GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



by distuibance in the digestive apparatus. 

 Let the last meal of the day be early in the 

 afternoon, and let it be something easy of 

 digestion — fruit, for instance. Nice lus- 

 cious peaches have been my last meal for 

 several weeks past ; and with the fruit, as 

 1 have several times mentioned, I have a 

 little nice cheese, which T prefer to be old 

 and well ripened. But unless I eat this 

 sparingly there is a cheesy taste left in my 

 mouth when I wake up in the morning. I 

 have also mentioned cottage cheese. The 

 " sanatogen " which we see advertised has, 

 perhaps, done sume good in calling our at- 

 tention to the wholesomeness of cottage 

 cheese. "Well, the cottage cheese digests 

 perfectly, and leaves no bad taste in my 

 mouth, and is, I feel sure, one of the best 

 and most wholesome foods in the world for 

 babies when they are old enough to eat it, 

 and for old people, and for anybody, in 

 fact. Cottage cheese is now on the market 

 for only 10 cts. per lb., or less than half 

 the price of the regular cheese. 



There is one thing more to be added to 

 tlie sunshine, fresh air, and food and drink, 

 and that is exercise. Children will, as a 

 rule, take the proper amount of exercise if 

 the}' have a chance ; and let us each and all, 

 for Heaven's sake, provide a place where 

 they can have good air and sunshine. A 

 few days ago Mrs. Root asked me if I 

 heard the shouting and laughing over on 

 the hillside back of our house. AVhat do 

 you suppose T saw when I went out there? 

 Four little girls — Helen, Jean, Katherine, 

 and Elizabeth, were riding downhill in two 

 little wagons. As they have not learned to 

 steer ver\r well, the wagon was usually upset 

 by the time they reached the bottom of the 

 little hill; and then there was a scrambling 

 and kicking of legs and arms (pretty much 

 bare) in the sunshine on that south hillside. 

 As it is covered with soft grass they did 

 not seem to get hurt. 



One reason why I so much enjoy going 

 down to Florida is because down there I 

 can dispense with a large part of my cloth- 

 ing and take vigorous exercise right out in 

 the sun. A few years ago a lot of my 

 friends laughed at m.e because of my fur 

 cap. T have not only dispensed with that 

 fur cap, but I have been getting lighter 

 and lighter caps for the past two years; 

 and when the weather is warm, and most 

 people are complaining of the hot day, I 

 just feel real happy without any cap at all; 



intPTvals. I think Mrs. Root used to give her babia? 

 s-ome -warm millv one or two times during the nislit. 

 Of conr<^e they had less as they frrew older, and the 

 five little Roots are all alive — yes, very much alive 

 and kicking around, even if some of them are over 

 fifty. 



and I work in the garden bareheaded hour 

 after hour. T. have found it an excellent 

 plan, also, to get off my coat and vest ; and 

 with the ventilated shoes that I have de- 

 scribed I just feel tine; and when off alone 

 I can sing praises to God for having given 

 me 76 years of life already. Much has been 

 said about the health of the colored chil- 

 dren. Many of them would go next to 

 naked if nobody com.plained. Down in 

 Cuba I saw children going to school with- 

 out a rag of any sort on them — bare hands, 

 bare head, and everything bare from head 

 to foot, both boys and girls. I think there 

 was a protest being made at the time I was 

 there. Just tliink of the indignity the 

 northern-raised schoolma'am would suffer 

 on being obliged to teach school where boys 

 and girls are sent to learn their A B C's, 

 without clothing! Very likely all of that 

 is done away with bj'^ this time; but is it 

 not tnie. dear friends, that the tough and 

 hardy endurance of the colored race is 

 largeh'^ due to the abundance of outdoor air 

 and sunshine on almost every portion of 

 their bodies'? 



When I spent a part of one summer in 

 Florida one of the things I greatly enjoyed 

 was working in the garden in my night- 

 dress. If 3'ou have never tried it you can 

 scarcely imagine the delightful sensation of 

 a cooling breeze right on the naked body 

 when you have had exercise enough to feel 

 a little hot and sweaty. The modern style 

 of dress for young girls and women, even 

 though it is objectionable, and may some- 

 times have been carried to extremes, is, I 

 honestly believe, going to give betrter health 

 to the young mothers or to the growing 

 girls who expect to be mothers in due time. 

 jMaj' God help us to hold fast to the sensi- 

 ble, reasonable freaks of fashion, and to 

 reject and protest against everything that 

 .is unhealthful and unreasonable. 



I have not said very much about physical 

 exercise in the above, although I have sev- 

 eral times alluded to the big advertisements 

 in the line of athletic schools. There are 

 many such schools being started just now 

 which ought to teach people by experience, 

 and sometimes sad experience, to beware 

 of some of these pickpockets. Beware 

 of anything or of anybody who first wants 

 $50 or $25 for a course of athletics; and 

 if you do not " bite " the first time, as 

 the weeks go by they keep coming down 

 a little. When you are finally offered the 

 same thing for $5 or even $3, you may 

 think you are in luck; but you will fii'd 

 what you have paid for is somelhing al- 

 ready taught in our schools or in our health 

 publications. If it is true, however, that 



