1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



01 



While the rest were busy at the sleds, Ma- 

 ry and Freddie were lookinf]^ at some oblongf 

 one-piece section boxes that friend M. had 

 ordered in some of his honey experiments ; 

 and Mary, placing one on the sled, suggest- 

 ed that it would answer for a box, so she 

 could draw her doll in it. John here inter- 

 posed, that, if the box had a bt^ttom to it, 

 the runners could be nailed directly to it, 

 and they could be made so rapidly he could 

 sell them at his '' Hotel," just before Christ- 

 mas, for five cents each. 



" Why, John," said friend M., " can't we 

 put some wheels on some of them, and have 

 wagons as well as sleds, for only live centsV" 



At this point John's father picked up one 

 of the circles (you see, the piece tliat comes 

 out of thatopeiiing in the runners just makes 

 a rocker), and broke in,— 



WAGOSS AND CUADLES FOR FIVE CENTS APIECE. 



" Why, look a-here ! Just cut these in 

 two, slice them up, and you have rockers to 

 put on the boxes, and Ave have cradles for 

 the doll, as well as sleds ; " and while they 

 were busy working out these plans, the doc- 

 tor and his boy Tom came in, having heard 

 of the success of flying bees in the green- 

 house. Tom, you must know, has a little 

 printing-press with which he prints wrap- 

 pers and labels for his father's medicines, 

 and he suggested that he could print some 

 nursery rhymes on some bronze paper, past- 

 ed on the '' vehicles," to make them sell bet- 

 ter for the holidays. The doctor got out his 

 pencil, and began writing on one of the 

 sleds. Tom also took one, and finally all the 

 older ones busied themselves in writing a 

 verse. Friend M. wrote in the bottom of 

 the cradle as follows : — 



Kock-a-by baby upon the ti-ee-top. 

 When the wind blows the craille will rock; 

 When the hough breaks the cradle will fall. 

 And down will come rock-a-by, baby, and all. 



Mr. Jones then wrote on the sled,— 



Mary had a little sled, 



To ride upon the snow; 

 And everywhere that Mary went. 



That sled was sure to go. 



John wrote on his (you will note where his 

 mind ran), — 



" It was a sled that Mary had," 



The teacher did reply; 

 " Five cents b >u?ht thf little thing, 

 And how was that for ' high'? " 



By this time the doctor had studied up— 



" What makes the sled love Mary soV " 

 They cried in accents wild; 

 But not a " feller" answered them, 

 Though every "feller" smiled. 



Of course, they had a big laugh ; but when 

 Tom came to produce his they laughed still 

 harder. Here is what he had written, and it 

 was pretty well Avritten too ; for Tom, with 

 all his faults, had much skill that way : — 



Mary had a little sled; 



I tell you, it was " boss;" 

 'T was lots of fun to see it run 



As fast as any " hoss." 



Right here their merriment was interrupt- 

 ed by Mrs. Merrybanks, who excused her- 

 self "by saying that a kettle full of maple 

 candy Avas all ready to be pulled, and '' would 

 the men folks be so kind as to come and pull 

 it? " At the same time, she gave the doctor 

 a pleasant smile, and told him he was espe- 

 cially Avanted, as doctors are ahvays expect- 

 ed to know better than anybody else hOAV 

 every thing should be done, '' ex officio.'''' 



"Can't Ave help too, '■ex officio^?'''' said 

 Mary. 



This occasioned another big laugh, to 

 think tliat Mary had unconsciously said a 

 pretty smart thing ; and even if her father 

 did chide her a little about being forward, 

 Mrs. M. took her part so pleasantly that she 

 did not feel very sorry. 



" Oh ! please, ma, can't I go over after 

 John's mother, ' ex officio ' ? " 



As permission AA^as granted, we Avill ex- 

 plain, Avhile he is gone, how maple candy is 

 made. About .5 lbs. of maple sugar is put 

 into an iron kettle, with perhaps a pint of 

 hot water. When melted, a piece of butter 

 is stirred in, about the size of a hickory-nut. 

 It is now boiled sloAvly, until done, which 

 can be ascertained by dropping a little into 

 cold Avater. When it snaps like brittle glass, 

 it is ready to pull. If not cooked enough, it 

 will be too soft to handle Avhen done ; if too 

 much it Avill be burnt. Good dry hard can- 

 dy is the golden mean betAveen these tvA^o ex- 

 tremes. To cool, it Avas poured into large 

 dripping-pans, perhaps i inch deep in each 

 pan, and the pans were then set out in the 

 snoAV. Of course, the pans were previously 

 buttered. As soon as the candy began to 

 cool it AA\as picked up from the edges, and 

 rolled over into the center, and this process 

 kept up until the Avhole could be taken up 

 like a roll of dough. It was then pulled un- 

 til white. If it got too hard to pull, it was 

 taken near the stove ; if too soft, in the air 

 before an open door. Each one of the party 

 Avas given a piece to pull, and now quite a 

 strife sprung up. to see whose Avould be Avhit- 

 est. Of course, the men expected, by their 

 superior strength ("ex otlicio," John said), 

 to be far ahead ; but to their great surprise, 

 John's meek little mother was ahead of them 

 all, and Mrs. M. next. After it was pulled 

 out into long slender threads, these were 

 snipped off Avith shears, just right to go into 

 Mary's little doll cradle ; and almost before 

 they knew it, John had a " wagon-load of 

 maple candy," labeled " ONLY 15 CTS." 



At this point Tom fairly boiled over with 

 joy. " Wliy, John, you just get up a lot of 

 these, and I Avill print some bronzed labels 

 for them, and AA'e Avill have out some posters, 

 and advertise them all over the country, and 

 the week before Christmas you Avill sell mill- 

 ions and millions of them." 



" Yes, sir, 'ee," says John, forgetting for 

 the time hoAV many ciphers there are in the 

 arithmetic in a million ; " but Avhere can Ave 

 buy the sugar?" 



"Oh! Uncle Billy lias got a big lot of it, 

 for I heard him say he Avould never sell it, if 

 he couldn't get more than 9c. per lb. for it ; 

 and next spring you and I Avill rent a sugar- 

 bush and make our OAvn sugar, and—" 



