Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-05-29
What Is IT.

: What Is III
So many curious thing. about it, an,
vet you can spell it with four letters sal,
Mr.. Stanley ut breakfast.
Now for one of papa's riddes,n sal,
tie little folks. What is il?"
" Please let us guess. Do we have it fol
breakfast?
Occasionally" said Mr.. Stanley smil
ing.
Papa says occasionally in tone
that rheans Often
- But that will not help us, for we al.
ways have so many good things" said
grateful little Bertha.
1--WE are not the only ones who like it.
said Mr.. Stanley; 1T is said to be one OF
the principal articles of food with nearly
one-third of the people on tie globe. |
must give some hints. FRS, it has to be
planted every year; second, it grows from
one to six feet; once it was found in the
East Indies, now it is in nearly every land
the best places, though, are where there is
plenty of warmth and moisture. Indeed,
in China l have seen men wading through
deep water to sow the seed. 1t springs up
quickly; sometimes they transplant i ,
and at certain times let in great flood of
water to kill the weeds, then draw off the
water for Il time, and when il is nearly
ripe lei in the water again. What Bible
saying. do you suppose | thought about
when saw those Cinnamon casting seed
into the water?"
Little heads went down in thought. "If
| guess, will you give me five cents for an
Oranye?" " asked Bertha
Papa doesn't want us to guess for
money" said George, reprovingly.
But papa soon discovered that Bertha
wanted the orange for somebody she call
ed her "poor sick old woman"
:" If | wasn't trying so hard, l could
think" said Bertha. IL cannot tell the
text when some one asks me suddenly"
Don't you remember how Solomon
says, Cast thy bread upon the waters;
for thou shalt find it after many days?' Ii
didn't seem TO me that the men would get
my good from the grain they were throw
ing into the water, and yet by and by it
sprang up"
"Oh, yes, papa. as though Solomon had
said, Do good to all, even to those who
don't deserve it; by-and by you shall know
that it was not wasted any more than the
seed you seemed to cast away upon the
water.'"
That's it Bertha. You shall certainly
have two oranges for your old woman."
Have you seen it anywhere but in Chi
ma, papa? y
Yes; in India. There you may have
your choice of one hundred and twenty
kinds. If you happened to be in Egypt or
Ceylon, or on the plains of Lombar,Iy or
in some parts of Spain, or even in South
Carolina or Georgia, you would see men
and oxen, perhaps, in water. sowing the
same"
Oh, it's cotton" exclaimed Fred.
Who ever heard of cotton for break
fast? cried two or three merry voices.
But you said South Carolina"
So you thought Of cotton, little boy
No wonder! Graver persons have made
graver mistakes. Guess again.
Is mnch money made by itp asked
G orge.
About twelve millions year in India
four millions, not long ago, in Carolina"
Why, papa, it almost takes away my
breath to think of it."
If we We're to see it growing, what
would we think of itp"
- Bertha might call it barley, George
oats, and Fred, perhaps, would think it
wheat"
:. How do they prepare it for saleP"
'Clean it like other grain, and dry it
quickly. By-the-by, part of it never comes
10 the table except in the form of stiff
aprons and dresses. l heard Bridget ask
ing Harry to get package from the cor
ner store
That was starch,' said Harry.
Yes; in Great Britain they make pat
ent starch from this article. The straw
90, is used have seen whole families
making living by plating the straw into
mats and bonnels. In China I have seen
non drunk from strong wine made from
t."
~ What! out of the same we have for
" Yes; one way, you see, of turning
iod's good gifts into hurtfnl things. In
Japan they make beer out of the same"
" You have seen Il great deal about this
'ne thing, papa-tall Cinnamon wading
n water to sow it; foolish Chinamen
trunk on the wine; folks in factories max
ng it into starch; families plating the
straw for hats; II dish of it on our break
asst table almost every morning"
Chemists. who have II way of separat-
ng things into parts, you know. tell us it
$ made up Of the very best kind of sub
tances for food for hot climates. There is
% much design in it, you see, inst as in
hou,and other of Gods works"
" 1t must be something we ought to be
'ery glad to have" said little Fred
Don't you think we are stupid not to
,uessP"
" How do you know have not got ilp"
sked George. 1 am pretty sure it is
ice."
"Of course it is rice! p" exclaimed the
thers. " We will never look at the pretty
White grains again without thinking of all
hese things. IS. S. Visitor.