852 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



^OO- 



JtOMLS 



byAJ.ROOT 



I am come that they mi^ht have life, ancj that they 

 might have it more abundantly.— John 10:10. 



I presume it is generally considered that 

 my text refers to spiritual life; but if I am 

 correct; it includes also physical life; and no 

 one knows how intimately the two are con- 

 nected just now. The follower of the Lord 

 Jesus Christ thanks his Maker every day for 

 giving him a human life to live. He regards 

 it as a great and precious gift. 1 am sorry 

 to say, however — in fact, you know it with- 

 out my saying it — that there seems to be a 

 tendency of late, I fear among all classes (and 

 I might almost say all a^e.s)-to declare that 

 life is not a boon nor a gift; and there are 

 'those who go ^o far as to reject this great 

 and wondrous gift, and with rebellion . and 

 anarchy in their heart destroy the life that 

 God gave. 



Just now I am made happy a good many 

 times a day by studying the lives of seven 

 little animate bits of creation. I mean seven 

 ducklings that are not yet 48 hours old. 

 They are of the new Indian Runner variety. 

 I made friends with the mother hen (just as 

 I did down in Florida), learned her language, 

 or a part of it, while she also learned mine 

 or a part of it; and then I watched almost 

 breathlessly to see how the ducklings would 

 understand her language, and how well she 

 would understand theirs. There was a hitch 

 in their vocabulary, as you might suppose; 

 but yet they managed to understand each 

 other very well. It delighted my heart to 

 see these ducklings, when they were but lit- 

 tle more than 24 hours old, stand up on tip- 

 toe, or pretty nearly that, tlap their little 

 wings, and in their own way give thanks to 

 their Creator for having given them a life to 

 live, or at least a glimpse of it. 



Now, these little friends of mine, just new 

 from the hand of the great Father, are not 

 in the habit of saying grace before their 

 meals, but they do almost invariably give 

 thanks after they have had their rations of 

 bread and milk ("it is the same milk, friends, 

 that the "dandelion cow" is fvirnishing in 

 such great plenty). 



After I wrote about my nature studies last 

 winter with the chickens, several friends said 

 I had better choose ducks for luy next study 

 —that there was something wonderfully in- 

 teresting about the newly hatched ducklings, 

 and I have found it so. They are as playful 

 as a lot of kittens or puppies. They roll over 

 each other, tip over backward, wag their 

 bills — yes, and their tails too— in a most com- 

 ical and knowing way; and with their funny 

 little eyes glittering like beads they scan ev- 

 ery object that is new to them, tap it with 

 their bills, climb about over objects with 



their funny webbed feet, and all with a com- 

 ical grace that I have never seen in any oth- 

 er animated creature. Their very innocence 

 seems to invite a lot of vicious enemies. 

 Several have already warned me that the 

 rats or cats would get them if I didn't look out. 



While amid surroundings that are familiar, 

 with their foster-mother in sight, they are 

 happy and very much at home; but when I 

 took the whole lot in a tin pan, with a cloth 

 thrown over it to show them around the fac- 

 tory, they became frightened and almost got 

 into a panic. In one short day they had 

 learned to know?»e and to permit me to han-, 

 die them as I chose; but when it came to see- 

 ing other strange faces, they made me think 

 of a baby that looks about in vain for the 

 mother's face. 



We are told that ducks make a wonderful 

 physical growth. I think some book says 

 that, under favorable circumstances, they 

 may double in weight in just one week. 

 Well, now, the mental certainly keeps pace 

 with the physical. Even my chickens did 

 not catch on and learn as quickly as do these 

 ducklings. At first I gave them a good-sized 

 dipper to drink out of; but every last duck- 

 ling quiickly decided, it seemed, that, "if a 

 little is good, more must be better; " and aft- 

 er the first sip of delicious water they essay- 

 ed to climb into the dipper, and in they went 

 in spite of me. I finally brought a little stone 

 watering- crock for poultry, that permitted 

 them to get only their heads in; but they get 

 in it just as far as they can all the same. Of 

 course, I shall give them water to swim in, 

 in due time. 



In my last talk, when I spoke about the 

 five smooth pebbles that David selected, per- 

 haps I did not make it quite plain; but it 

 seems to me the pebbles God has indicated to 

 me are the chickens (and ducks, of course), 

 the bees and flowers, fruits, strawberries, if 

 you choose, and the delicious apples that I 

 am enjoying so much in my old age. When 

 I use the word "enjoying" I mean seeing 

 them grow and studying this wonderful thing 

 of life as well as enjoying the daily food that 

 comes with all these rural industries; and 

 just now I can not think of any other one ob- 

 ject in the wide world that might interest an 

 invalid and arouse and kindle life and enthusi- 

 asm as will a brood of ducks. I do not know 

 whether this Indian Runner strain has any 

 more vigor, life, and intelligence than other 

 ducks, but I begin to suspect it has. 



Since I have had the matter in hand, Ihave 

 been recalling the instances of invalids re- 

 stored to health by these same outdoor enjoy- 

 ments — the instances in which the terrible 

 giant has been killed or driven away by the 

 smooth harmless-looking pebbles God has in 

 his infinite kindness and mercy revealed to 

 me. In the strawberry-book you will find 

 that some of our finest and most valuable 

 varieties were originated and given to the 

 world by J. F. Little, of Granton, Ontario, 

 Canada. Physicians told him he was abso- 

 lutely gone with consumption. His children, 

 however, tried to get him interested in cre- 

 ating new varieties of strawberries If I am 



