1094 



GLEANI.NGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



run this farm. I am going to tnrn it over to 

 you. I will be hired man and mother will 

 be hired girl, and we will try to make our- 

 selves useful while God lets us stay with 

 you " 



Then he gave us an illustration of how the 

 old father made himself uaef^d by letting go 

 of the hard work. One day the mowing- 

 machine was hauled out into the yard. The 

 father said, "Boys, is the haying all done?" 



" Yes, all done." 



" Then you will have no further use for 

 the mowing-machine this season. I will fix 

 it up so it will be ready for use next year." 



' ' The old gentleman went to work at it very 

 slowly and deliberately," continued Prof. 

 Holden, "examined all the bearings, made 

 such repairs as he could where there had 

 been wear, took off the knives, and the first 

 rainy day when we boys could turn grind- 

 stone he ground them up in beautiful shape, 

 stowed the machine where it would be out of 

 the way for the following six or eight months, 

 and finally tied a piece of red rag on it, put 

 up in a conspicuoias place, with the under- 

 standing that any machine that had the red- 

 rag signal was all in tiptop order and ready 

 for work." 



Now, friends, what do you suppose the 

 saving would be during the season if all of 

 your farm machinery was all cared for in 

 that way? How much would such an "old 

 man" be worth on a farm? That is one of 

 the things old people can do, and which they 

 ought to enjoy doing. I believe the old 

 mothers are in the habit already of making 

 themselves useful in that way. 



Dear friends, I am sorry to say — in fact, I 

 am sorry to ask you to look about you and 

 note the instances where the young people 

 and the old people have not got on well in 

 just the way that Prof. Holden has pointed 

 out. It grieves my heart whenever I hear of 

 old fathers and mothers (especially where 

 they have reared large families) who do not 

 seem to be wanted anywhere. Sometimes 

 the fault is on one side and sometimes on the 

 other. But I am forced to believe it is most- 

 ly on account of the way the parents have 

 brought their children up. "Whatsoever a 

 man .«ioweth, that shall he also reap" applies 

 not only to seed corn but to raising boys and 

 girls; and there is nothing in this world that 

 I know of that will turn the heart of the 

 fathers to the children and the heart of the 

 children to the fathers, as in our opening 

 text, like the gospel of Jesus Christ. There 

 is nothing in the world that I know of that 

 will hold the family together like that dear 

 old Bible, the blessed word of God. 



Let me say in closing that I am really enjoy- 

 ing my old age. Besides the ducks that I 

 have told you so much about I have my little 

 greenhouse, my liower-beds scattered over 

 the lawn, and a garden of foliage plants, es- 

 pecially such as will not bear the noonday 

 sun, on the north side of the house. Then I 

 have a cutting-bed out of doors where I have 

 learned to make all sorts of things grow 

 from cuttings — the cuttings placed in wet 

 sand. Several times a day I go over the 



grounds, through the factory, printing-office, 

 and look over that part of the mail that is ad- 

 dressed to myself. When I come across 

 some of the younger ones in trouble or per- 

 plexity I really enjoy helping them out. I 

 know the younger people are glad to see me. 

 A shower was coming up a few days ago 

 when they were cutting hay, and they want- 

 ed more help. I told them to send to the 

 foreman of a certain department. The team- 

 ster replied, "Mr. Root, it will not do a bit 

 of good. They will not pay any attention to 

 it whatever. They will say they have not a 

 man to spare. If you will just go over and 

 tell them what you want you will get it in a 

 minute." 



Now, friends, here is an illustration of 

 what an older man can do. It is true I might 

 have called men off from almost any job; but 

 if I did not inquire into the matter, I might 

 have stopped some work that was of ten 

 times more importance than the hay with 

 the thunderstorm coming up; but after look- 

 ing over the ground and shifting men a lit- 

 tle from one department to another I suc- 

 ceeded in getting two iands who were ex- 

 perienced farmers, and our hay crop was se- 

 cured without a bit of injury from rain, ex- 

 cept a shower of about ten minutes after the 

 last load was put on the wagon and on its 

 way to the barn. Old men have learned by 

 experience how to manage things without 

 making trouble; and an elderly man who 

 has made a success of business has usually 

 learned how to give emergency orders with- 

 out provoking ill temper or even bad feeling 

 among his men. 



I read a few days ago that the explorers 

 in some of the northern regions came across 

 some Esquimaux who got rid of their old 

 people (their fathers and mothers), when 

 they had ceased to be useful. The way they 

 managed it was to build a little hut of blocks 

 of ice, put the old people in them, then throw 

 water all over the cracks until every crevice 

 was frozen up and sealed, and the old peo- 

 ple were left to smother. You see they would 

 be out of sight so the children could not 

 witness their sufferings, and then they would 

 be already btiried in ice. Of course, the gos- 

 pel had never been preached in those regions. 

 You ai'e well aware that, away down in the 

 tropics, before Christianity had gained a foot- 

 hold the old people were thrown over preci- 

 pices when they were no longer of use. May 

 God be praised that such things are known 

 now in only a very few spots in the remote 

 corners of the earth. In our own United 

 States, as a rule our old fathers and moth- 

 ers are revei'enced, respected, and cared for. 

 There are some exceptions, of course. There 

 are times when either the young people are 

 unfeeling and unfilial, or else the old people 

 are crabbed and cross, so that no one could 

 get along with them. Sometimes they are 

 sent to the infirmary, even when the young 

 people are well-to-do; but the commi;nity 

 generally makes a fuss about it, and may 

 God be praised that this thing is not very 

 common. 



Let me now say to the dear brothers and 



