300 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



by the grade high above the Calistoga Valley, 

 a scene worthy the artist's brush lay beneath 

 us. The level valley is broken in manv places 

 by quite sizable hills; these, covered with trees 

 and luxuriant deep-green foliage, looked like 

 so many islands rising in the midst of vineyards, 

 orchards, and homes, while the distant Coast 

 Range gave a fitting background to the lovely 

 landscape. I was also told that a view from 

 this mountain road was peculiarly pleasing and 

 novel when the fog was resting low down in 

 the valley, every thing being hidden from view 

 except the projecting hills, and the appearance 

 was that of a large lake dotted here and there 

 with islands. Oji the mountain summit we 

 found a cabin and a refreshing fountain of 

 water, where we were glad to rest our horses 

 and eat our noonday lunch. 



The geological outcroppings here were of a 

 hard and stern character. The rocks were 

 jagged and pointed, and we could imagine 

 many an ancient castle with its towers and 

 battlements frowning down upon us. Such a 

 geological upheaval would naturally presage 

 something of an unusual character; and here 

 upon the northern slope of the mountains we 

 find a profitably worked quicksilver- mine, 

 known as the Napa Consolidated Mine. Quite 

 a little town is perched here upon the rough 

 and rugged side of the mountain. There is 

 scarcely room for dwellings; but by digging 

 out niches, removing boulders, and placing 

 long stairs, the thing is accomplished. The 

 mines are owned by 300 stockholders, ail Maine 

 capitalists. The laborer earns all the way 

 from $2.00 to $3.00 per day, and quite a sprin- 

 kling of Chinamen are employed. The shafts, 

 or tunnels, are run in horizontally from the side 

 of the mountain; and little trucks, with a don- 

 key attached, run out the ore to the smelter. 

 Around the latter, where the fumes of mercury 

 rise, is the only unhealthful place to work, and 

 much of this is overcome by wearing sponges 

 over the mouth and nose. It is said that cor- 

 porations are soulless; but it seems that this 

 corporation has a soul in the direction of tem- 

 perance, and, let us presume, in other directions 

 also. The stockholders, being Maine men, 

 have brought the prohibition principles of that 

 most Eastern State, and planted them here 

 among the hills of the most western of our 

 family of States; and, though great induce- 

 ments have been oilered to allow liquors to be 

 solc^ in the only store, which is owned by the 

 company, it is not allowed, and is kept from 

 the grounds as far as possible. 



A few miles beyond the mines we found a 

 fine camp beneath the outspreading arms of 

 oak-trees. Here we quietly rested over Sun- 

 day, the 36th day of August. Bro. Wilder, 

 taking Rom. 14:5 for a text, went off in the 

 morning early with his rifle, in search of signs 

 of deer. There were some sheep around that 

 country, so the signs, supposed deer-tracks. 



were plentiful. He also found another fellow 

 with a rifle who had strangely taken the same 

 text; and when they returned in the heat of 

 the day the signs on their faces plainly echoed 

 the words of the Preacher when he said, " Van- 

 ity of vanities, all is vanity." 



We are now in Lake Co., called by the inhab- 

 itants the Switzerland of America. We had 

 previously heard of so many Switzerlands of 

 America that we suspected these people were 

 hallucinated by local pride, and we resolved to 

 have a lookout for the grand features. Our 

 first day in the county was not favorable to 

 Swiss impressions. It was hot, 108° in the 

 shade, and the roads very dusty. After a long 

 drive, wherein we could find no water for our 

 ponies or dog, we made Lower Lake— tired, 

 hungry, and dusty, and straightway camped. 



HONEY AS A DIET. 



A REPLY TO C. DAVENPORT, PAGE 317, MARCH 15. 



By Thaddeus Smith. 



I wrote the article on "Honey as a Diet," 

 printed on page 93, which, through some over- 

 sight, appeared without a name to it, and upon 

 which Mr. Davenport makes some comments 

 and criticisms. Mr. D. says he does not agree 

 with me, that a great many people do not like 

 honey or care for it as food or a relish. He 

 finds no dislike for good honey in his locality; 

 but my experience in a different part of this 

 wide country has been the reverse of his. We 

 may both be right, and the apparent contra- 

 diction m'ay be owing to the different location 

 and the different class of people we have come 

 in contact with. Mr. D. thinks that only those 

 who never saw good honey dislike it. I can 

 assure him that the good lady who gave me 

 her reasons for not using honey on her table 

 knew what good honey was, and I am confident 

 that most of the persons I have alluded to have 

 have had opportunities for seeing and tasting 

 good honey— fine white-clover honey. I have 

 known some progressive bee-keepers who care 

 but little for honey, and do not use much of it 

 in their families; and in the article referred to 

 I called upon bee-keepers, especially those at 

 the " Home of the Honey-bees," to give their 

 testimony as to the amount used in their fam- 

 ilies. If Mr. D. had read carefully he should 

 not have made the mistake of supposing that 

 the editors wrote the article. 



HOJ^EY AT HOTELS. 



In a recent trip to Florida, of six weeks, I 

 did not stay long at any one place, and conse- 

 quently was a patron of many and a variety 

 of hotels. The bill of fare at most of these 

 hotels contained a great variety of all the sub- 

 stantials and delicacies of the season, usually 

 including maple syrup and other syrups; but 1 

 found honey on the menu of only three of the 

 hotels that I stopped at. It so happened that I 



