1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1607 



perform the cure at once. An application of 

 cold water is, of course, always in order. 

 No wonder the doctors were puzzled, and 

 failed to give relief when she was getting 

 poisoned more and more every day of her 

 life in admiring and handling her beautiful 

 plant. This poisonous primula is a near rel- 

 ative of what is commonly called Chinese 

 primrose. It is a little singular that it should 

 be so poisonous to some people and yet have 

 no effect on others. I have handled the plant 

 for years in the greenhouse, but I have never 

 suffered at all, although I have been repeat- 

 edly cautioned that I might get poisoned by 

 touching the blossoms and foliage. Its poi- 

 sonous properties seem to be so well recog- 

 nized that the Department of Agriculture has 

 suggested sugar of lead as an antidote. 



MENTAL MALADIES; W^ILL THEY YIELD TO 



OUTDOOR EXERCISE, PURE WATER, 



AND nature's REMEDIES? 



If Mr. A. I. Root can give us an account of the cure 

 of a case of insanity by natural means, equal to the 

 consumptive and cancer cases cited, the world may 

 feel that there is no such thing as an incurable dis- 

 ease. I firmly believe that vpith nature (God) all 

 things are possible. Jennie P. Wells. 



Roseland, N. C, Oct. 14. 



My good friend, this has often been talked 

 about, and I have known at least one suc- 

 cessful experiment A man whom I knew 

 quite well in my boyhood gradually settled 

 into a melancholy, and seemed to have, at 

 least to a considerable extent, lost his mind. 

 As I knew him when he was a boy he was 

 remarkably bright, vivacious, and cheerful, 

 and I could not understand how it was that 

 he had lost hope, given up all occupation, 

 and, with his friends, he seemed to consider 

 himself past remedy. It was during the 

 time I was greatly interested in celery cul- 

 ture, growing plants for sale, etc. He con- 

 sented to try working in the garden; and 

 with a little showing he transplanted the 

 little plants from the seed-bed into a larger 

 bed quite successfully. About this time I 

 was greatly taken up with some chickens of 

 whii-h somebody had made me a present. I 

 think they were called American Wonders. 

 Well, these chickens were also greatly inter- 

 ested in the work with the celery-plants. I 

 told the boys if they would just drive them 

 away and give them a big "shooing" so as 

 to scare them suiHciently they would stay 

 away; but that rich mellow soil, with plenty 

 of old well-rotted manure incorporated in it, 

 proved to be too strong a temptation for the 

 biddies. Again and again they came up be- 

 hind John's back; and the way they made 

 the plants and dirt fly was a caution I 

 said, "Why, John, I am sure you can re- 

 member to look up occasionally and see 

 those chickens before they get into the plant- 

 beds." He looked up at the chickens, and 

 at the wreck and ruin they had wrought in 

 his work, and said he thought he could re- 

 member to keep an eye on them. Pretty 

 soon we had the same thing over again, and 

 I began to scold. My conscience troubled 

 me somewhat, however, when I reflected 

 that I had been talking pretty severely to an 



old friend and neighbor who was physically 

 unfortunate, and perhaps unable to assume 

 even this little bit of responsibility. Please 

 excuse my dwelling at such length, friends, 

 on details that may seem unimportant. But 

 there is a valuable lesson right here. John 

 looked up at me, and, instead of feeling 

 hurt, as he had a right to, I thought I saw 

 a comical look on his face; and then he gave 

 me one of my "happy surprises" by say- 

 ing, "Mr. Root, you will have to put some 

 bells on those chickens so a fellow can have 

 some notice when they come around behind 

 his back." 



The boys and everybody present burst 

 into a loud laugh, and then I thanked God 

 for the success of my experiment. It was 

 the first time that my friend John had, per- 

 haps, so much as smiled in years, much less 

 perpetrated a joke. I once heard some- 

 where that when you can get an insane man 

 to laughing the spell is broken. Come to 

 think of it, I think I have seen, a hundi-ed 

 times since then, bad feelings dispelled by a 

 little bit of innocent pleasantry. I am glad 

 to tell you that this friend gradually recov- 

 ered from his malady, whatever it was; and 

 although he has held aloof to a considerable 

 extent from his fellow-men, yet he is a use- 

 ful member of society, and nobody would 

 ever suspect there had ever been any thing 

 wrong with his mental powers. It is not 

 only outdoor employment that we want, but 

 the patient must be busily employed in some- 

 thing that will occupy his time and atten- 

 tion, and, if possible, enlist his interest and 

 sympathy. At the great asylum for the in- 

 sane near Traverse City, Mich., every possi- 

 ble means is employed to get the inmates in- 

 terested in outdoor work. All sorts of crops 

 are grown, and even fruits and flowers and 

 ornamental plants; and I am told they are 

 meeting with much success year after year. 



PEANUTS vs. BEEFSTEAK. 



The following is from the Lowell, Mass., 



Sun : 



Prof. F. E. Jaffa, who is making bulletins for the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, has made 

 an announcement that, if found correct, should revo- 

 lutionize the peanut business and pull away down 

 the price of porterhouse steaks. This professor, who 

 hails from th University of California, not Java, says 

 that ten cents' worth of peanuts contains more than 

 twice the protein and more than six times the energy 

 stored in a porterhouse steak. This is a startling 

 announcement, and. if it were entirely true, we doubt 

 not that the average epicure would still stick to his 

 porterhouse steak. Nevertheless, it will cause an 

 increased consumption of peanuts. It would be inter- 

 esting to know whether the professor would accept a 

 diet of peanuts instead of a good juicy well-tlavored 

 steak. 



My impression is, this is an exaggeration 

 of the real truth. It may be, however, an 

 encouragement to those who are beginning 

 to adopt nuts as a diet in place of using so 

 much meat. 



OUR EXPRESS COMPANIES AND THEIR HOS- 

 TILITY TOWARD PARCELS POST, ETC. 



The American Cultivator in a recent issue 

 trenchantly expresses the situation as follows: 



