1886 



GLEANmGS IK BEE CULTUflE. 



983 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOINC IT. 



Continued from Xnv. l'>. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Godliness with contentment is gain.— I. Tim. r>:ti. 



Most people consider winter a dreary sea- 

 son. It has been much so to me ; but I be- 

 lieve I am learning to enjoy whatever 

 weather God sees fit to send us. If we look 

 at the weather as a gift from God, there 

 should be nothing dreary about any of it ; 

 and this way of looking at the weather, and 

 all things which are entirely beyond our 

 control, is, I believe, the contentment men- 

 tioned in the text at the head of this chap- 

 ter. I have told yoit how much I love and 

 enjoy sunshine; yet during this winter I 

 have been taking real enjoyment in seeing 

 the sun go further and further toward the 

 south, until it rises only a little way up, and 

 is now almost away over in the southern 

 horizon, even at noontime. Our new green- 

 house, which I enjoyed so much a year ago, 

 is now completely shaded by the new factory 

 until almost noon ; but when the sun com- 

 mences to come back again, as it will in a 

 few days, I shall have an additional enjoy- 

 ment in seeing it illuminate the greenhouse 

 more and more each succeeding day. I have 

 enjoyed more than ever before, I think, 

 gathering our crops and getting every thing 

 snug and in good shape for winter's frosts. 

 We have secured an immense crop of cab- 

 bage. I figured up, at the time we put 

 them away for winter, that we had enough 

 to furnish the Medina people with 100 lbs. 

 every day for a year. Somewhat to my sur- 

 prise, however, we sold nearer oOO lbs. a day 

 than 100, so our large crop is going off very 

 rapidly. Just before putting them away 

 we put the price down to one cent a pound, 

 and this probably gave them quite a start. 

 We have, however, at this date (Dec. lo), 

 advanced the price to U cts. per lb., and 

 still they go off quite rapidly. We base our 

 price a good deal on the city quotations. 



HOW TO WINTER CABBAGES. 



In our locality, cabbages keep nicely in the 

 open air by standing them together with the 

 heads downward on a piece of ground where 

 water can not possibly stand, and then 

 shovel dirt on the roots until they are nearly 

 covered. It pays to have order and system, 

 even in so simple a matter as putting away 

 cabbages for winter. Ours were set in six 

 or seven large beds. Jietween these beds is 

 plenty of room to drive a team. The earth- 

 ing-up is done gradually, so as not to cause 



them to rot before cold weather sets in. 

 The location chosen should be on some soft 

 mellow ground where plenty of earth can be 

 easily shoveled from the alleys or roadways, 

 to cover the vegetables. The act of remov- 

 ing the dirt in the roadways also makes 

 water-courses. In gathering the cabbage we 

 have stout men in the fields pulling them, 

 while a stout team of horses with a stout 

 sled drive them to the place where they are 

 to be put away. On the next page, our artist 

 has given a picture of the team in the act of 

 drawing a load of cabbages. 



In the foreground is the new barn and 

 toolhouse that I told you about last month. 

 The bridge that leads from the embankment 

 on to the upper floor is not very plainly 

 shown. The tool-house has been so well de- 

 scribed before, we need not take space to go 

 over it again. 



On the opposite page is a picture of the 

 same buildings, taken from the cabbage- 

 patch. The shed and poultry-house I told 

 you about last month is now in full view. 

 The glass sash, like a small lean-to green- 

 house, is in the foreground. It answers the 

 purpose admirably. Under the sash is 

 plenty of dry earth for the fowls to wallow 

 in, and bask in the rays of the sun. Over 

 this earth I frequently give them a bed of 

 forest-leaves, with grain scattered among 

 the leaves. If you want to see fowls enjoy 

 themselves just give them such accommoda- 

 tions. Their corner of the shed was, as I 

 told you, done off with tarred building-pa- 

 per and matched ceiling, and is, most of the 

 time, too warm unless the sliding windows 

 which you see are thrown open wide. The 

 interior of the rest has been so fully describ- 

 ed heretofore, that I hardly need go over it 

 again. 



When I was a boy I used to dislike to do 

 chores more than almost any thing else. 

 Feeding cattle, pigs, and chickens, seemed 

 to me drudgery ; but with the above-arrang- 

 ed conveniences, however, it is now one of 

 the things I enjoy particularly. I like to go 

 around at night, and see how thoroughly our 

 plans for keeping out frost answer the pur- 

 pose desired. I like to bank up earth or 

 coarse manure over exposed portions, where 

 the frost seems inclined to get in. F like to 

 hear tlie pigs grunt their satisfaction with 



