1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



189 



ner and thief, in charge of all this valuable 

 property. Just a few weeks ago I would 

 have jumped at the chance to take every 

 thing here and go off in the night where 

 you could never tind me." 



Then he broke down and cried — cried as I 

 have never before nor since seen a strong 

 man cry, and, dear friends, I am crying 

 now, so I can hardly see the letters on the 

 typewriter, as memory brings back again 

 that scene. After he had calmed down a 

 liitle, I said: 



" Fred, you are not afraid your old temp- 

 tations will come back when you are here 

 alone in the night time, are you? " 



He replied through his tears, "No, Mr. 

 Root, no! God bless you, no. I am only 

 too glad of the chance to show you that I 

 will give my last drop of blood to protect 

 you or yours;^' and he kept his promise 

 until the day of his death. 



Just a word right here. In our State of 

 Ohio there are toward 20U0 men and boys in 

 our penitentiary, and just now the papers tell 

 us many of thtm are going insane because 

 some foolish (and, I dare say, selfish and 

 greedy) legislation has cut off prison labor. 

 How many are there among these men and 

 boys who might be won over to Christ Je- 

 sus if some man or woman who "meditates 

 both day and night" could go in loving 

 kindness and present the matter to them as 

 as I did to poor Fred? 



Yes, people were astonished and surprised 

 at the \\ay my new project (as they were 

 pleased to term it) was turning out, and, as 

 a matter of course, Satan soon began to 

 " sit up and take notice." It became noised 

 abroad that a desperate fellow just out of 

 jail had charge of my premises nights, and, 

 furthermore, it was reported thatl had said 

 in prayer-meeting I was asking the Lord to 

 help me pay my debts. I was just at this 

 time putting up the first brick structure 

 of what is now a mass of buildings on our 

 grounds. The walls were up, but the roof 

 was not yet on, and it was coming on win- 

 ter. Although I had so far paid all bills as 

 agreed, when everybody wanted their mon- 

 ey all at once, I found myself in a very un- 

 pleasant predicament. 1 well remember 

 one afternoon when I went up street and 

 down to get a little loan from all who had 

 been kind and ready before; but now all, 

 seeming with almost one consent, turned 

 against me. One good old farmer gave me 

 a temporary loan when I told him the con- 

 dition of things. Even Mrs. Root was wor- 

 ried, thinking maybe I had been too reckless. 

 Yes, I was troubled too; but I remembered 

 that part of the little hymn, " What a friend 

 we have in Jesus!" which we sang so much 

 in jail at just about that time; aiso "Take 

 it to the Lord in prayer." Our property was 

 already mortgaged to finish that new build- 

 ing, and my life was insured also for the 

 benefit of a friend who had let us have mon- 

 ey. We did "take it to the Lord in pray- 

 er," and, let me tell you, the prayer was no 

 half-hearted repetition." I told God, just 

 as Elijah did, what the trouble was, and 



what we wanted; and he not only heard but 

 answered. I wish >ou would all read the 

 whole verse from which I have taken my 

 text. And, while you are about it, read that 

 whole short chapter. Is it extravagant in 

 what it says about the man "whose leaf 

 also shall not wither" ? Listen. Before the 

 money was due that I must have, a man 

 came from Quebec, Canada, to see my in- 

 ventions for bee culture, etc., and he was 

 interested too in getting boys out of jail, and 

 setting them to work; and before I had told 

 him, or before he knew a thing about my 

 cramped finances, he sent me $500 in gold, 

 and it reached me the very day that the 

 money had to be raised. Was our good pas- 

 tor extravagant in what he said about pray- 

 ing for just what we needed to do the work 

 that lay before us? and about the man who 

 makes it the practice of his daily life to 

 meditate on God's holy law "both day and 

 night " ? does it not seem true that " what- 

 soever he doeth shall prosper " ? 



Poultry Department 



By A. I. Root 



MY " PROGRESSIVE " CHICKEN - RANCH 

 DOWN IN THE FLORIDA SUNSHINE. 



I have for some time past had visions of 

 a row of yards, small at first, but gradually 

 growing larger as the chicks grow, where 

 the lit" le chaps can be moved along, or "pro- 

 moted," as fast as they get bigger, and for 

 the first time in my life it (the daydream) 

 is pretty well realized while I write. The 

 row of yards is right along the street, and 

 the first one where the chicks are taken 

 when first out of the incubator is perhaps 

 only two or three rods square; but the ground 

 is sown with oats so as to have them just 

 coming up when the chicks are first put in. 

 We carry them to their yard in the basket 

 brooder I have described, and during warm 

 sunny weather, such as we have had almost 

 all of January, their only covering is the 

 feather dusters I have described, except a 

 light piece of cloth thrown over the basket 

 at night when I carry them to the incubator 

 cellar while very young. This feather-dust- 

 er brooder right by the street causes quite a 

 little attention and remark. For instance, 

 some ladies called one evening to look at 

 my "wonderful improvements," etc., and 

 finally one of them asked if it was true I 

 hatched eggs placed under feather dusters, 

 just bv the heat of the sun. 



"Why, the boys declar-ed it was so; they 

 said they saw the whole apparatus going 

 every day as they passed along the road." 



Come to think oi it, I am not so sure this 

 will not some time be done. All we want is 

 some sort of storage battery that will accu- 

 mulate heat during the day and give it out 

 during the night. Well, the first shelter is 

 the basket-brooder — a piece of enameled 

 cloih being provided in case rain should 

 come up, and to put o\ er them nights when 



