1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



941 



deserted, and that, with the plantation, goes 

 to weeds, ruin, and desolation. 



We are now at Franklin, La., 100 miles 

 from New Orleans, and in a pretty thor- 

 oughly tilled country, with many nice build- 

 ings and beautiful homes. It is now 4 r.M., 

 and the rays of the declining sun across the 

 miles of sugar-cane are about as glorious as 

 the wheat-flelds of Southern Ohio, which I 

 wrote about before. May God be praised 

 for this beautiful land of ours, with its great 

 capabilities. 



The lakes, rivers, and bayous of Louisi- 

 ana are remarkaV)ly clear, clean, and mirror- 

 like. I have not yet seen a bit of scum of 

 any kind on any piece of water. It is al- 

 ways clear and sparkling in the sunlight. I 

 have now traveled over 100 miles in Louisi- 

 ana, and have not seen a hill nor even a rise 

 of ground, that I remember ; but as we near 

 New Iberia the ground begins to undulate, 

 the tields are fenced, and the houses are 

 more like ours. 



To Ruber.— A little way back, papa saw a 

 great bird hovering so near a lot of little 

 boys that he felt almost frightened ; but the 

 small boys didn't care any thing for the bird 

 at all. Pretty soon I saw some great big 

 funny kind of chickens in a dooryard, but 

 somebody scared them, and they flopped 

 their great wings and lazily flew off. Now, 

 what do you suppose they are V Why, they 

 are " turkey buzzards "' — great lazy awkward 

 birds that go around up to the houses like 

 dogs, and they come right back when you 

 scare them, like a lot of flies. I just saw a 

 little colored girl out in the lot; and as the 

 train went by she "danced a jig'' for the 

 passengers. She made me think of " Top- 

 sy." Mamma will tell you about her. The 

 sun is just going down. You know he 

 popped up out of the water. Well, he has 

 been up down here about 11 hours ; but away 

 off where you are, he doesn't stay up quite 

 10 hours. 



To my Sunday-school class. — We have just 

 passed miles of uninhabited mountainous 

 wilderness ; but now we come out on a level 

 plain. This plain, although miles across in ei- 

 ther way, is almost as clean and green as our 

 lawns at home. It is fenced, and on it are 

 thousands of sheep, besides horses and cat- 

 tle, with their keepers. Row lovely are the 

 evidences of the handwork of busy men I 1 

 love mankind. As if to crown this piece of 

 nature's beauty, on one side of the plain a 

 smooth round mountain (a little one^ curves 

 gracefully upward, and this, too, has been 

 made smooth and green by the sheep. "J'he 

 mountain stands solitary and alone ; there 

 is no other undulation on the plain. Further 

 (m there are more plains — huge pasture-lots, 

 and more solitary mountains. It seems to 

 be a feature of this strange, queer region. 

 We crossed a river, and its dry bed is paved 

 with beautiful white pebbles — no other col- 

 or. Why, it is the prettiest sidewalk, for 

 miles, that I ever saw. Even the clouds out 

 here are queer and odd ; but they are all 

 beautiful. May God be praised for his infi- 

 nite love and kindness in giving me even 

 this glimpse of it all. This is near I^valde, 

 Texas. 



To JJuber.~it is nowi7^o'clock, and|l am 



leaning out of the car window, with only my 

 thin silk traveling-cap on, enjoying the cool 

 of the evening, and hearing the crickets 

 chirp whenever the car stops. 



Morning, Nov. /.5.— Well, the crickets were 

 not all of the fun. In the night I dreamed 1 

 heard mosquitoes hum, and pretty soon 1 

 did not hear them bite, but felt it, and it 

 was not a dream either. I always thought 

 that mosquitoes didn't think mc "good to 

 eat;" but these Texas rascals evidently con- 

 sidered your pa " tiptop." The windows 

 were all down, and the curtains closed ; Itut 

 they were "thar " all the same. I grabbed 

 and slapped, but they just went on ; then I 

 pulled the sheet over my head, but there 

 was always one inside. But very soon the 

 old cars i)ulled us out of " mosquito coun- 

 try," and then I was happy. The sun rises 

 just at 7— half an hour later than at New 

 Orleans. You see. Ruber, the sun travels 

 a thousand riiles an hour; but the fastest 

 cars can't quite make it in a whole day. I 

 enjoy the race, however, even if we do " get 

 left'" so badly every day, and we make each 

 day a little longer. 



(JKNEllAL NOTES. 



This morning I found the land almost as 

 level as all day yesterday ; but now it begins 

 to get rolling." From tlie high land we can 

 see immense distances, for the air is won- 

 derfully clear. All the cattle along here 

 have long sprawling horns. 



Harwood. Texas — Turkey buzzards are 

 roosting on the trees undisturbed, even 

 though close to the track. Several times I 

 have seen them with outspread wings, ap- 

 parently nailed to old dead trees or stubs, 

 away up from the ground. If these are for 

 scarecrows they don't seem to scare very 

 well, for the birds alight right near them. 

 The variety of cactus which we call prickly 

 pear first appears here. Aftei- seeing a sin- 

 gle specimen, I looked sometime in vain for 

 more ; but after a mile or two the fields 

 were full of them on upland and lowland. 

 Row strangely, special plants commence to 

 thrive as soon as the natural climatic influ- 

 ences are right for it ! One might load up 

 tons and tons of them here. Some of them 

 are a yard or more tall, and make a beauti- 

 ful appearance. 1 am told that they use 

 them f(U' feeding stock, after scorching the 

 "prickles'" off. 



To //M?)er.— Well, papa got fooled that 

 time. The biids aren't nailed up in the 

 trees at all. A man just told me that they 

 got wet in the rain yesterday, and they have 

 spread their great wings across the dead 

 limbs to dry, just as mamma iumgs her wet 

 clothes on "the line to dry. I guess 1 had 

 better be careful how 1 " explain things."' 



(iBNERAL NOTKS. 



Acres of mesquite are seen here, which 

 bee-men say gives considerable honey ; and 

 on its limbs is a parasite, the famed "mis- 

 tletoe." The cliina-beny tree is also fre- 

 quent; and in dooryards, and the streets of 

 towns, we see the beautiful umbrella china. 

 The tops are almost round, and the foliage 

 is of a most beautiful glossy dark green. 



Aflemoon, Nor. -/.■;.— Pecan -trees full of 

 nut's are also seen along the track. As vvp 



