114 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.. 



Jan. 15 



some patent right to sell, or that I was a 

 runner for some particular firm. Here, too, 

 I found trees loaded and breaking down 

 with the most beautiful apples, dead ripe 

 and ready to market. But they were short 

 of help, and it was a question which was 

 suffering more — the rosy-cheeked apples or 

 the bees that were swarming because they 

 had no place to put their honey. Some 

 wide-awake boy or girl might have helped 

 these old people to save a lot of money. 



In the afternoon I went over to visit the 

 Indian school, about two miles from Rapid 

 City. As I had been having a buggy-i'ide of 

 about twenty miles I thought I would enjoy 

 a couple of miles on foot. When a little over 

 half way I ran across a fellow with an Olds 

 automobile that he could not make go. Aft- 

 er I had explained to him that I had run a 

 machine like the one he had, several thousand 

 miles, he let me assist him. Pretty soon we 

 had the machine going, and got up to the 

 Indian school in tine style. Now, my visit 

 happened to be the day before the school 

 opened; and the fathers and mothers from all 

 over that region round about were bringing in 

 their boys and girls to school. Oh how I did 

 enjoy looking into the faces of those rude 

 but ^ood-looking people! The boys and girls 

 wei'e, of course, dressed up in their best, and 

 it was evident that the parents of many of 

 them had scrimped to get their children in 

 decent shape for school. They came in all 

 sorts of vehicles, and they looked with won- 

 der — such a look of surprised wonder, in 

 fact, as is characteristic of the Indians. Even 

 if they ai'e savages or semi-savages, they are 

 greatly curious to know about new fangled 

 things The Indian boys and girls were ex- 

 changing greetings all around, even if they 

 did not shake hands very much, meeting their 

 old comrades after vacation. They were 

 very anxious to be carried about in the auto- 

 mobile; and as my friend •who owned it was 

 employed in the institution he loaded on as 

 many of the children as he could, and then 

 gave them an automobile ride around the 

 grounds. The sight of those Indian girls 

 with their gay-colored ribbons fiying around 

 the campus in an automobile was a sight in- 

 deed. 1 was introduced to the officers of the 

 institution as well as to the matrons who 

 look after the physical comfort of these young 

 sons and daughtei's of the forest; and I assure 

 you that these Indian schools si'attered all 

 through the far West are doing God's work. 

 I asked the superintendent whether they had 

 much trouble from intemperance among their 

 boys, for I noticed the saloons were running 

 wide open at Rapid City. He said thei'e was 

 comparatively little. Once in a while they 

 had one or two boys who made them trouble 

 iu this way. Why can't we have a law sim- 

 ilar to the Tennessee law, forbidding saloons 

 within four miles or more of an Indian school? 

 I would have it forty miles instead of four, 

 and four hundred would suit me still better. 

 After you get out in the country the homes 

 are far between. Sometimes it is two or 

 three miles from one farmhouse to any other 

 neighbor's; but Rapid City seems to be rap- 



idly building up, and that is perhaps where 

 it gets its name. 



Now, I ought to have stayed longer in the 

 Black Hills. Since coming back home I have 

 received letters of protest from towns where 

 I did not call, and I have felt sorry I did not 

 stay longer. Bvit I was not feeling very well, 

 and traveling did not seem to be very con- 

 ducive to an improvement of my special 

 malady, so I took a hurried trip back to the 

 town of Mitchell, located in the central part 

 of the State. Mitchell, too, is growing, and 

 I am specially interested there, as I have 

 owned only a little way out of the city, for 

 several years, half a square mile of land. 

 As the years go by, the farmers are learning 

 what crops are suitable for that locality. 

 They are learning, also, how to handle the 

 ground to better advantage. Mr. C. M. Peck, 

 who has been for many years connected with 

 the American Sunday-school Union, is now 

 on a farm of his own, eight miles out of the 

 city, and I think the whole family are enjoy- 

 ing farm life. They have a beautiful garden 

 containing almost every thing that giows 

 here in the East. Mrs. Peck has a great lot 

 of chickens, some turkeys, some ducks, some 

 guinea fowls, and la^t, but not least, some 

 pet lambs. These lambs she calls her "bot- 

 tle babies " for the reason they were brought 

 up on a bottle. Something happened to their 

 mothers, or they got under the weather, and 

 would have died had she not fussed with 

 them and brought them through. There is a 

 little schodlhouse near their home, and it 

 was my pleasure to attend and talk to a 

 country Sunday school. The farmers of Da- 

 kota do not have as much trouble in dispos- 

 of their crops as they did some years ago. 

 While I was there a man came, wanting some 

 sheep and lambs. Friend Peck did not par- 

 ticularly want to spare them, bit the man 

 kept raising on his l)id until Mr. Peck finally 

 said he could have them. I think the sale 

 included these same 'bottle lambs." Now, 

 I do not know much about sheep. I never 

 had the sheep fever; but I drove the buggy 

 while friend Peck and his boy drove the 

 sheep eight miles into town, and I studied 

 sheep quite a little w hile on that trip. They 

 had a shepherd dog, but he was only a puppy, 

 and had never been educated to drive sheep. 

 Now, that shepherd puppy was a revelation 

 to me. He was full of antics and mischief, 

 like any other puppy; and whea we started 

 out friend Peck said he would be a lot of 

 help if they could only make him understand 

 what was wanted. We made several miles, 

 however, before the puppy was of any use; 

 in fact, he sometimes did more harm than 

 good. He would jump over the sheep, get in 

 among them, scatter them, and sometimes 

 drive them off the wrong way. But friend 

 Peck was patient with him, and kept explain- 

 ing, etc. A man who has spent a great part 

 of his life in organizing Sunday-schools ought 

 to have patience with even a puppy. Well, 

 after we had got about half way this puppy 

 seemed to have caught on to what we were 

 trying to do. It was intensely interesting to 

 me to watch his looks and actions, and see 



