378 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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A. 1. Root 



Of such is the kingdom of heaven.— Matt. 19 : 14. 



They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and 

 their spears into prnning-hooks. — Micah 4 : 3. 



It rejoices my heart to look over the farm 

 papers, not only of the United States, but of 

 the whole wide world. As a rule they are 

 pure and clean, every one of them, thank 

 God. Not a farm paper of any standing, 

 and, in fact, I do nut know now that there 

 is one of coiiy kind, defends the liquor busi- 

 ness or contains any thing that is unfit for 

 the family circle. There are so many of 

 them now among our exchanges that about 

 all I can do is to look at the pictures; and 

 when my time is not too limited I some- 

 times turn to the poultry departments, gar- 

 dening, etc. 



Of late there has been quite a fashion to 

 have some nice pictures of rural scenes on 

 the front cover of most of the farm papers. 

 There was a spell when it seemed to be all 

 the fashion to have a nice-looking country 

 girl; and once I began to think they were go- 

 ing too far in that direction — that is, mak- 

 ing too much of "handsome is" instead of 

 "handsome does." Where this farmer's 

 daughter was out feeding the chickens, with- 

 out turning to the camera, it somehow look- 

 ed a little better. Perhaps I had better be 

 a little more definite. I was afraid the de- 

 mand for good-looking girls might induce 

 our girls to get on a strife and spend too 

 much time in primping and fixing them- 

 selves up, instead of helping their mothers, 

 feeding the chickens, etc., and in this way 

 discourage some of the very best girls in the 

 whole wide world who did not happen to be 

 as attractive at first sight. Well, lately 

 there has been a new departure in regard to 

 the pictures in the farm papers; and one of 

 the very best that ever came under my eye 

 I have copied from the New Zealand Farm- 

 er for April, 1911. Turn over to page 370 

 and see if you do not agree with me. May 

 the Lord be praised for that picture. Who 

 is there among us that can resist this mute 

 appeal for help and protection, especially 

 the latter? Who is there among us who 

 will not volunteer to give the last drop of 

 blood in his veins to protect these "little 

 ones" from the damning influences of sa- 

 loons, gambling-houses, and houses of pros- 

 titution? "For of such is the kingdom of 

 heaven." 



Somebody suggests that this is a fake jiic- 

 ture — that the baby was not really sitting 

 on a squash or jmmpkin when the picture 

 was taken; but I am sure it is honest and 

 genuine, and that New Zealand can be con- 

 gratulated on having produced a wonderful 

 squash or pumpkin as well as on having 

 given the world this bright healthy baby, 

 so ready to take in every thing that this 

 teeming world has to olTer. 



1 presume that most of our readers whose 

 eyes rest on these pages are either fathers or 



mothers; and those who are not, I hope 

 may, in God's pro\idence, become fathers 

 and mothers in his own due time. 



Now, friends, what are we living for ? 

 Why did God see fit to give you and me a 

 human life to live? Was it that in due time 

 we might grow up and grow squashes that 

 will win prizes? Yes, even growing squash- 

 es is praiseworthy; but, oh dear me! what 

 are squashes compared with the resi)onsibil- 

 ity of giving life to little ones like the baby 

 in our picture? Even Jesus, our Lord and 

 Master, said, when he looked on them, "Of 

 such is the kingdom of heaven." The sa- 

 cred duty is laid on our shoulders to "be 

 fruitful, and multii)ly, and replenish the 

 earth." It is one thing, and a commenda- 

 ble one, to give the world another bright 

 healthy baby; but a far more serious and 

 sacred "responsibility is to gi\e that baby i he 

 best kind of environment. 



I have just received from the express ofhce 

 three blackberry-plants that cost me a dol- 

 lar apiece. A bee-keeper who has no inter- 

 est in the matter says these blackberries 

 will cover a trellis like a grapevine. In 

 fact, a single vine has been known to grow 

 forty feet in one seasoii, and has borne more 

 than two bushels of berries. I will tell you 

 more about it later on. You may be si;re I 

 gave those three precious plants the \ ery 

 best ground on the i)remises. I am v ater- 

 ing them just right, and am shading them 

 from the excessive heat of the sun, and I 

 not only go around night and morning, but 

 several times during the day, to see if they 

 are starting to grow. I am giving them the 

 very b,est "environment " I know how. The 

 ground is cultivated and mellowed up 

 around them almost down to their roots, for 

 I am exceedingly anxious they should do 

 something in our clay soil here in Ohio as 

 they have been doing in sandy New Jersey. 

 Now, it is a commendable thing to give a 

 new plant or a new fruit the most careful 

 and guarded environment; but, O my dear 

 sister or brother! how much more im])ortant 

 is it to give the little ones of the household 

 this same constant, kind, loving care! The 

 mothers are doing this already, and will 

 continue to do it without very much en- 

 couragement; and the fathers are tloing 

 pretty well — I think a little better than 

 they have been doing in times past. We 

 are all of us getting to be more and more 

 awakened to the importance of giving these 

 babies good pure milk, and letting tiiem 

 have i)lenty of air and sunshine; notwith- 

 standing, however, the i)ai)ers have been re- 

 porting, during the recent hot spell, too big 

 a death-rate among the liabies. Now, milk 

 for their bodies is imjjortant — very much 

 more so than making a hobby of a new 

 blackberry, liut there are things more im- 

 portant tlian the milk and ice, or even the 

 air the babies are obliged to breathe. We 

 do not know\\hether the baby in the jnc- 



