1897 



GLEANING« IN BEE CULTURE 



63 



brilliant water-cress almost its length. The 

 road takes first one side of the canyon and then 

 the other; and the grade is so gentle that a 

 wheelman would go up or down almost every 

 part of the route. The Verde (green) Valley 

 is somewhat like that of Salt River, but not as 

 level, and only a little of it is under irrigation, 

 although there is an abundance of water in the 

 Verde River at all times of the year. 



Let me explain here that I found we had a 

 subscriber at Camp Verde. Here is what he 

 answered when I wrote him; 



Dear Bro. Root:— We sliall he delighted to enter- 

 tain you as long- as you can staj with us, and may be 

 able to g-Q with you to some of the points of interest 

 to you. We had tliought of sending you a cara, but 

 supposed you would go to Flagstaff by rail, and so 

 not come near enough to us. We are Ohio folks, 

 and have lived in Medina. iC. B. Bkll. 



Camp Verde, Ariz., Dec. 24. 



What strange things do happen! After we 

 were received and made welcome at friend B.'s 

 pretty home I learned as follows: 



Years ago a very pretty girl was threatened 

 with consumption. 1 was then a patient of Dr. 

 Salisbury, and finally induced the relatives to 

 try the Salisbury treatment. Dr. S. said we 

 had waited too long, he feared, but we would 

 do our best to rescue her. P"or a time she seem- 

 ed to be recovering; but S'he caught cold, and 

 went down very suddenly, leaving two children. 

 Mr. Bell, whom I found away out here in the 

 wilderness, is the older one of these two chil- 

 dren. Oh how ii did rejoice my heart to find a 

 Christian home away out here in the desert. 



CHILD TRAINING. 



CONCLUDED F«OM LAST ISSUE. 

 By Miss Sarah Smitli. 



By way of contrast let me give you this little 

 Incident of another mother, tnid by her daugh- 

 ter after reaching womanhood. '"One day," 

 she says, •' I stood watching my mother make 

 strawberry preserves. B-side the stove stood 

 a large milkpan containing squash for pies, 

 with the milk and egg already i>dded. 'Now, 

 Bridget,' said my mother at last, in a satisfied 

 Ijone, 'it is done; take the kettle off.' This 

 was accomplished, and then, with almost in- 

 credible stupidity, the girl actually emptied 

 the strawberries into the «quash. My mother 

 turned her head just too late. She was quick 

 and impulsive, but there escaped her lips only 

 a despairing ' O Bridget!' Then as she saw the 

 girl's instantly regretful face, she uttered no 

 angry reproaches, no useless lamentations. No 

 doubt," says the daughter, "when ray tired 

 mother, who was not strong, went upstairs to 

 rest, she felt disheartened, and thought that 

 her time, labor, and material had all been 

 wasted; but probably she never did for me a 

 more valuable morning's work than when she 

 gave me that unconscious lesson in sweet self- 

 control." 



In my work as a teacher I have come to the 

 conclusion that little children learn most easily 

 when not making a conscious effort to learn. 

 The very effort to attend often takes the mind 

 from the thing to be attended, and leaves it less 

 free to grasp the new thought; hence it is that 

 the unnoticed child, supposed to be wholly en- 

 gaged with his play, is often absorbing every 

 word you utter, and making conclusions that 

 would astonish you could you look into that 

 active little brain. Do you know that nearly 

 all a child's judgments of persons and things 

 are formed before he is eight years old, and 

 formed for the most part by the conversations 

 he has heard at home and the unconscious in- 



fluence of those about him? In proof of this, 

 witness the politics of the six-year old— same 

 as his father's, of course. Yes, that daughter's 

 hasty, unwise marriage, that so sadly grieved 

 the loving father and mother, may be traced to 

 influences set in motion before she was old 

 enough to wear long dresses. The contemptu- 

 ous tone in which she so often heard the un- 

 married women spoken of; the praise she heard 

 bestowed upon the successful man, regardless 

 of the rights of the case; the choice for her of 

 accomplishments rather than culture; the 

 early-fostered ambitions for style and show, all 

 had something to do with it. You can not be- 

 gin too soon to help a child form right estimates 

 of character. I know a father who takes special 

 pains to have his ten-year-old daughter meet 

 men of real worth, and who seek^ opportunities 

 to commend in her presence the true and hon- 

 orable, especially when found in the humble 

 walks of life, or where not likely to be appreci- 

 ated, and to show contempt for the base, un- 

 worthy, and pretentious, however well supported 

 by name or position. The events of every town 

 or neighborhood furnish many opportunities to 

 speak your convictions, to utter a warning, or 

 point a danger years before the child is old 

 enough to be made uncomfortable by such 

 remarks or allusions; all of which will help in 

 forming her ideals of life and persons. 



And, again, I repeat, high ideals save. Now, 

 I suppose if I should ask for greater freedom for 

 the children in your homes you would smile, 

 thinking that far too many now do just as they 

 please. I do not mean greater liberty or license, 

 but greater freedom to grow naturally, greater 

 freedom in the exercise of their own individual 

 tastes and choices in non-essentials; freedom 

 from the ever constant consciousness of your 

 presence. I am quite sure that children are 

 often harmed and burdened by our attention, 

 begun as soon as born, when, instead of being 

 allowed to remain quietly in a darkened room 

 with only enough attention for their comfort, 

 they are dragged out to be shown to every 

 chance caller, and hugged and kissed and trot- 

 ted and tossed till no wonder nervous days and 

 sleepless nights follow. 



So much is written nowadays about what 

 parents should do for their children that I am 

 afraid some are in danger of overdoing. While 

 the very best training often consists in a judi- 

 cious letting alone, I do not mean that children 

 are to be left wholly to their own devices, to be 

 allowed to get into mischief, quarrel among 

 themselves, or run wild on the streets. While 

 you are never to drop the reins of family gov- 

 ernment, you need not hold them in such a 

 manner as to make the child constantly con- 

 scious that he is being restrained or driven. 



Nervous and fussy mothers weary and irri- 

 tate their children with their numerous cau- 

 tions. The child ought not to have the feeling 

 that he is being watched all the time. My 

 sympathies are with the boy who sent the cat 

 back into the house because, as he said, he 

 could not have her hanging around all the 

 time; it was bad enough to have God watching 

 him all the time. "The eyes of the Lord are 

 in every place, beholding the evil and the good." 

 is a grand true thought, but not just the one 

 with which to begin a child's religious instruc- 

 tion. Postpone that till you have taught him 

 that they are loving eyes. Furnish the child 

 right environment, and then— hands off! 



I remember being at one time in a home 

 where was a little child about two years old 

 who had been kept in very closely all winter. 

 When the bright spring days came she grew 

 eager to get out of doors; but no sooner was 

 this permitted than she started as fast as she 



