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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



218 



takiii-; tl.e ^sugar from the water, and con- 

 vertinti' it into vinej?ar. Unless the phint 

 was kejit supplied with sweetened water, 

 it died ; but when well fed it grew enor- 

 mously. Tlie white flakes kept np a con- 

 slant motion by alternately sinking to the 

 liottom of the jar, and rising again. This 

 motion was caused by little globules of gas 

 that were constantly forming and enlarging 

 inside tiie Hakes of mother. When ihey 

 rose to tile suriace the gas passed out into 

 the air, and made the flakes drop again. I 

 Avonder if any of the readers of Gleanings 

 know where this plant can be obtained. 

 Years ago. while in Boston, I saw a man on 

 the street-corner, selling a summer drink 

 manufactured by the same or a similar 

 plant. While it was foaming from the rapid 

 growth of this strange plant, in the warm 

 sunshine, it was poiired into goblets, iced 

 like lemonade, anil served to customers. 



HOUSE-WARMING. 



W. F. CL.XRKE ON SLEEPING IN COLD BEDKOOMS. 



WANT to back up what Prof. Cook says about 

 making' home couirortable in the winter time, 

 reg'arilless of cost. There are some economies 

 that are "penny wise, but pound foolish." 

 To save a few dollars at the expense of the 

 comfort and health of a whole family is surely a 

 great piece of folly. Vet it is what many people 

 are doinfj- every winter of their lives, and I think 

 this is e?<pecially the case with the farming- commu- 

 nity. According: to my observations, there are few 

 country homes that are really comfortable in the 

 wintertime. Inmost farm-housses an ample kitch- 

 en forms the living-room. There the meals are 

 taken, and there in the evening- the domestic circle 

 is formed. Few country hou.ses have more than 

 one fire constantly going'. This warms the living- 

 room, and perhaps one bedroom which opens out 

 of it. The rest of the house is cold most of the 

 time. There is, verj' likely, a sitting-room or par- 

 lor; but a fire is kindled there only on "high-days 

 and holidays," on Sundays, on wedding or funeral 

 occasions, and when there is company. There are 

 exceptions to this. In some farm-houses there is a 

 hall stove kept going. In others, a fire is constant- 

 ly burning in the parlor or sitting-room. But from 

 my travels and observations, I am inclined to think 

 these cases are largely in the minority* 



In this country many of the better class of farm- 

 houses are built of stone. This material makes a 

 most substantial and durable building, but it is one 

 that is extremely cold in winter, unless artificial 

 heat is applied. A stone wall becomes permeated 

 with dampness, absorbing moisture from the earth 

 by means of capillary attraction. Flesh and blood 

 are more sensitive to damp cold than to drj' cold. 

 A frame house, being to a great extent porous, ad- 

 mits both cold and heat more freely than a stone 

 house, la a sevei-e spell of weather, cold gets into 

 a stone house and stays there, while a frame house 

 becomes perceptibly warmer when the tempera- 

 ture moderates out of doors. Brick houses are 

 open to the same objection as stone ones, though in 

 a lesser degree, unless they are built on the hollow- 

 wall principle, as few brick houses are. 



I stopped over in a stoue larm-house one night in 

 Nov-t lySo. The spare bed was very nicely fixed up. 



even to "pillow-shams." Theie was h pile of bed- 

 clothes, and the sheets were woolen ones. The bed 

 was soft, I was tired, and every thing setMued to in- 

 vite repose. But J could not get warm all night, 

 though I kept on ray flannel shirt and drawers. Iff 

 the tniddle of the night I shook as with an ague- 

 chill. Alreadj-, though winter had scarcely beguri, 

 the damp cold had gained foot-hold in that rootri, 

 and the heat of my liody was insufficient to over- 

 come the chilliness garrisoned in a big heap of bed- 

 clothes. Next day, some conversation sprang up 

 about warming bedrooms in winter. Of course, I 

 did not complain of my quarters; but in an "asidfe," 

 some of the young folks told me "pa" and "ma" 

 had no idea how cold it was upstairs in wint(?r; 



The trouble of it is, too many of us are all the 

 time getting ready to live. We look forward to a 

 future of enjoyment when we shall have made 

 some money, and prospered sufHeieutly to have 

 all things pleasant at)out us. Meantime we pinch 

 and punish ourselves and those dependent on us, 

 and wait indefinitely for " a good time cofning," 

 which is very long in arriving, and perhaps does 

 not come at all. The poet Young says:— • 



" Of all man's ruinous mistakes, this bears the palm : 

 That all men are ahuut to live, 

 For ever on the brink of being born." 



Meantime, the years are gliding by. Age is creep- 

 ing upf)n us. Our children are leaving the home- 

 stead, and setting up for themselves, carrying 

 away with them the recollection of summers passed 

 in hard outdoor labor, and winters that have been 

 cold and dreary work in the barnyard or kitchen 

 during the day, a brief "cuddle" around the cook- 

 ing-stove after supper, and then ascent to a cheer- 

 less, chilly bedroom, where, after manj prelimina- 

 ry shivers, forgetfuliiess of all trouble and discom- 

 fort is found in sleep. Is it not desirable to put a 

 little more enjoyment and brightness into our own 

 and our children's lives':' Why must we be like 

 Aunt Nabbj Powers, who was constantly ejaculat- 

 ing, "Lame! Knjoyment here below ain't for me. 

 I'm one o' them that's of few days and full o' 

 trouble; as the good Book says, 'It's a worhl of 

 tribbylation,' anyhow. Lame! lame!" We hang up 

 "Home, Sweet Home," on our walls; but do we 

 translate the motto into every-day experience as 

 we might, could, and should? I make all due allow- 

 ance for the struggling and calculation necessary 

 on the part of many families in the country as well 

 as in the town; but I know some farmers whose 

 land is clear, whose buildings are good, and who 

 have money out at interest, who, from carrying the 

 practice of economy too far, deprive themselves 

 and their children of comforts that could well be 

 afforded, and would make life far more worth the 

 living. 



This plea for house-warming has expanded to an 

 extent that leaves but little chance for adverting to 

 the professor's plea for furnaces. As already re- 

 marked, I agree with his views in the main, and go 

 for the furnace method, with careful construction, 

 in ail cases in which the cost can be afforded, and 

 the house is of some size; but a house no laiger 

 than that described by the professor can be warm- 

 ed more cheaply than by means of a furnace. .My 

 own is of about the same dimensions, and is made 

 as comfortable as need be as follows: A $3<J.0u base- 

 burner stove warms the sitting-room and parlor, 

 which are connected with folding-doors. The pipe 

 ifoes directly Into a small ball, and takes the chill 



