912 



and went out. Why should this great and 

 precious invention, this gift of God, be 

 pruslitiiled (when it opens up such possibil- 

 ilics) lo iUustrate a drunken revelry*? I 

 sapi oso il is because the multitudes demand 

 sueli things ; and 1 felt pained as I failed 

 to notice that any one else in that audience 

 of several hundred felt as I did, that it was 

 lime to go home. 



Let me say a word here in commendation 

 of the good people of Tampa. Whenever 

 I was in doubt about finding my way I met 

 most courteous responses, and different peo- 

 ple went out of their way to i^ut me on the 

 right car, or to help me to a place difficult 

 lo find, in spite of my protest. This is a 

 pretty good world, after all. If I am right, 

 the saloons in Tampa have all been obliged 

 1 remove all screens from before doors and 

 windows. Of course there was' grumbling 

 and protest ; but Tampa police obey orders 

 from their chief. 



Let me digress a little before I mention 

 the second thing that took my eye in the 

 city daily. A few years ago I talked with 

 Crenshaw Bros., seedsmen, about handling 

 bee-supplies; but as they were then also in 

 the commission business they said they could 

 not well take on any more responsibility. 

 Well, of late the brothers have divided up, 

 in some way, and the truck, fruit, etc., are 

 handled as a separate line in a different 

 part of the city. Well, I saw in the paper 

 that this latter firm had just i"eceived a ship- 

 ment of ten thousand chickens from Ten- 

 nessee. I was up before it was fairly day- 

 light ; and the crowing of the roosters greet- 

 ed me to their great establishment. A great 

 covered platform, which I suppose might 

 be called a warehouse, was full of workmen, 

 even at that early hour; and, besides the 

 chickens, almost every line of goods that 

 grows in the South was being crated and 

 shipped to customers. Don't tell me any 

 more that Florida people are " lazy." One 

 of the boys told me about half of the 10,000 

 ( bickens had been sold and sent away. They 

 were placed in pens of perhaps 300 or 400 

 rach, and in each inclosure there seemed to 

 be almost every breed represented more or 

 1' ss. The boys said they were sold in lots 

 at 65 cts. each; but where a purchaser 

 wanted to take Ms pick the price was more, 

 for in the lot there were " Reds " and 

 " Rocks " that would weigh much more than 

 65 cts. I wonder what the "chicken-raisers" 

 in Tennessee get for their fowls. 



The fifty or sixty miles to Brooksville is 

 almost an unbroken wilderness except for 

 the turpentine camps ; and as we near the 

 town we come into the Florida hills. In 

 fact, I did not know before there were such 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



hills and valleys in the whole State. To get 

 home this Saturday night I found I should 

 have to get an automobile to catch the Sea- 

 board train at Dade City, about 25 miles, 

 over a sandy road. As the experiment s'a- 

 tion was out about four miles toward Dade 

 City we figured to start about as soon as I 

 could get my dinner; and to get as much 

 time as possible at the government station, 

 I (at least for once) ate hurriedly. On the 

 bill of fare at the hotel my eye caught 

 " baked yams," which I ordered with roast 

 beef, etc. When the yams came I thought 

 at first they had by mistake sent a big 

 round and smooth beet. It was baked so 

 the outside was slightly charred; but on 

 mashing I found it yellow and dry, and 

 tempting to look at. I shook out the floury 

 inside on the platter of roast-beef gravy, 

 and took a taste. Why, it was worth the 

 long trip to Brooksville, almost, to get that 

 dinner of baked yams. I have written for 

 some cuttings, and will report later. After 

 my 20-cent nice dinner I found a two-seated 

 Ford at the door, owned by a man who had 

 run it only six weeks. He said his wife 

 would like to go along if I, who hired the 

 rig, did not " object." Did anybody ever 

 hear that A. I. Root objected lo a woman 

 being in the crowd? 



Prof. Gomme, of the government station, 

 is a big stalwart Texan, and I soon found 

 he was " big " in many ways. As I could 

 spare only about an hour we talked fast. 

 Pretty soon a bright little woman came out 

 on the porch and said she wanted to be in- 

 troduced to Mr. Root, for she just over- 

 heard something he said about " chickens." 

 Chickens indeed ! I wonder if it is true that 

 I do sometimes " talk about chickens." We 

 went out and got the other woman into the 

 auto; and didn't we talk chickens and al- 

 most every thing else? Mrs. Gomme has 

 ducks and chickens, both, and is just getting 

 the fever for "weeding out the drones" 

 with trap nests, etc. 



Uncle Samuel has searched Florida for 

 the best soil for dashcens and a lot of other 

 stuff, and decided on this spot where oak 

 trees grow as large around and as tall as 

 almost anywhere up north; and this little 

 woman with one child is almost alone in the 

 wilderness. As nearly as I could learn, there 

 are no white women living much nearer 

 than Brooksville. No Avonder she could 

 " talk " when she found somebody besides 

 the ducks and chickens. 



On p. 738, Oct. 15, I gave a report of 

 this government station, and suggested that 

 " millet 18 feet high " might be a misprint. 

 There was no misprint. This wonderful 

 plant is not only standing thicker than 



