602 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBk 



cate about giving it; for some of my ene- 

 mies (come to think of it, I don't think I 

 have any real enemies just now) who are 

 disposed to take exceptions to these Home 

 papers might say, " There, just see how A. 

 I. Root is puffing his own wares." And 1 

 should hesitate, too, about giving the above 

 to 3'ou if it were true we now deal in maple 

 sugar and maple syrup as we did some 

 years ago. Our present business has so in- 

 creased that we were obliged to give up all 

 outside issues, and never expect to handle 

 the maple product again. 



Our first text tells us that God planned 

 to give man dominion over everything that 

 grows — animal and vegetable, and we are 

 just now beginning to wake up and take 

 in what that promise includes. Just think 

 of it ! The oil under the ground that no- 

 body knew anything about for ages — where 

 would our automobiles be now were it not 

 for this oil? and I might use a page or 

 pages in enumerating the blessed gifts that 

 for ages have been trodden under foot — 

 sweet clover, for instance. We tried to 

 tread it under foot, but it would not "stay 

 down." 



In regard to the second text, I cannot be 

 happy — that is, very happy — unless I work 

 at something that starts the perspiration 

 every day of my life. In fact, it is hard for 

 me to read your kind letters and dictate 

 answers for an hour or two without going 

 out into the garden. If it had not been for 

 the " sweat of my face," I should not. have 

 discovered that the product of the maple 

 tree is a motor to reinforce my strength in 

 old age far better and grander, and infinite- 

 ly more simple, than gasoline or even an 

 electric motor. "All things work together 

 for good to those who love God." 



Finally, dear friends, the work that I 

 love — in fact, I might say the greatest joy 

 of my life at present — is hunting up God's 

 gifts, and partieularlj' getting in touch with 

 others (including Ihe Department of Agri- 

 culture), who are in a like manner develop- 

 ing God's wonderful precious gifts, planned 

 before ihe heginning of the world, to bless 

 and make happy the children whom he loves 

 and the children who love him. 



iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 



"WHERK THIEVES BREAK THROUGH AND 

 STEAL." 



When we built our cottage just south of 

 Bradentown, five or six years ago, our car- 

 penter picked out a lock for the front door, 

 that cost, I think, two or three dollars. T 

 took it back to the hardware store to chanse 

 it for a cheaper one; but the dealer thought 

 that was just the lock we needed on such a 



building. I replied, " My good friend, I 

 agree with you that in a locality ' where 

 thieves break through and steal' such a lock 

 is doubtless the very thing; but here in 

 Manatee Co., where we have never had an 

 open saloon, and where thieves do not break 

 through and steal, a cheaper and less com- 

 plicated lock will be all that is needed." Al- 

 ihough we have left our home and premises 

 here in Bradentown for the last half-dozen 

 summers, I have been proud to tell the 

 people there in Ohio how safe and secure 

 places like my own are where people spend 

 only their winters in Florida. 



With this in mind you can imagine how 

 pained I felt to get the following letter 

 from my good neighbor Mr. Hai'rison, 

 whose home is close to my place : 



Vear Mr. Root .- — Wesley has just been over to tell 

 me that some one or, rather, two people, visited your 

 chickens last night. He saw where they got over 

 the fence and scattered some feathers. It looked as 

 though a chicken came near getting away by the 

 looks of the ground and the feathers left there. The 

 tracks evidently were made by men, not boys. Wes- 

 les is distracted about it. I don't see any way to 

 head them otif but to move the chickens away for a 

 while. It would not pay to set a watch nights, be- 

 cause they may not come again for days or even 

 weeks, for that matter, and yet they may come every 

 few nights until all are taken: and if they found no 

 one to interfere they might take the whole lot one 

 night. C. S. Harrison. 



Bradentown, Fla., June 26. 



1 hardly need tell you, good friends, that 

 the loss of the chickens mentioned above is 

 but a small matter — just a drop in the 

 bucket compared with having Bradentown 

 and Manatee Co. lose the good reputation it 

 has enjoyed for so many years; and, more 

 than that, letting the culprit go unrebuked 

 for his foolish invasion of our premises. 

 Up here in Ohio it is a penitentiary offense 

 for stealing chickens. I do not know how 

 it is in Florida; but it is of much impor- 

 tance that little acts like these should be 

 restrained at the outset. All good Christian 

 men and Avomen should unite in helping to 

 discourage this sort of pilfering, and en- 

 courage law enforcement, if nothing else 

 will answer. 



I have repeatedly spoken of the good 

 habits and good behavior of the colored 

 people of Manatee Co., contrasted with oth- 

 er places; and, in fact, at just about the 

 lime this happened I made the following 

 mention in our journal of the state of af- 

 fairs in our neighborhood : 



Let me repeat what I have said about Manatee 

 Co., Florida. There has never been a saloon in that 

 county, and, God helping us, there never will be one. 

 \f. a result, my good neighbor Mr. Rood had a 

 poultrj'-house undisturbed for years right up against 

 the fence along the highway. A passerby could, in 

 fact, reach through and get a chicken if he wanted 

 to, and yet our population is largely colored jteople 



