1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



661 



I rather think she hkes maple sugar also. I 

 wish Bro. Hutchinson had taken a view of 

 the inside of the sugar-house, for it was the 

 neatest-looking place inside I ever saw for 

 an establishment of that kind. All the tin 

 and brass work of my new apparatus was 

 shining bright. Every thing was swept up; 

 all the utensils were hung up in their proper 

 places, and it occurred to me then that a 

 woman could supervise maple-sugar making 

 better than any man. Her big stout boys 

 do so much of the hard work that she is 

 spared the heavy lifting. And, by the way, 

 there are two of about as nice Spencer girls 

 in that family as were ever found in that 

 woods or any other. One of them is named 

 Fern; and if you could see her you would 

 think the woods a very proper place for such 

 a girl, and the name a very appropriate one. 

 The big man standing up alone is the 

 driver who brought us over from Traverse 

 City. Bro. Hutchinson instructed him how 

 to "press the button" when he was taking 

 the picture of Bro. H. and myself. Ernest 

 insisted on an enlarged view of both of us. 

 I did not know it was enlarged until he had 

 it done, and I insisted that it was not worth 

 so much space. I suppose it is just about as 

 we looked when we had our many pleasant 

 talks during that beautiful spring day in 

 the woods. It just occurs to me that Bro. 



Hutchinson is sitting on the big white stone 

 where I used to pound my beef-steak when 

 Mrs. Root was gone, and I was there alone. 

 You need not be afraid to sit down to a din- 

 ner of beef -steak when you come to visit us, 

 because, if Mrs. Root is around, she will not 

 allow any of my backwoods methods of get- 

 ting dinner. 



On page 659 we give you a glimpse 

 of one of the old lumber-roads. The big 

 lumber was cut off some thirty or forty 

 years ago, and an undergrowth has sprung 

 up so thick you can hardly crawl through it 

 in many places. Right back of where I 

 stood there is a stump of a large basswood- 

 tree. I do not know when the tree was cut, 

 but you will notice there are almost a dozen 

 young basswoods, some of them nearly a 

 foot in diameter, that have sprung up 

 where the old tree was cut down; and bass- 

 woods will do that every time if you keep 

 cattle away from the young shoots. The 

 old lumber-road in the foreground was worn 

 smooth and hard years ago, and now in 

 many places it is covered with a beautiful 

 soft moss— nature's upholstering. This old 

 road makes one of the beautiful winding 

 paths through the woods where the children 

 go to day school and to Sunday-school. Mrs. 

 Root and I often remarked what a bright 

 picture it was to see the neat tidy children, 



GRAND TRAVERSE BAY AS VIEWED FROM THE LAWN IN FRONT OF A. I. ROOT'S CABIN. 



