556 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



he calls our attention to the lilies of the 

 field, and he suggests that no money nor 

 skill of man can deck out a king so as to 

 have him rival or even equal one of these 

 humble flowers. I am, greatly interested 

 once more in my life in studying flowers, 

 and seeing them grow; but I do not grow 

 flowers for sale. In fact, I am not growing 

 any thing for sale now worth mentioning. 

 Then the question has come up, "What 

 shall I do with all these flowers that are 

 budding, blooming, and unfolding? " Well, 

 I could give away quite a good many; and 

 this spring, as the " flower committee " be- 

 longing to the Endeavor Societj^ has been a 

 little behind in furnishing a display of 

 flowers for the table in front of the pulpit 

 at our church, I have greatly enjoyed doing 

 this myself. When the roads are good, 

 with the help of the automobile I can carry 

 quiie a display of plants up to the church 

 early Sunday morning. In this work I 

 have the hearty sympathy and concurrence 

 of cur pastor. When building that little 

 greenhouse, and brightening it up with my 

 Horal treasures, a good many limes I have 

 been disappointed because people generally 

 did not seem to appreciate it. I was never 

 disappointed, however, when Bro. Hill came 

 around. His enthusiasm is fully equal to 

 mine. He takes in even the humblest little 

 plant, and, like myself, loves to pet and 

 care for it. In fact, he has quite a collec- 

 tion of his own— about as many as a minis- 

 ter and his busy wife have time to care for; 

 and when I have duplicates it is a great 

 pleasure to divide with him. 



Well, for several years past there have 

 been some very pretty beds of geraniums 

 and other flowering plants on the lawn in 

 irczt of the church. It just occurred to me 

 a f w days ago that I might (or, rather, 

 ought to) help in making the church look 

 beautiful and inviticg outside. I made 

 some inquiry as to who attended to the 

 "landscape gardening " around the church. 

 Nobody seemed to know much about it, and 

 I finally asked Bro. Hill who were the 

 members of the committee on that work. 

 With one of his peculiar smiles he simply 

 pointed his thumb toward his vest buttons, 

 giving me no other answer. I replied, 

 "Why, Bro. Hill, j'ou don't mean that you 

 have been doing all this work yourself?" 

 but he made no reply except to point his 

 thumb in the same direction, and nod his 

 head. 



"But, my dear friend, somebody has fur- 

 nished money for the bulbs and plants. 

 Who paid for all these things?" 



For the third time he answered in the 

 same way, without speaking a word. 



"And is there really no committee? Are 

 you in real truth "if ?" 



Then he answered verbally, "I suppose, 

 Bro. Root, I am really 'z/f' — at least so far. 

 I presented the matter to the church com- 

 mittee and they thought there had been so 

 many criticisms in regard to the amount of 

 money spent on repairs inside, enlarging 

 the church, etc., that they really had not 



any authority, or could not see their way 

 clear, to allow any thing at all for outside 

 decoration in the way of 'posies,' and so I 

 have been doing it all myself. I have noth- 

 ing to complain of. It has been no gieat 

 task, and you know I must have seme out- 

 door employment or recreation. This comes 

 in nicely, for, while it improves the looks of 

 things, it is my hobby, and I really enjoy 

 it." 



I think I shall have to confess he did not 

 say a// the above; but as nearly as I can 

 find out the matter is about as I have ex- 

 pressed it. Now, right here is the great 

 point of this Home paper — the kernel or 

 meat of it. Are there any plants or flowers 

 around jour church? Is there a lawn? 

 Are there nice walks, stone or gravel, when 

 it is muddy? Does your pastor love flowers? 

 Would it gladden his heart or the heart of 

 his good wife if you went to work and had 

 a "surprise party" out in the open air by 

 fixing up the premises, and bringing flow- 

 ers, not only for decoration day, but some- 

 thing that will last all summer long, and 

 be ready to stock with flowering plants 

 again the following summer, and so on? I 

 need not give you instructions. Your wives 

 and daughters (and sweethearts) will tell 

 you just what to do, and they will hunt up 

 beautiful plants. May be somebody in your 

 community will go to the nearest greenhouse 

 and get not only advice and instruction, 

 but a few plants that will not cost very 

 much. Fix up the house of God, the temple 

 of the Holy Ghost. Teach your children to 

 love, reverence, and respect it. If there are 

 some wayward boys in the Sunday-school 

 who are suffering for want of something to 

 do outdoors, get them to dig up the ground 

 for the mounds and flower-beds. Then 

 somewhere in your community you want to 

 hunt up an old barn where manure has 

 been accumulating for 3 ears, and growing 

 weeds. Get a good load of this compost, or 

 two or three loads if you can afford it. Get 

 the Sunday-school interested. The young 

 men and women will work like beavers when 

 you get them agoing. When this Home pa- 

 per reaches you it will be just the right 

 time of year to get at it. Don't say you 

 have no time for such things. A man once 

 urged as a reason for not doing any thing 

 for the church, that he was in debt. The 

 pastor replied, "My friend, do you not owe 

 at least a little something to God and hu- 

 manity?" I think this man was a church- 

 member, so he owned up at once that he was 

 in debt to God for his abundant mercies. 



"Well, then, dear brother, how happens 

 it that you pay all your others debts first, 

 and leave the debt you owe to God the last 

 of all?" 



The reply was, as nearly as T can re- 

 member, "Why, to tell the truth I do not 

 know that there is any particular reason 

 why the debt I owe to God is left to be last 

 of all, unless it is that he does not crowd 

 me as much or in just exactly the way other 

 people do." 



Now, dear friends, do you do every thing 



