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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



Our Homes. 



And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, 

 very much, until he left numbering; for it was 

 without number. . . . And all countries came 

 into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that 

 the famine was so sore in all lands. — Gen. 41:49, 57. 



A few days ago a paper was sent me from Ne- 

 braska, with a marked article for me to read. 

 After reading this article my eyes wandered In- 

 to the next column where there were market re- 

 ports of the different grains. It read something 

 like this: ''Corn in yie ear, 10 cts. per bushel." 

 As I read this I concluded it must be for just a 

 bushel basketful of ears of corn; but the next 

 quotation dispelled this delusion, for it read, 

 "Shelled corn, 10 cts. per bushel." 



When we were at Lincoln, Nebraska, some of 

 the friends explained that you could buy the 

 shelled corn at about the same price as corn in 

 the ear, because the cobs are worth the cost of 

 shelling, for fuel; and they explained that, 

 where corn is quoted at so much in the ear, out 

 west, it means enough ears of corn to make a 

 bushel shelled. A whole bushel of shelled corn 

 for only 10 cents! Six pounds of one of the 

 most nutritious and sustaining foods that the 

 world ever saw, for just one cent! No wonder 

 our farming friends felt blue and discouraged. 

 And then I wondered why they did not stop 

 raising corn until the price went up a little: 

 but I went on reading the market reports, and 

 I found oats per bushel, 12 cts.; rye, per bushel 

 — I do not now remember exactly whether it 

 was 30, 35, or 40 cts., but it certainly was a ri- 

 diculously low figure. How can farmers go on 

 and prepare their ground and put in their crops 

 with old corn standing around wanting a pur- 

 chaser, at only 10 cts. a bushel? Why. it seems 

 to me they can not do it. Things are coming to 

 a standstill. Farmers can not buy books and 

 papers, nor even hives and garden seeds. They 

 can not go to the store and trade. They can 

 not even afford postage-stamps, let alone nick- 

 els, unless something is done for their relief. 



Now, please do not worry, friends, and fear 

 that A. I. Root is losing his faith in God and 

 God's plans. If I were losing faith I would not 

 be writing these Home Papers; for it was faith 

 in God and faith in my fellow-men that first 

 started me; and God will give me faith— and at 

 least a degree of wisdom, I am sure, to discuss 

 some of thesesocial problems. Something must 

 be done, and done right speedily, to take this 

 corn that 'is at present, as in the language of 

 our text, "as the sand of the sea." I do not 

 know but the friends out west have left off 

 numbering, as Joseph did, because the quantity 

 is so great, and nobody to purchase it. In the 

 latter verse of our text, please notice that "all 

 the countries came into Egypt for to buy corn, 

 because the famine was so sore." Is it a famine 

 that is needed? Well, we certainly need not 

 pray that God may send a famine, for already 

 there are millions starving, and millions that 

 will die unless this corn is carried to them. In 

 the last issue of the Chicago Advance we are 

 informed that a company has been formed, and 

 a great steamship line has volunteered to move 

 the corn from our Western States right to the 

 sufferers in India, /ree of charge. One of the 

 great problems in the matter— in fact. I might 

 say the great problem— has thus already been 

 solved— the cost of moving the corn to the suf- 

 ferers. Mav God be praised for this much. In 

 the article I have alluded to in the Advance, 

 so far as I can gather, the impression was left 

 that the farmers out west should contribute the 

 corn free of charge. They can get only 10 cts. a 

 bushel for it any way, arid they might as well 



give it away to get rid of it. That seemed to be 

 the impression left, but perhaps I am mistaken. 

 At any rale, I wish to make a little protest 

 right here against asking the average farmer 

 to give any thing. If he sells the corn at 10 

 cts. a bushel, or something like that price, he 

 has done enough. Let the rest of the world— 

 the moneyed world— pay him this small price 

 for his corn. It need not be an act of charity; 

 for if the West can not be set to work raising 

 more crops, we are going to suffer, each and all 

 of us. The manufacturers of the world, and, in 

 fact, the merchants of the world, depend, either 

 directly or indirectly, upon the farming people 

 for customers. We shall surely come to grief, 

 all of us, if we do not remember with kindly 

 feelings the people who till the soil and raise 

 the crops. I do not believe that business men, 

 as a rule, are at the present time inclined to 

 look down upon the farmer. There may be a 

 certain class of dudes and a certain line of aris- 

 tocracy who have a foolish sort of pride in 

 thinking they do not have to work down in the 

 dirt, as the farmer does. These people are not 

 worth noticing, and some of them, at least, end 

 their days in poorhouses and asylums. I have 

 seen this sort of retribution. As a rule our 

 people have respect for the tillers of the soil. 

 Our great cities are obliged to bring in boys 

 and girls from the country, to do."their work 

 with both brain and muscle. 



The farmer does not ask for charity from the 

 merchants and manufacturers. He would not 

 take it, for he has at least a wholesome degree 

 of pride; but he does ask that, from motives of 

 self-protection and common interest, he be re- 

 membered. It is certainly to our interest to 

 turn in and help him dispose of his crops. The 

 United States of America can, if it wakes up, 

 raise enough money in 24 hours to relieve our 

 farmers of their surplus grain, and set them 

 going on their ways rejoicing, and at the same 

 time feed the starving brothers and sisters 

 across the water, and set them also to rejoic- 

 ing. Just look into the matter, and read the 

 letters from the hard-working missionaries in 

 our foreign fields. And this work need not be 

 altogether "cross- bearing" either. The man 

 who contributes till he feels it, feels happier, 

 and is prospered in every way a hundred times 

 more than the miser who gets all he camand 

 keeps all he gets. 



Why, dear friends, we can not even enjoy a 

 good dinner without making some sort of sacri- 

 fice for it. My good friend and dear brother 

 the Rev. A. T. Reed, who is riding that " evan- 

 gelistic wheel," took dinner with us yesterday. 

 He had been having one of his first wheel-rides 

 for the season; and while enjoying his dinner 

 he told me that no one could believe, until he 

 had tried wheel-riding, what a keen zest and 

 enjoyment it gives one for his food. It gives 

 such an appetite that even the plainest food 

 becomes delicious. Some of you know about 

 this. Surely there is no excellence without 

 great labor; and this may apply to a dinner as 

 well as to literature and mechanical work. 

 The man of wealth can not enjoy the good 

 things of this world and life in general unless 

 both he and his capital are doing icork of some 

 kind. Why, dear friends, you all know that 

 money does not make a man happy. There 

 have been several reports of u illionaires who 

 committed suicide: and only yesterday I read 

 of a man who put an end to his life, who was 

 worth something like four millions. Had that 

 man gone west and bought corn, to be shipped 

 to the starving people in India, he would have 

 been so happy that no thought of throwing 

 away his life would have entered his head. If 

 he had learned to ride a wheel, and had then 



