CPO 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C U L T U R E 



November, ]9'20 



along' tlie lelt is a spriiiklini^'-pipe 1 liavc 

 mentioned heretofore. 1 have used it only 

 once during- the present season; and as a 

 big shower came up almost immediately 

 afterward, 1 think my sprinkling did more 

 harm than good. You can get a faint 

 glimpse of the new sweet clovBr right in 

 the foreground between the potatoes be- 

 fore mentioned and a row of beets. The 

 seed was sown in the gTeenhouse about the 

 middle of April, and many of them are 

 now six feet high or more. Down at the 

 lower end of the garden you will notice 

 the sweet corn that was planted at four 

 different times. As a result we are having 

 plenty of beautiful nice corn, not only for 

 our own use, but to give away to our less 

 fortunate neighbors. 



At the lower end of the garden you get 

 a glimpse of a part of our lumber piles: 

 and at the left of these piles there is a 

 flat car from which the lumber has just 

 been removed. At the further corner, 

 right hand, is a glimpse of some evergreen 

 trees that I planted for a windbreak about 

 40 years ago. But they are getting to be 

 so large that we are planning to remove 

 them. 



Later. — Today is Oct. 7, and I will have 

 to explain that the picture of our garden 

 did not "get in" until after the notice on 

 page 581 of our October issue was printed, 

 telling about the rotten potatoes. I had 

 planned to give our subscribers some eyes 

 of this wonderful potato by mail — a po- 

 tato that gave over 1000 bushels to the 

 acre; but as they rotted when the Early 

 Ohio and the Burpee Extra Early did not 

 rot at all I gave up that project; but I 

 am glad to say that, after getting the 

 potatoes thoroly dried out, the rotting 

 ceased entirelj% and they are keeping now 

 as well as any other potato. However, I 

 shall have to conclude tliat this particular 

 potato is more disposed to rot than other 

 varieties. 



"high cost op high living. 

 On page 46 of January Gleanings I told 

 you about my big discovery of a most 

 healthful food, and also a most delicious 

 food, at a fraction of the cost of a greater 

 l)art of the food we are buying every day 

 at our groceries and othenvise. That talk 

 was about parched wheat or parched corn, 

 etc., ground in a little coffee mill or some 

 other kind of little home mill. After this 

 parched corn was ground, Mrs. Root made 

 it into a sort of mush. After a while she 

 became tired of making " so 7nuch rausb," 

 and for a change we have been buying more 

 or les^s puffed whqat. cQrn, oats, tQastgd 



cornflakes, shredded-wheat bi.scuit, etc. I 

 mention these because they have become 

 great staples apparently. Every little while 

 a sample i)ackage of the puffed wheat or 

 cornflakes is dropped on our front porch. 

 Now, these health foods — foods that are 

 ready to serve on a minute's notice — are u 

 splendid thing; in fact, I have thanked the 

 Lord, and now thank him again, that these 

 convenient foods can be purchased at every 

 corner grocery as well as in all the large 

 cities. When you are off on an automobile 

 trip and want it on a minute's notice, just 

 step into a restaurant and tell them that 

 you want cornflakes or shredded-wheat bis- 

 cuit and a bowl of milk, and you will get it 

 in a twinkling. I usually want my milk 

 hot, but that takes a little more time. Well, 

 in counting everything — milk and these 

 cereals — they constitute a comparatively 

 cheap way of living. I think I usually get 

 a pretty good lunch, even in the cities, for 

 about 15 cents — 10 for the milk and 5 for 

 two shredded-wheat biscuits. But here is 

 another side to this matter : 



On every package of wheat cereals I have 

 mentioned you will find a statement in fine 

 print telling just how many ounces you 

 get for your 15 cents. I believe a law was 

 passed requiring the manufacturers of 

 these foods to state exactly how much they 

 give for the money. I do not know whether 

 you have read this fine jirint or not; but 

 here is the point: 



The puffed wheat, puffed corn, etc., cost 

 the most of any of them ; and I am not sure 

 but it is the most delicious and most whole- 

 some; but you pay 15 cents for only 4 

 ounces, or %^ pound ; and their advertise- 

 ment declares it is just the pui-e grain and 

 nothing else, just as nature furnished it, 

 except tliat it is well cooked. 



Well, 15 cents for 4 ounces of wheat 

 would be 60 cents for a whole pound, and 

 yet every daily paper quotes wheat at 

 about 4 cents a pound. If you put your 

 wheat into a dripping pan and set it in the 

 oven until it is nicely browned, and then 

 grind it in a mill, compared with puffed 

 wheat the latter costs not only 10 times as 

 much but 15 times as much. The manufac- 

 turers of cornflakes give us 8 ounces in- 

 stead of only 4. But corn is usually only 

 a little more than half the price of wJieat; 

 but we can safely say that it costs you ten 

 times as much to buy cornflakes as it does 

 to parch your corn and grind it as I have 

 suggested. When it comes to shredded- 

 wheat biscuit we have 12 ounces instead of 

 4 or 8 ; but even then thei'e is a tremendous 

 margin between the parched wheat and the 

 shveddcd-wheat biscuit, Of course it costs 



