808 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15. 



himself. Yes, he was such a slave to it that 

 his hands trembled so it was difficult for him to 

 even write his own name without having the 

 jagged lines exhibit the terrible raid the poison 

 was making on bis system. That was 25 years 

 ago, however. Friend B. debated the matter 

 alone. As the tempter drew the chains strong- 

 er and tighter, he questioned: '"Is it I who 

 decide these matters, or is it an artificial appe- 

 tite that has enslaved me for the rest of my 

 life?'" He marched to the door and gave his 

 tobacco a fierce fling, and declared he would be 

 free. He fought the good fight, and came out 

 victorious; and as he told the story he held out 

 his hand to show me that his nerves were as 

 firm and steady as cast iron, and yet he is now 

 a little past 60 years of age. 



As the sun began to decline I told the friends 

 I would have to hurry on. as I wished to reach 

 Castalia before night. With the aid of beauti- 

 ful fine graveled roads. I reached the place be- 

 tween four and five. All the way, you may be 

 sure, I was studying the lay of the land, etc. 

 For miles around Castalia the ground is thick- 

 ly strewn with thin flat stones. In fact, these 

 were picked up and piled up so as to make a 

 smooth solid wall; and these walls, in many 

 places, take the place of fences. Before the 

 ground can be worked, these flat stones must 

 be picked out and carried out of the way; and 

 this material when pounded up makes the most 

 beautiful roads, providing the last finish on top 

 is made of fine gravel, which is to be found oc- 

 casionally. 



Right around the Castalia springs, in addi- 

 tion to these flat stones, we have a queer for- 

 mation that looks a good deal like a sponge. 

 It is limestone, and it is supposed that these 

 strange springs have something to do with it. 

 The spongy limestone is gathered up and ship- 

 ped off on the cars. There is also quite an 

 industry in digging out marl for the manufac- 

 ture of cement. This marl is found perhaps 

 two or three feet below the surface. The 

 spongy limestone is used by blastfurnaces in 

 refining iron, and it is also used in paper-mills 

 in some way in the manufacture of paper. You 

 may remember I passed through the town once 

 before. I 'crossed what I called a little mill- 

 pond, covered over with thick green scum. 

 Had I looked at the water right over the side 

 of the bridge, I should never have passed 

 through Castalia as I did. Between ihe frag- 

 ments of this green scum or moss is the purest 

 and most beautiful spring water to be found on 

 the face of the earth. Every pebble can be 

 seen clear to the bottom, even if that bottom be 

 thirty or forty feet deep. There is no discolor- 

 ation of the water anywhere. The stones and 

 pebbles that line the side of the pond never 

 look muddy and chalky from sediment left by 

 evaporation. Every thine is changed here at 

 Castalia. It makes one think of that first verse 

 in the last chapter of the Bible: 



And lie showed me a pure river of water of life, 

 clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of 

 God and of the Lamb. 



What at first seems to be a green scum on 

 this little pond or lake that reaches clear 

 through the town of Castalia, is, on close in- 

 spection, found to be a queer sort of vegeta- 

 tion, or broken fragments of a kind of seaweed. 

 The crystal waters of this pond emanate from 

 four immense springs. These springs unitedly 

 form what might be called a rapidly moving 

 millrace; and, in fact, mills have, in former 

 times, been carried by just the water from 

 these springs. Right on the edge of this crys- 

 tal pond is the home of >rr. Robert Barrell, and 

 toward a hundred hives stand almost on the 

 water's edge. I shall always be greatly in- 

 debted to Mr. B. and his family for the courte- 



sies extended to me. We took a boat and^ 

 pushed right through the moss, over the waters- 

 of the pond. If you look straight down over 

 the side of the boat there seems to be quite a 

 depth of water; but as you look off obliquely, 

 the refraction makes it seem as if the boat 

 stood over a deep pit. the bottom rising up all • 

 around you; but this bottom is almost every- 

 where pretty well covered with this strange 

 seaweed, or moss. As these great springs keep' 

 a temperature at almost the same point, winter 

 and summer, the vegetation seems to go on un- 

 interruptedly. Near the springs, however, the 

 plants seem to change some — probably owing 

 to the great coolness of the water. Each spring 

 is a deep pit with steep sloping sides. During 

 the lapse of ages, different things have been' 

 thrown into these springs; but in each one of 

 them one can see away down in the depths the 

 mouth, or " crater," I should call it, from which 

 the water issues. Soundings have been taken 

 by letting down weights attached to a line, as 

 deep as 70 feet, and some sav much deeper,, 

 without striking any bottom. It seems strange 

 that the water-passage should be straight down 

 in the earth to such an extent that a line can 

 be dropped this distance. The bottom is much 

 like that in Green Springs. The mosses, and 

 perhaps the influences of chemicals, have dec- 

 orated the rocks and soil with bright manv- 

 hued colors; and right around the springs the 

 moss in some places looks like beautiful silky 

 auburn hair. The scum on the top of the pond 

 is probably caused by bits of moss breaking off 

 and floating to the surface. Friend Barrel! 

 says that, in the spring, before natural pollen, 

 the bees pack large quantities of this substance 

 on their legs, like pollen, and carry it to their 

 hives for brood -rearing. Below the pond the 

 water is conducted in a swift-moving stream 

 close to the main street or corners of the town. 

 Here it flows over a pebbly bed made mostly of 

 broken limestone. If you have any fondness 

 for babbling brooks of crystal purity it will pay 

 you to go a hundred miles to visit Castalia. 

 The sight of that stream of water, right in the- 

 heart of the town, rippling over its gravelly 

 bed, seems like enchantment. One stops tO' 

 wonder how it can be possible that this water 

 can be so clear and pure and clean, with dusty 

 streets so near by. In fact, it has a look as if 

 there were something supernatural about it. 



Perhaps I should explain here, that a com- 

 pany of anglers have formed a club, and pur- 

 chased not only the springs, but the land ad- 

 joining the stream for several miles — in fact, 

 from Castalia clear to where the waters enter 

 Lake Erie. The whole stream has been beau- 

 tified and fitted up with green banks, beautifuf 

 lawns, shading-places, or bridges, for the fish to 

 dart under; and last, but not least, the waters 

 have been stocked with speckled trout from 

 awav down east. The spring water suits thenv 

 to a T. One can see them by the hundreds, 

 darting about almost with the swiftness of 

 light, moving under these shades, or bridges, as 

 spectators come near. Of course, this rich com- 

 pany monopolizes the fishing. Not a schoolboy 

 in the town of Castalia dares throw a " pin 

 hook" into the stream or into the pond. Mr. 

 Barrell says that, if lie should stand in his own 

 dooryard. and toss a line out into the water, he 

 would suffer fine and perhaps imprisonment, so- 

 strictly are the laws enforced by this club. One 

 is inclined to remonstrate at this state of affairs; 

 but this company of fishers paid the price of the- 

 land, and it is ail their oroperty. even the pond 

 right in the middle of the town, as much as 

 your farm or dooryard is your own property. 

 There are a dozen or more springs in and 

 around Castalia: and some of them are fitted 

 up in most beautiful shape by the angling com- 



