102 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



of that time I began to complain, and said I 

 shonld have to go back to the cabin in the 

 Wv.u.-:3 or else I should have trouble. One 

 morning I woke up feeling a little strange, 

 but about as well and strong as usual. 

 When I attempted to stand up on the floor, 

 however, a strange darkness and dizzy feel- 

 ing came over me. I walked a little way 

 from the bed, sank down on the floor, and 

 called for Mrs. Root, saying, "Sue! come 

 here quick. Call the children, and have the 

 doctor sent for as soon as possible. I guess 

 my lifework is about over." 



' ' No, your lifework is not over. Why do 

 you talk so? This is nothing unusual. It 

 will pass off in a few minutes. Do not be 

 worried. We will get you out all right with- 

 out any doctor." 



"But I tell you I won't get out all right. 

 You had better get a doctor here as soon as 

 possible. This is heart disease or apoplexy, 

 or something of that sort. Oh dear me! our 

 Michigan trip is all up now. I shall never 

 see the cabin in the woods again. ' ' 



But Mrs. Root strongly insisted that I was 

 borrowing trouble needlessly. She declared 

 I would be as well as ever in an hour or two, 

 and that we would make our Michigan trip 

 all right, etc. 



Oh how many times Mrs. Root's good com- 

 mon sense has quieted my nerves and. pulled 

 me up in a similar way! I found out pretty 

 soon that I was all right if I kept my head 

 bent over pretty well toward the ground; 

 but just as soon as I raised it up the dizzi- 

 ness returned. I tried a drink of hot water, 

 but when I straightened up it was just the 

 same. Then I tried a cup of strong tea. 

 That did not do a bit of good. The next 

 dose was some beef tea made of Liebig's 

 extract of beef, and at the very first spoon- 

 ful relief came. Then I drank half a cupful 

 of the beef tea, straightened up, put on my 

 clothing, and was all right. As I had never 

 had any experience of that kind, I was a 

 good deal frightened; and as soon as I could 

 I went for Dr. Kellogg's big doctor book. 

 Mrs. Root said she thought I would find it 

 described under the head of vertigo. Sure 

 enough, that hit it exactly. The book said 

 that a little nourishirg food would give im- 

 mediate relief. It also stated that three 

 out of four cases, or something like that, 

 were caused by malarial troubles. I ate a 

 pretty good square meal, and went about 

 my work as usual. I felt only some slight 

 symptoms during the day, and a little the 

 next morning, but none since. In a couple 

 of days we were otf for Michigan, and I en- 

 joyed better health for three or four weeks 

 than perhaps I ever had before; but I was 

 out of doors nearly all the time. 



Now, friends, I agree with you it is a bad 

 plan to be talking over our aches and pains, 

 and telling people about them (especially 

 when they do not wish to listen) ; and I have 

 given the above only because I think it may 

 help somebody else. I have seen people 

 drop down suddenly from heart disease, apo- 

 plexy, etc. , and I could not get it out of my 

 head that I was going the same way, where- 

 as there was nothing the matter, except a 



little indigestion, probably caused by mala- 

 ria and an empty stomach, as would be quite 

 natural in the morning. Perhaps a glass of 

 milk might have answered the same as the 

 beef tea; but my opinion is that it would 

 not. When I was so seasick on my way to 

 Bermuda I was pretty comfortable, as you 

 may remember, while lying on my back 

 with my head down low; but just as soon as 

 I attempted to rise up, or even to put a pil- 

 low under my head, the nausea returned. 

 Well, the first thing my stomach would re- 

 ceive after that terrible ordeal was a cup of 

 beef -tea, and the steward informed me that 

 it was the very best remedy with a great 

 majority of their passengers. It is not at 

 all expensive when you consider what a very 

 small quantity makes a good cup of beef 

 tea— not much more expensive, in fact, than 

 tea or coffee; and hereafter we shall keep a 

 little, just for sickness, in our household or 

 take it along when traveling. I think we 

 may say, as with lemons, it is one of God's 

 remedies. Of course, one ' can make beef 

 broth of a little meat; but it takes more 

 time, and it is often quite important that 

 the remedy be something we can get hold of 

 in an instant. 



MORE ABOUT NITRO-CULTURE. 



When this matter first came up you re- 

 member I said in Gleanings that I was 

 sure it was a humbug, or at least partly so, 

 especially so when they claimed it required 

 a different kind of bacterium for each kind 

 of clover and each kind of beans, and all 

 that; but as it was so strongly indorsed by 

 the Agricultural Department at Washington 

 I was forced to give in, at least to some ex- 

 tent. It now transpires that one of the gov- 

 ernment officials owned stock, or at least 

 his wife did, in the company that was offer- 

 ing bacteria at $2.00 per package, sufficient 

 to inoculate an acre; and instead of giving 

 the public the reports of all trials made all 

 over the United States — good, bad, and in- 

 different — this public official sent out only 

 the most favorable ones. In the circulars 

 that were sent out from the National Nitro- 

 culture Co. they had testimonials from prom- 

 inent people. Among them was Edward F. 

 Dibble, a well-known New York seed-grow- 

 er. In fact, they claimed him as being the 

 heaviest purchaser of their commodity; but 

 Mr. Dibble says, in the National Stockman 

 and Farmer, as follows: 



In each case nitro-culture has not given us or any of 

 our growers one single bean more than we would have 

 obtained if there had been no nitro-culture used; and 

 on several fields and tests where we planted seed treated 

 w^ith nitro-culture and untreated seed, the untreated 

 seed has given better results. That, in a nutshell, is the 

 history of our experience up to date, and the farmers of 

 America can take it for what it is worth, and it should 

 be worth a good deal considering the nitro-culture com- 

 pany say that we were their largest customers, and 

 therefore gave it a more comprehensive test. 



Things have certainly come to a very bad 

 pass when there is work of this kind in the 

 Department of Agriculture. The worst part 

 of it is, the official who owns up to the fact 

 as stated above is still retained in the De- 

 partment. 



