1452 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 16 



I assured him the Lord would give him 



frace and strength: but he worried about it. 

 have seen him sit down and cry when con- 

 templating his old temper and his own weak- 

 ness. I told him that, in spite of all that I 

 or any of his old friends could do, sooner or 

 later he would have to meet persecution just 

 like other Christians, and that, very likely, 

 sooner or later he would be called a chicken- 

 thief. One Monday morning he came up 

 where I was at work, and with one of his pe- 

 culiar smiles said: 



"Well. Mr. Root, it has come." 



I did not understand him at the time, and 

 said: 



"Why, Fred, what has come?'- 



"Well, Mr. Root, you said that, sooner or 

 later, somebody would call me a chicken- 

 thief, and it has come to pass. I was called 

 a chicken-thief yesterday in Sunday-school." 



Then he smiled again. It was now my 

 turn to smile. Said I: 



"Well, Fred, did you knock him down?" 



"Why, Mr. Root, I could not very well, 

 because it was a woman.'' 



Then we both laughed. He explained that, 

 when he got over to the Sunday-school the day 

 before, the teachei's and pupils were all over in 

 one corner of the room discussing something. 

 He knew there was trouble by their looks. 

 He went up and stood by his table, and wait- 

 ed. Pretty soon a woman came from the 

 group, and said something as follows: 



"Mr. Cashner, it has been noised around 

 this neighborhood that the superintendent of 

 this Sunday-school is a chicken-thief. Now, 

 I come to you frankly and ask you to tell me 

 the truth about it." 



He I'eplied: 



"My tlear madam, it is tiaie I was once a 

 chicken-thief: but by God's grace I am not 

 one now." 



She went T)aek to the crowd in the corner, 

 and they discussed the matter and finally de- 

 cided he should go on with the school. Per- 

 haps I was a little to blame in the matter. I 

 had so many missl(jn schools started at that 

 time, that, as the days grew shorter, I was 

 unable to attend to them all. Fred had been 

 going with me for several Sundays as a 

 teacher; and without explaining who he was 

 orwhei'e he came from I told the school that 

 he would take my place as superintendent. 



Now, friends, the above illustrates how 

 God in his great providence permitted me to 

 take a chicken-thief from jail, and from the 

 penitentiary that stood open just before him, 

 and place him at the head of a country Sun- 

 day-school as its superintendent. When 

 Christmas time came they made their super- 

 intendent a present of the handsomest Bible 

 that could be bought anywhere in this region; 

 in fact, it was so large that it was a pretty 

 good load for any one to carry. 



Now, then, if your neighborhood is infest- 

 ed with chicken-thieves, don't you believe it 

 is somewhat your own fault? At the same 

 time that Jesus came into the world to l)ring 

 a sword, he also brought the gospel, and he 

 expected them to work together. But the 

 final hope of redemption from the sin or sins 



that afflict humanity is "the Lamb of God 

 that taketh away the sin of the world." 



GRAINS. FRUITS, AND NUTS — ESPECIALLY 

 CHESTNUTS. 



A year ago I had something to say about 

 chestnuts. I have now five nice little chest- 

 nut-trees on my place in Michigan. Two of 

 them I expect to bear nuts next year. At 

 my home place here in Medina we have a 

 Spanish chestnut-ti'ee as lai'ge as a fair-sized 

 apple-tree. It has had burrs on for the past 

 three years, but not a burr contained a nut 

 until this year, when just one burr contained 

 one great beauty of a nut; and this one nut, 

 when roasted, was just as sweet and delicious- 

 as any of the small native chestnuts, although 

 it was all of four times as large. As to why 

 this tree bore buiTS and not nu.ts for two or 

 three years, I can not answer, only that our 

 experiment stations suggested it needed fer- 

 tilizing from blossoms from other trees, and 

 there was no other chestnut-tx'ee of any kind 

 within perhaps several miles of this one. 

 We hope that, since it has begun bearing 

 genuine nuts, it will continue. 



While I write I am greatly enjoying chest- 

 nuts that we buy now at a moderate price at 

 our groceries. After my trip through the 

 West I was for some time out of soils. I 

 had no appetite, and nothing tasted natural. 

 When chestnuts were in the market, however, 

 I felt instinctively they would hit the right 

 spot, and they did. I roasted them on the 

 stove or in the oven, and at the close of each 

 meal I ate a pretty good-sized handful; and 

 these, with half a cup of milk, are to me the 

 most delicious food I ever found in this 

 whole wide earth. They should be roasted 

 just right, and put on the table hot. It is a 

 little slow work getting the shells off, it is 

 true: but this gives you an excellent oppor- 

 tunity to have each nut thoroughly masticat- 

 ed. Now, you just try some roasted chest- 

 nuts and )nilk, and see if you do not agree 

 with me that these nuts ai'e one of God's- 

 greatest and most precious gifts. Just as 

 soon as I got hold of them my appetite be- 

 gan to come back, and my strength began to 

 come up. They are exceedingly nutritious, 

 and I have always found them easy of di- 

 gestion when thoroughly chewed, and not 

 swallowed until the nuts are a smooth creamy 

 mixture. Try it, ye friends who have a poor 

 appetite and impaired digestion. 



CHESTNUTS. 



The above was dictateci for our issue for 

 Oct. 15, but did not get in. Since then I 



