1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



973 



they were not very remarkable, but Mrs. 

 Koot always has good dinners. But, what 

 an appetite I had! A good many times at 

 dinner I would say, " I do not know but I 

 have been working harder than I can stand. 

 It seems now as if I were just about used 

 up." But after the good dinner I felt verj' 

 much recuperated; and then to prevent 

 playing out before night I usually had a 

 good nap after dinner; a little one before 

 dinner, in order to rest up enough so my 

 digestive apparatus could take hold without 

 being too much fatigued; and then a nap 

 of nearly an hour after dinner to let nature 

 make repairs and get readj- for another 

 " run." Yes, this human machine of mine 

 often makes me think of a thrashing-ma- 

 chine or an automobile. After a hard job 

 the machinery should not only be well oiled 

 up, but every thing should be examined to 

 see that it is in condition to do its best 

 work. Well, these wonderful hidden forces 

 of nature attend to all this while we are 

 asleep. When the machine has entirely 

 ceased running, God does it. Praised be 

 his hoi}' name. 



Well, after that after-dinner nap I would 

 get out of bed, stretch myself, and sa}', as 

 I straightened out my limbs, " Well, I am 

 all in good running order again. My mus- 

 cles are all right, and there is not a bit of 

 pain or soreness anywhere. Bring on your 

 work." If I did not add, "May God be 

 praised for this robust health," I felt it in 

 every fiber of mj* being. A great part of 

 the potatoes were on the hillsides around 

 the cabin. With the Daisy wheelbarrow I 

 could wheel these down to the barn on low- 

 er ground cheaper than they could be haul- 

 ed in with a team; and that Daisy wheel- 

 barrow seems to be a wonderful invention 

 for developing the muscles. Wh}', dear 

 friends, it is worth all the Indian clubs and 

 dumb bells, and all the rest of the machin- 

 ery for developing the muscles, that were 

 ever invented. Instead of investing in these 

 things, just buy 3'ourself a wheelharroiv and 

 then do some useful work by wheeling 

 heavy loads everj day. Two bushels of po- 

 tatoes made a very fair load for my strength 

 and muscle. Mrs. Root keeps talking to me 

 about straightening up, and not getting 

 bent over, as so man}' old people are. Well, 

 with the Daisy wheelbarrow one can stand 

 just as erect as he chooses; and with two 

 bushels of potatoes, making a load of 120 

 lbs., I do not know of a better muscle-devel- 

 oper for arms and legs than this exercise. 

 Why, I actually felt my muscles growing 

 and enlarging day \>y day. And here 

 comes in another thing: I never enjoyed eat- 

 ing />7/z7 in my life as I did this past fall. 

 The apples were furnished by the neigh- 

 bors. In fact, they made us presents of 

 them faster than we could use them. The 

 peaches grew on our own trees, and I am 

 sure I never tasted such luscious peaches 

 before in my life — no, not even in California. 

 I suspect the bright, exhilarating air around 

 Grand Traverse Bay has something to do 

 with it. When I first purchased my fruit- 



trees I selected peaches that would ripen in 

 July and August, for I thought then we 

 should spend only the summer months up 

 there in the woods. I paid a big price for 

 mj' fruit-trees in order to get some true to 

 name, and first-class. Well, three trees that 

 were labeled Yellow Rare-ripe, and which 

 were said to ripen in August, were covered 

 with dark-green foliage, and beautiful large 

 peaches that were just getting ready to pick 

 along the last of October. Instead of being 

 yellow they are white inside. I kept watch- 

 ing them and feeling of them every day to 

 see when one was just ripe for use. Of 

 course, they were not what I bought them 

 for; but it did seem as if they were the most 

 luscious peaches, especially when I was 

 covered with perspiration in wheeling great 

 loads of potatoes, that I ever tasted in my 

 life. Some of my trees had only two or 

 three peaches on, and a few of them only 

 one. I was watching them very anxiously 

 to see when they were just at their best. 

 By and by I was forced to conclude that 

 somebody else was watching them also; for 

 when I decided they were almost ripe the 

 peach would be gone. I could not believe 

 it possible that the boys who came around 

 frequently to our place were taking the 

 peaches (the new varieties) that I was so 

 anxious to test. Permit me to say right 

 here that, after all our experience in leav- 

 ing the cabin and surroundings for many 

 months at a time, we have never missed so 

 much as a nickel's worth. Everybody in 

 that locality seems to respect the rights of 

 others. Potatoes are left in pits in the 

 fields perhaps a mile away from any house, 

 all winter long, and I never heard of any 

 being stolen. Well, one Sunday after our 

 return from Sunday-school I saw a big 

 gra}' squirrel skip out of the woods and run 

 up a peach-tree in a twinkling. He came 

 down again almost as quickly with one of 

 my big red-cheeked peaches —one that was 

 just about ready to pick. I had found the 

 thief. I put after him, yelling with all my 

 might, to make him drop my big choice 

 peach. Not he. He probably concluded 

 that, when he had a good thing in his pos- 

 session, it would be a bad plan to let it go. 

 Finally I pulled oflF vs\y fur cap and sailed 

 it at him. When it came pretty near drop- 

 ping over his head he let go of the peach, 

 and scampered off about as fast as you ever 

 saw a squirrel make speed. 



Mrs. Koot had been "making friends" 

 with the squirrels until they were getting 

 to be very sociable. One day when she 

 went to pick our first early peas the squir- 

 rels had taken them so there was hardly a 

 pea left; and one saucy fellow sat on a log 

 near when she was picking out the fevv she 

 could find, and "scolded " at a treat rate 

 because she was meddling with his peas. 

 I told her what I saw, and said we should 

 have to gather all our peaches the next day 

 or we should not have any left. Toward 

 night on that same Sunday I began to think 

 that the few remaining peaches might be 

 taken during the night, and I said I would 



