G70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1922 



Root's catalog, and I iMired over it day and 

 night, and how I longed for some of the lovely 

 goods listed and illustrated therein. Anyho.v I 

 managed by hard work and scrimping to save up 

 something like $100, which I sent straight away 

 to America, and was delighted in due course to 

 receive invoices, etc., to say that my goods had 

 been shipped per the "Albert Russell" from New 

 York. Isn't that name indelibly engraved on my 

 memory? Soon after, however, news reached Aus- 

 tralia that the "Albert Russell" had foundered 

 three days after leaving New York. As I knew 

 nothing of shipping, etc., at the time, I had given 

 no instructions for the goods to be insured. I can 

 assure you it was a case of "Blasted Hopes." How 

 I did want those up-to-date goods — isarticularly 

 the extracting outfit — and how I did want that bit 

 of capital ? In my innocence I wrote to A. I. Root 

 asking him if there was any possibility of re- 

 covering something from the shipping companies. 

 Of course the reply was that there was no possi- 

 bility whatever of securing any compensation. Init 

 this is what A. I. Root himself did. He wrote 

 straightway and offered under the circumstances 

 to duplicate the whole order for half price. A. I. 

 Root was under no obligation whatever to do this. 

 He had probably never heard of me before, and 

 for all he knew would never hear from me again — 

 yet he did it. I must add that since then I have 

 had the pleasure of sending some tens of thousands 

 of dollars to the A. I. Root Co., and every deal 

 has been more than satisfactory, so it is quite 

 evident that there is a good deal of the old A. I. 

 Root personality still pervading the business. If 

 ever you wish to make use of this reference to 

 A. I. Root, you are quite welcome to publish it. 



H. L. Jones. 

 Goodna, Queensland, June 19, 1922. 



Now, you may be a little surprised when 

 I tell you that I have no recollection of any 

 such transaction; but when I got to the 

 point of his letter telling how hard lie had 

 worked to scrape up the money, and how it 

 was now all gone, not a trace of it left, T 

 began wondering if our institution away 

 back in the years gone by did not make some 

 kind of liberal offer to send him more goods. 

 J'ryhops 1 did it myself. But one might 

 think at first glance that standing half the 

 loss was a pretty liberal suggestion. And 

 now here is a moral in the above story, and 

 it is right along in accordance with Bible 

 teaching, "Do good and lend, hoping for 

 nothing again." Would one suppose we 

 Avould be likely to liave made money by that 

 liberal way of fixing up the catastrophe? If 

 he sent us thousands of dollars as a result 

 of that ridiculous (?) offer, the profit amply 

 made up what we lost; and then think of 

 having somebody watch for the opportunity 

 to speak a good word for us, for 30 or 40 

 years, was not that worth more than one 

 can well estimate? Is there any other book 

 or any other source in the whole wide world 

 that gives such suggestions and encourage- 

 ment as tlie Bible? 



Just one little item in closing: 

 Years ago at a teachers' meeting we Avere 

 talking about the text, "Blessed are ye 

 Avhon men shall revile you, and persecute 

 you, and shall say all manner of evil against 

 you falsely, for my sake. Eejoice and be ex- 

 ceeding glad." I suggested there is a 

 place in the Bible where it says we should 

 not only rejoice but "leap for joy" when 

 we are unjustly accused and persecuted. The 

 rest of the class there, perhaps n dozen 

 teachers, turned on me and asked mo where 



I could find any such thing in the Bible. 

 Yes, the minister, too, who was present, 

 joined in the laugh at my expense. I kept 

 insisting that I was right; and before the 

 meeting closed I turned to the passage in 

 question, finding it in the sixth chapter of 

 Luke, verse 23. After I had silenced them 

 all I still felt sore; and because they had 

 run on me as they did, I thought there ought 

 to be an unanimous apology. The preacher, 

 however, suggested by way of defense that 

 I had the "advantage." Then I asked for 

 an explanation. "In what way, my friends, 

 did I have any advantage in so stoutly in- 

 sisting that I was right?" 



Then our good pastor paid me a high com- 

 pliment by saying, "My good friends, Mr. 

 Root had the advantage of us in that he 

 has been studjdng the Scriptures, perhaps, 

 more than any of the rest of us have. And 

 he has also studied them with more enthusi- 

 asm in order to get out these wonderful 

 hidden promises and truths." 



!iiniiiiiiniiniiiiiiiii:iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiin!iiii:iiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiii!iii!iiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! 



"A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey." 

 Artichokes, Helianti and Sunflowers. 



I liave a long story to tell you; and I hope 

 it will interest you as much as it has my- 

 self, and tliat it will help in the great work 

 of making not only our land but the lands 

 of the whole wide world, lands "flowing with 

 milk and honey." One morning when I car- 

 ried a load of my nice Bliss Triumph po- 

 tatoes to market with my electric automo- 

 bile the people gathered around on the side- 

 walk. Somebody said, "Why, Mr. Eoot, 

 how does it come that ijon alone succeed 

 in growing those beautiful potatoes?" 



I replied, "My good friend, I have been 

 growing potatoes (or at least seeing them 

 grow) almost every year of my life for 

 rif/hfij years.'' 



T have told about the doctors telling my 

 mother (bless her memory!) that if she 

 wanted to see me get back to life she would 

 have to keep me out of doors as much as 

 ])ossible, and get me interested in outdoor 

 work and seeing things grow. My good 

 mother always had some early potatoes, and 

 she taught me how to grow them in the 

 rich soft dirt, and pull them out of the hill. 

 I think she got me interested in gardening 

 before T was three years old. When I was 

 five years old we left the farm and moved 

 into a little town. Just as soon as we were 

 fairly located I remember mother said she 

 must have a flower bed. By the way, did 

 you ever know of a mother Avho did not love 

 flowers? About the only available good soil 

 in that new home was a chipyard where 

 they had chopped up firewood for years 

 past. By her directions father scraped up 

 a great mound of "chip dirt." Of course he 

 raked out all of the bits of wood, sticks, etc 

 — and tliis reminds me that my good friend 

 Kli/.abeth White said that tlie very best fer- 

 tilizer for this wonderful new blueberry js 



