288 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



love in my heart for these friends of mine 

 (for I am sure they are my friends), while I 

 think of publishing a protest against their 

 warranty of their seed? A little later I de- 

 cided to make still another trial of the Black 

 Mexican sweet corn. I took it away on 

 another part of my grounds and planted a 

 long row. Almost every kernel germinated. 

 Perhaps the weather was more favorable; 

 but why did the Golden Bantam germinate 

 so freely while the Mexican at first trial did 

 not germinate at all? I have been think- 

 ing that my helper, Wesley, -nuvj have put 

 a larger quantity of fertilizer on this black 

 Mexican corn than he did on the Golden 

 Bantam. Notwithstanding this., I do think 

 the seedsmen should have made some reply 

 of some kind; but my letters and orders 

 were sent in at their very busiest time. 

 Perhaps I should explain that my complaint 

 about the Mexican seed corn was put on a 

 separate sheet of paper so it could go to the 

 proper one to consider. Never mind; my 

 order went in at their very busiest season. 

 Then I reflected that most of us do live "in 

 glass houses," to use a familiar expression. 

 Just a few days ago I sent to The A. I. 

 Root Company for a pound of Japanese 

 buckwheat to be tested on my Florida 

 grounds. When it came I made a protest 

 because the i^ackage, which came by mail, 

 contained quite a little chaff and dirt and 

 other stuff, increasing the postage, and be- 

 ing of no use whatsoever. Of course this 

 was the result of some careless clerk. If no 

 one else received a like package of this, why 

 — it was a very lucky chance that this one 

 came to myself. It was the result of some- 

 body not doing his duty. He probably 

 scraped up the last bit in the bottom of the 

 bin for myself, carelessly neglecting to use 

 a sieve or something to take out the chaff. 

 Now, I think it is certainly right to com- 

 plain and tell when things are not just as 

 they should be. Where there is a flaw in the 

 matter that can be easily remedied, it should 

 be before others are served in like manner. 

 Unless you have had experience in showing 

 up frauds, showing up irregularities, lack of 

 care, etc., you hardly know how difficult it 

 is to adjust all these matters in a loving and 

 kindly feeling toward poor struggling hu- 

 manity. 



Years ago, in my childhood, I saw a little 

 poem that had a couple of lines that run 

 something like this: 



Let love through all your actions run, 

 And all your words be mild. 



The Sunday School Times suggests that 

 only the love of Christ in our hearts can 

 help us to avoid and keep away from this 

 habit of unkind criticism. I do sometimes 

 try to restrain hasty and severe criticism. 

 A great many times I have put in a word in 

 favor of the one who is under discussion. 

 Oh! I wish that all would try to cultivate 

 that spirit that " thinketh no evil." There 

 are people in this world who seem to spend 

 a great part of their lives in finding fault. 

 Are you one of that sort? On the other 

 hand, may the Lord be praised, there are 

 those who always seem to be looking for the 

 bright side of things, and who seem to be 

 seeing the good traits instead of the bad in 

 almost every one they meet. Mother was 

 one of the latter sort. Bless her memory! 

 That same old mother used to tell us chil- 

 dren that we should " love the sinner " while 

 we hated the sin. When Christ or the 

 Christian spirit finds a dwelling-place in our 

 hearts there will be no room for what we call 

 revenge, no room for anger, no room for vex- 

 ation. While I talk of it, and while I think 

 of it, it seems so far above the life I am liv- 

 ing that I am afraid I shall never come 

 quite up to that standard, but constantly 

 waver and drop back. 



In closing I wish to make another extract 

 from the Sunday School Times. It is a 

 striking figure of the way in which divine 

 love, or God's love, takes hold of sinful hu- 

 manity and lifts it up into the sunlight of 

 truth and righteousness. 



LIFTING THE SUNKEN. 



"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 

 A very striking method is now successfully employ- 

 ed for raising the cargoes of sunken vessels. A 

 huge electro-magnet, operated from the deck of 

 the vessel, is lowered to the submerged cargo; and 

 if it be of a character subject to the influence of 

 magnetism it is attracted and lifted by this power, 

 and thus easily saved. There is a power from on 

 high which came to seek and save tliat which was 

 lost. Down in the murky depths of the waters of 

 sin this magnet of love draws to itself sinful souls, 

 and lifts them by its power to the bright sunlight 

 and pui-e air above. 



ffiJDdfflop^^I 



mwE. mmmm^wm 



A. I. Root 



A NEW DISCOVERY. 



We are still having them in our Florida 

 home, but they are not all of them connect- 

 ed with either ducks or chickens. What I 

 am going to speak of now comes nearer un- 

 der the head Market Gardening, or, if you 

 choose, High-jiressure Gardening. A few 

 days ago a neighbor brought over a new dish 

 to us, which she said was made from "weeds" 

 that grew on their place. After we had tast- 

 ed it she explained that it was poke weed, 

 the new tender shoots being used, some- 



thing like asparagus. It was one of my 

 "happy surprises" to find that this same 

 pokeweed, sometimes called poison, is real- 

 ly a delicious vegetable — much better than 

 any of the "greens" that grow in the gar- 

 den, not even excepting spinach. It comes 

 up everywhere around here, especially where 

 there is a piece of waste ground, making a 

 wonderful growth in a short time. Mrs. 

 Hoot has suggested thatit would pay to cul- 

 tivate it; and, fromwhat experience we have 

 had so far, I have no doubt of it. This is 



