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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



OUR 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



Therefore take no thought sayino;, what shall we 

 eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall 

 we be clothed?— Matt. (i:31. 



Seven times within the last two years I 

 have made a trip to the Traverse region of 

 Northern Michigan when used up phj'sical- 

 ly and mentally, with impaired digestion, 

 etc. ; and seven times I have returned full 

 of strength, energy, and vigor, both mental 

 and physical, and, I hope I maj' say, spir- 

 itual as well; and once more the question 

 confronts me, Is it altogether the healthful- 

 ness of the locality with its vitalizing and 

 invigorating breezes from off across the 

 northern lakes? or does this wonderful re- 

 newal of health, strength, and happiness, 

 come from different habits and different 

 modes of life? I rather suspect it is both; 

 and in any event I can give God the thanks 

 for having answered once more my oft- re- 

 peated prayer, not onl}^ for health, strength, 

 and enjoyment for myself, but that I may 

 direct others who are coming to me for ad- 

 vice. Did God, when he created man in 

 his own image, expect him to regain and 

 retain health through drugs and medicines, 

 or otherwise? Yes, I ma3' say not only 

 seven tiines in my experience, but when 

 Mrs. Root went with me, although she had 

 very little faith in my enthusiasm she 

 was forced to admit that she found a degree 

 of strength, health, and vigor that she nev- 

 er expected again in this world. Now, to 

 be sure that I have made no mistake let me 

 go into particulars a little. If you should 

 think my stor}^ is a long one, please bear 

 in mind that it has to do with the health 

 and happiness, not only of untold thousands, 

 but perhaps millions. 



I reached Traverse City between 6 and 7 

 o'clock Saturday evening, March 22; ^nd I 

 was so anxious to get among my friends, 

 eight miles away, up on the hills, that I 

 started off on my wheel by moonlight, car- 

 rying my grip. When I reached the first 

 country store, however, two or three miles 

 out, I found I could not carry my grip up 

 the hills to the place I was going to; but a 

 loaded wagon that I overtook proved to be- 

 long to a neighbor of Mr. Hilbert, and the 

 driver kindly took it on top of his load. As 

 the snowdrifts were not all out of the way, 

 I had a pretty tough time of it, and reach- 

 ed friend Hilbert's just before bedtime. My 

 young friend Alice informed me the Sunday- 

 school had been closed all winter, and that 

 there had been very little preaching servicT-; 

 once, the drifted snow had prevented the 

 people from getting out ; and at another 

 time, by mistake in appointment, the con- 

 gregation gathered, but there was no min- 

 ister; and as they have services only everj^ 

 other Sunday any way, the meeting-house 

 had been standing empty, much of the time, 

 even on God's holy day. It was their cus- 



tom to start up the school the first of April. 

 I said something like this: 



"Now, look here, friends. It is a long 

 while since I have passed a Sabbath with- 

 out going to Sunday-school or church, or 

 iittending anj' place of religious worship. 

 I rather think we will have a Sunday- 

 school there to-morrow." 



There were, however, all sorts of objec- 

 tions in the way. First, it was not announc- 

 ed. Second, the superintendent was awaj' 

 from home. Third, everybody understood 

 it was to start in on the first Sunday in 

 April, and it was then March. P^ourth. 

 there was no janitor. Fifth, the great su- 

 g-ar-camp of 1600 trees and 2400 buckets 

 was running full blast. In fact, Mr. Hil- 

 bert himself was in the camp then, and was 

 to boil all night, and all hands were to be 

 oft" early Sunday morning to keep up the 

 boiling so the sap could be handled that 

 was going to waste. Sunday morning, how- 

 ever, I was well rested, and full of enthu- 

 siasm to have a Sunday-school. Alice was 

 almost the only one of the familj' that could 

 be spared from the sugar-making. I com- 

 menced calling at the houses, inviting them 

 to come to Sunday-school; but it was most- 

 ly up\\\\\ work. Once in a while the bright 

 smiles of the mothers and the animated 

 faces of the children at the prospect of go- 

 ing to Sunday-school made the work a little 

 downhill. I found the superintendent's fa- 

 ther, and he said it was all right if I could 

 get the children to go, and he got the key 

 of the church for me. 



At the next house I found a father and 

 five children eating breakfast. The father 

 was quite sure that none of the children 

 could go. He said they were not the Sun- 

 day-school kind. The oldest girl, however, 

 admitted that I had seen her in the Sunday- 

 school the summer before. I knew if I gave 

 up at the start I should lose my enthusiasm, 

 so I stopped to talk with the father a little. 

 I soon found out that in the old country he 

 had worked at gardening under glass, and 

 knew about hot-beds, cold-frames, sashes, 

 etc. Then I pointed out to him what could 

 be done in his locality with the piles of 

 heating stable manure close at hand. I 

 finally got permission to get one of the boys 

 to go with me to make trips crosslots to 

 houses too far away for me to reach alone. 

 Then I went through the whole little town 

 of Bingham, shook hands with the mothers 

 and fathers, and talked with the children, 

 and had a good-sized crowd in full sympa- 

 thy with my undertaking before half-past 

 ten, the usual hour for the Sunday-school. 

 The woodshed was locked up, and I did not 

 have the key; but I picked up splinters 

 around the church door, thus ridding up 

 the yard, and soon had a pretty good fire 

 in the stove. By this time I began to feel 

 happy ; and it was a great privilege to 

 kneel there in that little church alone and 

 pray for the mothers and the children I had 

 talked with, that were already on their way 

 to Sunday-school. One of the objections to 

 keeping Sunday' - school going all winter 



