426 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



not seem possible that a pound of peaches 

 should diffuse its natural juices through that 

 whole quart of water so as to make it so de- 

 licious and nourishing.* 



That book, " Starving America," has a 

 lot to say about uncooked food, or the food 

 eaten just as God and the bright sunshine 

 and the summer showers made it. With 

 these dried peaches, of course we get every 

 bit of the skin or peeling, fuzzy down and 

 all. After eating these soaked peaches with 

 my apples for a couple of weeks past I 

 feel there is a special element in the peach 

 skins and juice that nature demands. It 

 furnishes those mineral salts about which 

 the author of that book has so much to say. 



Our first text tells us how God planned 

 in the beginning to give our bodies the 

 nourishment they need. You will notice the 

 special mention of the fruit of the tree, and 

 that " to you it shall be for meat." Not 

 only did God intend fruit should be not only 

 a large part of our daily food, but he meant 

 that we should take it and eat it just as he 

 gave it — peeling's and all, the way the ani- 

 mals eat it. In other words, the expensive 

 and wasteful fashion of throwing away one 

 of the most important parts of our daily 

 food is a great blunder. The water the 

 peaches are soaked in contains a large part 

 of the nourishing property of the peach. 

 In the same way, the water in which your 

 potatoes are soaked over night is rich and 

 nourishing, containing mineral salts besides 

 the starch, etc. The water the potatoes are 

 boiled in is still more valuable. I know the 

 women folks and the cook make objections ; 

 but by studying God's law^s, and following 



instance, remember that book, " Starving America, 

 tells us the greater part of the ice-cream sodas have 

 no fruit juice at all — only an imitation made mostly 

 from the products or residue of our oil-refineries. 

 Well, now, if such drinks are really needed, why 

 not have fruit juice from the evaporated peaches 

 instead of having them rot by the hundreds of tons? 

 If you think I am mistaken, soak some evaporated 

 peaches for 24 hours in pure cold water, and see 

 if the di-ink is not ahead of any thing at the foun- 

 tains. And this pure fruit-juice is straight from the 

 hand of the loving Father. 



* These peaches I am talking about were evidently 

 very ripe when first spread out to be evaporated. 

 Some of them, and I should say most of them, were 

 probably soft and mushy ; and I remember years ago 

 in childhood of drying peaches out in the sun that 

 were so soft that we just squeezed the stones out. 

 On page 385 of our last issue, J. A. Green tells us 

 of htmdreds of tons of the finest peaches grown in 

 the world rotted on the ground last August in Col- 

 orado. Now, if I am correct, evaporated peaches, 

 where the work is properly done, can be kept safely 

 year after year; and by soaking them in water 

 according to Terry's plan you can have them every 

 day in the year, almost as good, if not quite, as 

 thev were when picked from the trees. May God be 

 praised for the beautiful peaches that are now pro- 

 duced, and for the improved methods of preserving 

 them by evaporating so as to lose little or none of the 

 deliciousness or healthfulness ; and may God hasten 

 the time when shorter cuts and less expensive cuts 

 may be made from producer to consumer. ^^ How 

 about " parcel post " for disposing of those " hun- 

 dreds of tons " (in the shape of evaporated peaches) 

 that were left to rot? 



out the plans he has laid down, I should 

 not be surprised if Terry and I would be 

 alive, and well and happy, long after a lot 

 of you who think you must follow fashion 

 in eating (as well as in dress) are dead and 

 gone. In fact, Terry and I can even now, 

 when we are in our 70's, look around and 

 see hundreds who were born some time after 

 we wei'e, that have died — ^" worn out," so 

 the world says. 



Let us now touch a little on the second 

 of our texts — " In all thy ways acknowledge 

 him, and he shall direct thy paths." God 

 wdll direct us all as to what we shall eat 

 and how we shall live, just as well as in 

 spiritual matters, if we " acknowledge him " 

 and confess that his wisdom is greater than 

 ours, and learn to take the food he has pro- 

 vided as he gave it, straight " from the 

 producer to the consumer." We shall not 

 only live long, but we shall be well and 

 happy. 



Of course, we can not eat every thing 

 uncooked — that is, we can not very well at 

 the present time; but as Terry and the 

 author of that other book say emphatically, 

 we shoiild endeavor to have a large part of 

 our every-day food uncooked. Let God's 

 sunshine do the cooking. You may remem- 

 ber there is quite a nice book out now al- 

 ready entitled " Sun-cooked Food." 



In the matter of drink, God sends the 

 needed water in most localities straight down 

 from the clouds — you might say straight 

 down from heaven, and say it truthfully; 

 but as it is inconvenient to get it straight 

 from the clouds, especially when it does not 

 rain, the duty devolves on us of keeping 

 rain water. Now, in order to be sure that 

 the water I drink is pure and wholesome, I 

 drink only boiled rain water, I do not care 

 very mucli about having it cold or very cold 

 — so it is pure and clean, free from all veg- 

 etable matter, especially during hot weather. 

 I have repeatedly drank water right from 

 the cistern, say for a couple of weeks, and 

 watched its effects. Then I would take the 

 same water and have it boiled, and (of 

 course) cooled off. I have not used hot 

 water of late unless I eat something I ought 

 not to eat, or overeat. Then a good big 

 drink of hot water until it starts a good 

 perspiration seems to be beneficial. I usu- 

 ally drink half a cupful of milk at my meals. 

 Milk, like fruit, is the food God provided 

 and intended for us, especially the little 

 ones. Great pains is now being taken, I 

 think, almost all over the world, to have the 

 milk as well as eggs fresh and pure. WTiy, 

 it is just " fun to live " when you are fol- 

 lowdng God's plans, and when you let him 

 direct and advise. 



Sometimes it sounds extravagant to hear 



