DECEMBER 1, 1915 



1003 



you go through with your athletics just be- 

 cause the course has cost you $5 or $10 

 when you would not otherwise, it may not 

 be so very bad an investment after all. 

 Now, then, whether I am here in Medina 

 with a comfortably fittod-up bathroom, or 

 down in Florida in our comparatively 

 clieap cottage, I bathe all over every day of 

 my life; but before taking my bath I swing 

 my arms and exercise my legs and rub my 

 body all over until I am so well warmed 

 up that I can take a bath without wanting 

 it warmed, even if the^ temperature of the 

 room sliould be down to 60 or lower. When 

 th weather is cool I prefer to have the 

 water warmed by some means up to 60 or 

 70. After bathing 1 use for a towel a good 

 large piece of cheap cotton cloth, something 

 perhaps half the size of a bed sheet. I 

 take hold of the opposite corners and draw 

 it back and forth across my back, and " see- 

 saw " across my chest, around my leg's, over 

 my head, until every part of my body is 

 warmed up by the friction, and by rubbing 

 around my neck, my head, and about my 

 ears, as T have explained before. If I were 

 going to have another bath-room I would 

 have a bay-window toward the south or 

 southeast or both; and when we have long 

 days I could take my bath and get a sun 

 bath at the same time; for I feel perfectly 

 sure that there is nothing better in the 

 icorld, for an ailing person, than to let the 

 .suu strike directly on evei-y portion of the 

 body. 



\'ou know I am studying and enjoying 

 seeing plants grow, perhaps as I never did 

 before; and before I got this letter I was 

 coming to the conclusion that sunlight is 

 one of the greatest and most important 

 things for plant growth. We have a row 

 of evergreens for a windbreak on one side 

 of our garden. I thought at first the roots 

 of the evergreens had spoiled that side of 

 our garden. Xo matter how much manure 

 or fertilizer I applied, the plants would not 

 grow there. Melons will not thrive and 

 ripen, because they do not get the afternoon 

 sunshine. All kinds of plants and flowers 

 up near a high fence or building turn their 

 heads away fiora the building. Sunflowers 

 especially follow the sun. They turn around 

 in the night so they can see the sun when it 

 comes up. Then they look at him, as a 

 rule, in the face all day long, and at night 

 they are peeping and stretching their necks 

 to get the last glimpse of his declining face. 

 Nothing grows around a big thrifty tree. 

 It is not alone a lack of moisture becau.se 

 the roots of the tree take it, for tliis year 

 there was moisture to spare from spring till 

 fall; but nothing thrives in the shade of a 



tree — that is, almost nothing. We have a 

 few plants, it is true, like the ferns and 

 mosses, that cannot bear the full light of 

 the noonday sun, but they are an exception. 

 The same thing applies to animals. See the 

 chickens, how they flop their wings and run 

 in pure enjoyment and delight when they 

 are let loose in the sunsliine. Every little 

 while I see somebody trying to raise chick- 

 ens indooi-s, soraetiracs by artificial heat, 

 when the chicks would be a thousand times 

 better oil' right outdoors; and the same 

 thing is true v.-ith humanity. Babies and 

 old people must have sunlight as well as 

 fresh air. I suspect one reason why so 

 many people get well by going to Florida 

 is because there is more sunshine there than 

 almost anywhere else. Some years ago the 

 t'dilor of a paper in Tampa said his period- 

 ical would be sent free of charge every day 

 the sun did not shine there. Last winter, 

 however, was such an exception that, if he 

 Jceeps it up, he will have a tough job on his 

 hands. People have mistaken notions about 

 sunshine. Nobody supposes you can stand 

 it to sit right down in the hot sun. Get 

 out and work at something. Stir around 

 and ■' do good " until the sweat drops from 

 the end of your nose; then you will forget 

 all about its being a hot day, and throw off 

 your useless under-clothing and get a suu 

 bath, as our good friend expressed it about 

 the babies. Then you can thank God for 

 fresh air and for the sunshine, even if the 

 mercury is up to 300 in the shade. 



May God bless this message; and may it 

 be the means of giving health and happi- 

 ness to a crowd of people; and when you 

 iiave gotten both health and happiness, do 

 not forget to thank God who gives us the 

 sunlight, and — " God saw the light, that 'it 

 icos good." 



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BEE CULTURE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. 



On page 685, August 1, our good friend 

 F. M. Baldwin gives us an article which I 

 feared was giving almost too bright a pros- 

 pect for starting bee culture in Florida, 

 after taking into consideration seasons in 

 general. Below is a report for 1915 from 

 our good friend Ault, who last season man- 

 aged to get pretty dose to 200 lbs. per 

 colony. You will notice by reading the 

 article carefully that while some locations 

 ^i\e a fair yield, another apiary only a few 

 miles away furnished almost no surplus. 



THR HONKY CliOP IN SOUTH FLORIDA. 



While I atn not in position to give definite statis- 

 tics of the honey crop in this section of Florida I 

 flo not think it will reach above 20 per cent nor- 

 rial. As is common in " off " seasons, the honey 

 flow has varied greatly in different localities. Mr. 



