782 



putting sugar into the coffee you drink 

 three times a day, and at the same time 

 abstain from using sugar in other ways, 

 and then let me know if you are not all 

 right." He followed the doctor's advice, 

 and his headaches entirely disappeared. 



I am sure Terry is right where he says 

 that when you reduce the amount of food 

 sufficiently your system will draw on the 

 stored-up fat. At any rate I have twice 

 proved this conclusively by the starvation 

 cure. Plain simple food, without too great 

 a variety, will do the same thing. It is 

 the pie and cake and ice-cream, and per- 

 haps nuts and fruit after we have already 

 had a good square meal, that cause our 

 troubles. The women-folks are largely re- 

 sponsible for this. T am begging Mrs. 

 Root almost constantly to give us two less 

 variety in our breakfast and dinner. Of 

 course the table does not show off with so 

 Httle on it, and, besides, it is not the fash- 

 ion. 



I recently saw a newspaper clipping to 

 the effect that our Department of Agricul- 

 ture, I think it was, appointed a commis- 

 sion of eight men and eight ladies, sixteen 

 in all, to discuss the matter of the "high 

 cost of living" and to provide a remedy. 

 Well, in order to have a pleasant time while 

 they transacted the important business they 

 had a lunch. I presume that we who pay 

 the taxes paid the expense of that "lunch." 

 What do you suppose the bill of fare was 

 for that crowd of sixteen"? Well, it came 

 to $160, or about that, or $10.00 for each 

 plate while they discussed the Ugh cost of 

 living. I have suggested already in my 

 former paper that the high cost of living 

 does not need to trouble farmers very 

 much if at all; but I forgot at the time 

 that the farmers have to pay the taxes m 

 order to provide lunches for some of our 

 fashionable friends who hold important of- 

 fices, at the rate of ten dollars a plate. 



Terry suggests that it takes will power to 

 stop eating when you are still ravenously 

 hungry. Now you know, dear friends, I 

 do not want to boast; but an illustration 

 comes in right here. When I was between 

 twelve and sixteen I had got hold of the 

 vegetarian hobby. I was for four years 

 so much of a vegetarian that I would not 

 eat any chicken when we people on the 

 farm had a "chicken dinner;" so you see 

 I have pretty well tested a pure vegetarian 

 diet and also a pure-meat diet; and my 

 conclusion is that the great Father, in his 

 merciful kindness and wisdom, has made 

 us so that we can adapt ourselves to a 

 great variety of food, or we might say to 

 a wide condition of things. When some of 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the family were once laughing at me about 

 my vegetarian hobby a good kind friend 

 who has been a friend to me through long 

 years said something like this : 



"Now, since you are making so much 

 sport over our friend Amos and his no- 

 tions, as you call them, I wish to say to you 

 that I should be exceedingly glad if 

 1 could hold my own appetite and de- 

 sires in such perfect control as that boy 

 does. Very likely he will some time get 

 over his vegetarian notions; but this habit 

 he is forming in his early youth, of being 

 able to control himself in these things 

 where great men give way, will enable him 

 to make his mark sooner or later." 



Now, this friend's words have proven 

 true — at least in a measure. But they 

 would not have proven true had I not ul- 

 timately gotten hold of the strong arm of 

 the Lord Jesus Christ. W^hen I came to 

 the point where I was obliged to admit 

 that Satan was too much for me I would 

 have gone down had it not been for my 

 good mother's early teachings which 

 prompted me to say as did poor Peter, 

 "Lord, save or I perish." 



Dear friends, T. B; Terry, when he 

 talked about that sack of flour strapped 

 to a man's back made a very happy illus- 

 tration. 1 am tempted to laugh whenever 

 I think of it; but do you not remember 

 in reading in Pilgrim's Progress years ago 

 (1 hope you are reading it now once in a 

 while at least) the picture of poor Chris- 

 tian toiling laboriously up a steep hiU 

 with a great burden strapped over his 

 shoulders'? I suppose he was wiping the 

 sw^eat from his brow as he toiled along 

 in that difficult uphill path. You may re- 

 member, too, how he came to a point 

 where the burden tumbled off and went 

 down into the "bottomless pit." His friend 

 Evangelist touched the iron bands that 

 Christian in his own strength could never 

 have loosened; and the burden that had 

 handicapped him for so many years was 

 gone in an instant. Fifty pounds or more 

 of useless flesh is a sad thing to carry 

 through life! but, oh dear me! what is 

 that compared with a load of guilt that 

 many of us shoulder day by day, and can 

 not, or imagine we can not, shake off? 

 The papers have told us of a man who 

 was guilty of murder. He escaped; but 

 somebody else — an innocent man — was sent 

 to prison for life for the deed. After 

 many years had passed, and the guilty 

 man was facing death, he confessed his 

 crime, and the poor innocent man was set 

 free. What sort of load did that guilty 



