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GLEANINGS 1^ BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



tribution to our knowledge. 1 presume the 

 bees feel safe to take up with such a hal)ita- 

 tion, because you have so many months ab- 

 solutely without rain. I suppose, that in 

 your State one might start a biu' apiary, 

 without very much of a cash outlay ; that is, 

 as fast as the swarms come off he could di^ 

 holes in the ground, and hive them, and so 

 on, until the rainy season came. With such 

 wonderful yields of honey as you occasion- 

 ally have there, doubtless an enormous in- 

 crease coidd be secured in a single season 

 by securing a strain of bees much given to 

 swarming; and who knows but that it is 

 possible to cut a trench around the under- 

 ground hives in such a way as to keep the 

 rain from them, and thus have them winter 

 over V A wooden bowl, or something of the 

 kind, l^id right above the brood-nest, would 

 {probably be all the protection needed, from 

 frosts such as you have. You know I am 

 very fond of "having things cheap, and 

 this idea promises cheapness, without any 

 mistake. 



BATH-TUBS. 



FRIEND TERRY DISCUSSES AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT. 



fRTEND ROOT:— In the best houses in the city, 

 convenient bathing arrangements are quite 

 common; in fact, they are the rule. But how is 

 it in the country, among the rural population? 

 It seems to be a general idea there, that a 

 bath-tub is a luxury beyond their means, or, per- 

 haps, they haven't thought much about it, but have 

 gone along as their parents did before them. Or, 

 possibly, they have wanted such conveniences, and 

 didn't know just how to go to work to get them. 

 Perhaps I can hel]) some such persons a little by my 

 experience, as 1 did friend Mattoon. of Atwater, O., 

 by calling attention in Gleanings to our water-cart 

 for receiving the kitchen-slops. Friend M., who 

 has one, writes, "Am very much ])leased with it. 

 It is what we have needed for a long time." 



When we were building our house, three years 

 ago, we bought at a plumber's establishment in the 

 city a copper bath-tub, 6 ft. long. They come all 

 built in a nice pine box. In the city houses, the 

 carpenter puts fancy work around this, at consider- 

 able expense. We did not care fcr this, but just set 

 the box in the room over the kitchen, putting a 

 narrow strip of wood around on top, and painting 

 that and the outside of box. Then we got a com- 

 mon pump and some '2 inch and I'i-inch lead pipe. 

 The pump was placed on a shelf on one side of the 

 tub, and connected with the kitchen cistern with the 

 ! 2-inch pipe. The lU-inch pipe was used to carry the 

 waste water from the tub down in the partition and 

 out at the rear of the house. Then a little stove was 

 put up to heat the room in cold weather. I do not 

 remember exactly, but I think the entii'e cost 

 was something less than $25.00 — possibly not 

 over $30.00, and we have just as convenient a 

 bathing arrangement as any farmer needs. Of 

 course, he can spend $200.00 in fitting up h bathing- 

 room, if he is able; but this is beyond the means of 

 the masses. We have a large reservoir on our kitch- 

 en stove, and whenever there is a fire this furnishes 

 hot water. It takes but a moment to dip out and 

 carry up a pailful, and then pump in cold water to 

 Bult the feelings. 

 After bathing you have only to pull the plug out. 



and the water takes itself away. There is so little 

 impurity in this water that we let it run off on the 

 grass. During the heat of summer, nearly every 

 member of the family uses that tub every night, 

 the hired man as well as the rest. It gives good re- 

 freshing sleep, and, of course, better health, and 

 keeps the bedding much cleaner. Working in the 

 dirt is healthful and enjoyable, if one can clean up 

 as soon as he is through, and slip on clean clothes 

 for the evening and night. But how many workers 

 in the soil do ? My idea was to have it so handy 

 that it would be almost no trouble to keep clean, 

 and then it would be likely to be done. I never 

 spent so small a sum that gave so great and contin- 

 ued satisfaction; and as copper and lead won't rust, 

 it is there for life. Yes, we used to bathe after a 

 fashion, occasionally (before we got the bath-tub) 

 in awash-tub or some smaller dish; but it was so 

 much trouble getting the water ready, and carrying 

 it out, that it didn't get done any too often, and it 

 took away much of the enjoyment. And then the 

 poor hired man I I suppose on many farms he has 

 no chance to bathe, from one week's end to an- 

 other. He is too bashful, perhaps, to ask for a tub 

 and towel to take to the barn. 



Not long since, a farmer who had gone to consider- 

 able expense to put up a windmill and tank, to fur- 

 nish water for his cattle, complained to me that his 

 cows didn't seem to like the water, for some reason. 

 Like him, I couldn't sec why, until I learned after- 

 ward that the hired man and employer's son wei'C 

 in the habit of getting a good bath in that tank, 

 nights, after the folks were in bed ! A hired man 

 who works for one of the most respectable farmei's 

 in Ohio went home in July (began work in the 

 spring), and went in bathing in a pond, and made 

 the remark, "This is the first wash I have had this 

 season!" Just think of that— going around with 

 the filth of months accumulated on his body 1 And 

 oftentimes the hired men are not the only ones who 

 are in this fix, I am sorry to say. 



Now, this is an unpleasant matter to write atout; 

 but there is a wrong here that ought to be correct- 

 ed. Of all men, farmers most need frequent baths 

 (and I take it bee-men are mostly farmers), and it 

 maj' be safely said that they get the fewest. Just 

 think: At a rough estimate there are over two mill- 

 ion pores through which comes the insensible per- 

 spiration of the body. This makes some 27 miles of 

 tubing. The matter that comes out of it is quite 

 similar to the excretions of the kidneys. Stop this 

 insensible perspiration entirely by an air-tight var- 

 nish, and the person must die. Stop it partly, with 

 a thick coat of dirt and sweat and grime, and the 

 health must suffer. First of all, shovild we fix con- 

 venient bathing arrangements on acount of the 

 health of our children arid men. I think Dr. Gunn 

 once said, that fllthiness is one great cause of 

 rlieumatism. Then it will pay in dollars and cents. 

 A clean man sleeps better, feels better, and works 

 better. I know, friend Root, that you would take 

 pleasure in ordering abaih-tub for any reader of 

 Gleanings, who needs one, and I do hope my few 

 words may cause some not only to think about the 

 matter, but to sit right down and send for one. 



Hudson, O. T. B. Terry. 



Friend T., it seems a little singular that 

 we have got just such a liath-tub for our 

 new house as you have, and that our experi- 

 ence since using it has been so very much 

 like yours. There is one point, however. 



