DECEMBER 15, 1913 



913 



closely planted corn, but it is excellent for 

 horses and cattle, and for filling silos. Lis- 

 ten : 



" Mr. Gomme, you must have used a tre- 

 mendous lot of fertilizer or stable manure, 

 or both, to get tliis enormous crop." 



" Not a bit of either, Mr. Root. Newly 

 cleared Florida soil did it all." 



What do the good friends who say "noth- 

 ing will grow in Florida " have to say to 

 the above? 



I saw papaya trees with more than a 

 wheelbarrow full of great " melons " on a 

 tree; and so many things from all over the 

 earth being tested I can not remember a 

 tenth part of them. The dasheens were just 

 plowed up, and lying on the ground — about 

 2000 bushels. All the small ones are to be 

 given to apj^licants. 1 think 1000 or more 

 lequests are now waiting their turn, when 

 the tubers are dry enough to mail. Mr. 

 Gomme advised planting about Feb. 15 here 

 in Florida; but my impression is they can 

 be planted any time below the frost-line. 

 My neighbor, Mr. Ault, this morning dug 

 (wo hills (see picture p. 784) that went 

 17^2 and 17% lbs. respectively. Mr. Gomme 

 plows under the great fleshy stalks to enrich 

 the ground; but we found them even more 

 luscious for a stew, as I have described, 



than the baked tubers. The latter should 

 be dug and dried out in the sun for a couple 

 of weeks before trying to bake them. No 

 other vegetable is so easy to prepare for the 

 table. Just brush the tubers well with a 

 good stiff brush, and they are ready to go 

 into the oven. 



Notwithstanding the sandy hills and roads 

 that crooked between the trees at almost 

 every rod, we made Dade City 45 minutes 

 before train time. In some places it seemed 

 as if almost every tree close to the road had 

 baen barked by automobile hubs. The 25- 

 inile trip cost me $7.00. Let me resume the 

 subject I started out with, by one more 

 illustration. 



As I purchased my ticket at Dade City I 

 asked to be directed to the water-closet. 

 Didn't have any. I asked the freight clerk 

 for the nearest place, and he said, " Court- 

 house two blocks away." At the court-house 

 (a nice new brick), some expensive closets 

 had been installed ; but they were bespat- 

 tered with tobacco, the room was unswept 

 and untidy. Dear brothers and sisters, is 

 this a fair representation of the present 

 stage of civilization? Should not our court- 

 houses be in some sense " temples of the 

 Holy Ghost " as well as temples of law and 

 justice? 



Health Notes 



HOT-WATER INJECTIONS, ETC. 



Our older readers may remember I was 

 once quite enthusiastic about this form of 

 water cure. They may not all recall, how- 

 ever, that later on I dropped it and advised 

 against it. Here is what Terry says in the 

 Practical Farmer in regard to the matter: 



Injections are all right for emergencies; but for a 

 steady practice drink enough water and eat proper 

 food so nature will attend to the movement of bow- 

 els. Is not this natural and sensible ? You say a 

 doctor who edits a certain health magazine is con- 

 stantly advising the internal bath. Yes, and turn 

 over to the advertising pages and you will find that 

 he is interested in the sale of a costly contrivance for 

 introducing water in this unnatural manner. He 

 says there that he can prove that 90 per cent of all 

 your ailments are due to constipation. Very well; 

 and I can prove that plenty of water put in the 

 mouth in a natural way, along with food which has 

 in it the natural coarse parts which the bowels need, 

 will cure and prevent constipation without the use 

 of his instrument at all. I have seen reading-matter 

 praising this instrument in a California paper, and 

 then the advertisement in another place, probably 

 both paid advertisements. Don't be caught in any 

 sur" easy manner. It is, of course, far better to use 

 thi> contrivance than to be constipated. But it is 

 beti-r yet to live properly, and have no earthly use 

 for it. 



'I'he above is all right, as Terry outlines, 

 foi aji emergency. When you are in great 

 distress, and can get relief in no other way, 



by all means use the hot-water injection ; 

 but after that, try to live so that nothing of 

 the kind will be needed — that is, be careful 

 what you eat, and be careful about over- 

 taling. It is now several years since I had 

 occasion to use any thing of the kind. 



SEX HYGIENE FOR SMALL CHILDREN. 



For some time I have been somewhat 

 worried and anxious about the rush to teach 

 small children sex hygiene. I was invited 

 to be present on one occasion where a dis- 

 tinguished physician gave a talk to school 

 children. His talk was all right, and splen- 

 did for boys a dozen years old or so ; but I 

 really felt troubled to see some little chaps 

 on the front seat, but little more than half 

 a dozen. Another thing, I had a strong 

 feeling that the mother should be the teach- 

 er, and not the teachers in our public 

 schools, nor even a great doctor. The fol- 

 lowing, which I clip from the Chicago 

 Advance, sums up my ideas pretty thor- 

 oughly in just a few words : 



SEX hygiene: a warning. 



Within the last year there has been a perfect 

 epidemic of sex consciousness, one aspect of which 

 has been a vociferous demand for the teaching of 

 sex hygiene to children. 



