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66 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



have no chance to practice, to get with 

 others, and get an idea of what is re- 

 quired of them? 



Mr. Pyles — I think I have gone over 

 this with the Inspector a good many 

 times, that, if I were the Inspector and 

 going to start a new man, I would 

 want, were I the new man, to stay at 

 least two days with him and get ac- 

 quainted with the work. 



You must go out and find out every 

 phase of disease — every condition he 

 must run up against— and you cannot 

 find this out in a day. There must 

 be some things he must see for him- 

 self, before he is going to learn how 

 to do it. 



It has taken a long time for Mr. 

 Kildow and me to know even what we 

 know about it; and I am sure Mr. Kil- 

 dow will know how to handle men as 

 he meets them in the country. 



These men who are appointed dep- 

 uties may know disease when they see 

 It, and they may not. 



He must be tried out — whether he is 

 going to be able to tell European foul 

 brood from American, or pickle brood 

 from starved brood, or whatever the 

 condition may be. A lot of them do 

 not know, even among Inspectors. 



Mr. Coppin — What gives you the 

 authority to be an Inspector or a dep- 

 uty? You pass an examination, don't 

 you? 



Mr. Pyles — I did. 



Mr. Coppin — Who gave you the pa- 

 pers for being a deputy? 



Mr. Pyles — I have none. 



Mr. Coppin — There must have been 

 something given you; how do you 

 know you are a deputy? 



Mr. Pyles — I do not know. That ex- 

 amination that you pass states whether 

 or not you are competent. 



Any man can pass an examination; 

 he can read everything that is neces- 

 sary to pass an examination and an- 

 swer the questions all right, but when 

 he goes out into the field he would or 

 might not know much about the ac- 

 tual work. It is possible for a person 

 to pass everything asked, on paper, but 

 it is up to him afterward, as an indi- 

 vidual, whether he is able to do the 

 practical work — whether he is going to 

 be able to approach his fellow-man and 

 get along with him. 



If he answers every question that a 

 bee-keeper fires at him, he will an- 



swer a good many in the course of a 

 week or ten days or during the sea- 

 son. They want you to advise them 

 on general politics and everything else. 

 Mr. Coppin — I do not believe he 

 would pass the examination unless he 

 were a practical bee-keeper in the first 

 place. 



President Baxter — The civil service 

 law requires certain things, and, when 

 those things are complied with, that 

 ends it; you cannot discredit him. 



M^. Pyles — A man may pass the 

 highei^t examination, and the bee In- 

 spector need not give him any work 

 if he does not want to. The question" 

 is this: He should have that liberty. 

 Suppoi^e a man passes 99, and the In- 

 spector knows he is not a fit man to 

 do the work — that he cannot tell Amer- 

 ican from European foul brood — but he 

 can explain the process on paper. 



I heard a man read a paper in the 

 State House. He told all about 

 European foul brood and its treatment; 

 and then he stated that he had never 

 seen a case in his life; and I don't be- 

 lieve he ever found a case in his life, 

 although he is one of the deputies. He 

 is one of the men that the people in 

 the Association demanded be kept 

 because he read a good article on 

 European and American foul brood. 



Dr. Baxter — I agree with Mr. Pyles. 

 A man can read the A, B, C, and other 

 text books on bee diseases; take our 

 report, and read the first few pages — 

 and he can pass an examination, and 

 he would not know what he was look- 

 ing for if he tried to find a case of 

 American or European foul brood. 



You take many physicians practicing 

 in Springfield, if they were to see a 

 case of yellow fever, they would not 

 know it. It is the same way with a 

 man who looked in a hive — he might 

 have a suspicion that it was one out 

 of four foul brood diseases. Passing 

 an examination is no sign he knows 

 anything about it. 



There are many men who have won- 

 derful book knowledge, but, when it 

 comes to practical things, they are very 

 short. I ; 



President Baxter — What are the pro- 

 visions of the civil service law? It is 

 supposed to get competent men. 



Mr. Pyles — It compels men to pass 

 a certain standard of examination; 

 then he would be permitted to serve if 



