JUNE 1, 1912 



ed him if it exceeded three tons, costing 

 about $40.00 a ton. He said he felt sure it 

 would not be so much. But when buyers 

 from the North came and looked over his 

 crop they offered him something like <flOOO 

 for the celery on that poor unpromising 

 piece of land. (See Gleanings page 289, 

 May 1st issue.) You say you have been in 

 Florida. You had better go back there, my 

 good friend Foreman, this present year of 

 1912, and see what is going on. I think 

 there is plenty of land, perhaps, however, 

 not near to market or transportation, as 

 good as Mr. Rood's, that can be bought for 

 from five to ten dollars an acre; but it needs 

 means to develop it, and a live man like 

 Mr. Rood to direct matters. Besides what 

 Mr. Rood is doing, and some others like 

 him, there is a general stampede to Manatee 

 Co., as I have told you before. Houses are 

 being built, and roads and cement pave- 

 ments being constructed in and around 



Bradentown, at a rate almost unprecedent- 

 ed. 



Finally, whoever sends for the literature 

 sent out by any railroad comiiany building 

 railways through a new and undeveloped 

 region, should, of course, understand that 

 the railway companies present in their lit- 

 erature the possibilities of that region rather 

 than the rule. 



Perhaps it would be well to say in closing 

 that there are all the time unfortunate in- 

 dividuals who start in to do as Mr. Rood is 

 doing, and who make a failure of it, and 

 some of them declare that there is more 

 money thrown away in Florida trucking 

 than is ev€!r made out of it. But, toy good 

 friend, it is true that this same thing is go- 

 ing on all over the North as well as the 

 South. Where one succeeds, there are 

 many more who make failures, especially if 

 they do not have a genuine love for the bus- 

 iness aside from its financial possibilities. 



\^®siwm m®M 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



"prevention better than cure." 

 I think it was the Scientific American 

 that said, recently, great progress has been 

 made in recent years in preventing sickness, 

 suffering, and death by means of improved 

 sanitation. Many of us can remember when 

 typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever, 

 smallpox, etc., bad to have their run. Some- 

 times the "run" took a whole neighbor- 

 hood or a good-sized village, and not only 

 incurred fearful doctor-bills, but sent a lot 

 of people to the cemetery; and the Scientiflc 

 American added that the greatest achieve- 

 ments in medical science were in the way of 

 prevention by better sanitation. Just now 

 there is a great raid being made on flies. I 

 can remember when we could not eat our 

 dinner in peace without slapping flies right 

 and left; and one glorious part of it is, the 

 children are helping. A good many times 

 they are doing the work. 1 spoke about the 

 wonderful things the boys and girls are do- 

 ing in the way of raising more and better 

 corn; and I said the same thing might be 

 done with potatoes. Well, it is already done, 

 as I see by the agricultural papers. 



Now, all intelligent family physicians are 

 telling us everywhere, not only in the cities 

 but in the country towns and villages, how 

 to prevent disease. They are teaching us 

 modern sanitation. I am ashamed to say 

 that, until about two years ago, I thought 

 bathing every Saturday night was sufficient. 

 Noiv you could scarcely hire me to go back 

 to that way of living. Every inch of my 

 body has a good wetting, and a good rub- 

 bing with a dry towel, every day of my life, 

 either in the morning or before I retire, as 

 is most convenient. Well, it is not only 

 the better health I enjoy, but very much 

 cleaner clothing. The wash-woman's task 

 is lessened (down in Florida the dear wife 



does all the washing) ; my light underclo- 

 thing at the end of the week is of ten so clean 

 that, if I get it mixed with the new, I can 

 not tell one from the other. The sheets on 

 our bed are never soiled, even if I have been 

 perspiring freely during the day, for in that 

 case I take my bath before retiring. No 

 matter what your occupation is, nor who 

 you are nor how old you are, if you want to 

 be up with the times keep yourself clean by 

 a daily bath. You do not need a bath-tub. 

 If the room is too cold, strip off to the waist, 

 and when you are thoroughly washed so far, 

 put something over your head and shoulders 

 while you finish the rest of your body. With 

 a little practice you can wash yourself thor- 

 oughly all over without making any slop 

 where you stand. I forgot to mention in 

 the proper place my nightgown. This, too, 

 is so clean because I am well washed before 

 it is used, that when Saturday night comes 

 T hardly know it has been used. Now, so 

 much for the body. If you are keeping up 

 with the trend of thought, invention, and 

 discovery, you are sleeping outdoors, or with 

 so many doors and windows open (screened, 

 of course) , that you are practically out of 

 doors. While I am about it, let me say, 

 help the good wife to keep your living-room 

 as clean as your body by being very careful 

 to clean your feet whenever you come in to 

 dinner or for any other reason. Wear some 

 sort of overshoes when' obliged to go out on 

 ground that might stick to your feet. And, 

 finally, be careful about the cellar. The 

 Cyphers people, in their directions for mak- 

 ing and using an incubator cellar, say th^t 

 the walls and floor should be scrubbed thor- 

 oughly every few days, or mold will accu- 

 mulate that will mean death to the chicks in- 

 side of the egg. The cellar should be damp, 

 and this dampness is congenial to the 



