed me 

 an artesian well right near the lake shore, 

 where water rose in a pipe 80 or 00 feet high, 

 and they used it for the waterworks of the 

 city ; and as they still have a surplus he has 

 made arrangements to have this surplus for 

 his gardens. Now, there is not any ground 

 within miles and miles that is HO feet higher 

 than the level of the lake. Then where does 

 the water come from ? Nobody knows. 

 Where most of you live, gas is found to a 

 greater or lesser extent. Yes, gas is to-day 

 bubbling out of the fissure in the rock where 

 I found my latest and prettiest spring. It 

 will not burn, though, so I suspect it is 

 carbonic acid. But where does it come 

 from, and what makes it keep coming ? 

 May be some of you can tell me. Our wind- 

 mill is an object of unflagging interest to 

 me, because it indicates at a glance the 

 direction of the wind, and pretty nearly the 

 force, with which it blows. I often watch it 

 before storms, to see how quick it changes 

 about from north to south, or from east to 

 west, just as some of us change from good 

 to bad, from industry to idleness, or the 

 reverse ; we hope, however, more often the 

 latter. Now, during our recent drouths it 

 has been very interesting to me to watch 

 the clouds. Do you know the clouds never 

 stand still? More than that, they are 

 constantly changing their shape, changing 

 their size, and appearing where, but a 

 minute before, there was no cloud at all, 

 and again disappearing in just a few 

 minutes. Take a book and sit outdoors. I 

 do not think it would be wicked if you 



should do this on Sunday afternoon, pro- 

 viding you have a good book suitable for 

 God's holy day. Now, while you read, 

 every now and then watch the sky and the 

 clouds. A barometer and thermometer aie 

 alnmst constant companions of mine, and 

 very pleasant companions, for they tell me 

 what God's forces are doing. Both of them 

 are almost constantly changing more or less. 

 By watching these changes they will help 

 you very materially in your work. Some- 

 times a knowledge of what is going to hap- 

 pen will save you many dollars. 1 have 

 told you about this before. You know I 

 mentioned advising the hands making fast 

 the doors and windows to see that nothing 

 was where it would blow down and do dam- 

 age (even before we had a breath of wind), 

 just before we had our little hurricane on the 

 0th of last January. In a few hours there 

 was a great loss of property, and in some 

 places loss of life, from the tornado. 



I have always been more or less interested 

 in well-drilling. Well-drilling is now a 

 great industry. Not only do they get oil, 

 gas, and water from wells, but they get salt, 

 alum, and many other chemicals, especially 

 from the deep artesian wells. 



About two weeks ago I noticed one eve- 

 ning that a very bright star, or planet, 

 rather, was pretty close to the moon. An 

 hour later I got so sleepy reading my 

 agricultural papers that I felt as if I could 

 hardly hold my head up a minute longer. 

 On looking out, however, 1 discovered the 

 bright star very much nearer to the moon, 

 indicating that it was rapidly approaching 

 it, or, in other words, the star was " chas- 

 ing'' the moon. I at once decided (and I 

 w 7 as wide awake all of a sudden too, I tell 

 you) that I would sit up and wait for the 

 event, remembering that, almost 40 years 

 before, I saw a similar phenomenon. I 

 began to think that Ernest would be delight- 

 ed to see it, for he is, like myself, an en- 

 thusiastic admirer of the machinery of the 

 universe. And just then 1 heard his voice 

 in conversation, for his house is just across 

 the street. I asked him if he had seen that 

 star approaching the moon. He said they 

 had been watching it for some time. Mrs. 

 Root could not afford to sit out on the side- 

 walk with us to watch it, but she said that, 

 when the crisis came— that is, when the 

 star began to go behind the moon. I might 

 caliber. Well, I did call ; but before she 

 got out of the house the bright star had 

 gone. In its approach it passed under the 

 dark side of the moon, therefore all we 

 could see was that the star became dimmer 

 and dimmer, and finally w T as invisible. I 

 calculated that, at the rate the star had 

 been apparently chasing the moon, it would 

 be perhaps an hour before it came out on 

 the opposite side. Very likely many of my 

 readers who are versed in astronomy will 

 criticise my description ; but I am talking 

 only to common people like myself. To us 

 it seemed as if there was a race between 

 the star and the moon, and that the star 

 was rapidly gaining. I went into the house 

 and got Blue Eyes 1 light willow rocking- 

 chair, the opera-glass, and my overcoat; and 

 then I sat on the sidewalk and waited for 



