1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



739 



nose. The first great plea in its defense is, " It is 

 not hurting me." How does he linow that? Not 

 all evils manifest themselves at first, whereas we do 

 know that it lias injured others, to their death. 

 Should we not rather do that which is positively 

 g<M>d :' It has been proven thai it is detrimental to 

 our mental powers. In various colleges and schools 

 the line has been distinctly drawn, the users almost 

 invariably falling below, and the non-users stand- 

 ing above. I remember distinctly a prominent pro- 

 fessor in a theological seminary, the sun of one of 

 Genei'al Washington's aids, his memory stored with 

 anecdotes and proofs, plaiuiing to write " The Prov- 

 idence of God in the Revolution." He lived to the 

 age of eighty-seven, regretting that he had contract- 

 ed the smoking habit even by the advice of his 

 physician, and died leaving 19 i)age8 of manuscript. 

 He spent so mucli time smoking and meditating 

 (day-dreams) that he lost his will power, and the re- 

 sult was almost nothing. The smoker may think he 

 is economical; he don't spend very much. He that 

 is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. 



Then there are very few of the users of "the 

 weed " but disregard the laws of neatness. It is 

 but fair to ask whether we have the right to soil the 

 premises, or even to make filthy the street that 

 others have to use. Another consideration, can the 

 smoker accomplish as much work, including the 

 time consumed in filling and lighting his pipe, and 

 caring for it, lest it be dropped or broken ? and, 

 of course, he can not be worth as much to his em- 

 ployer, nor does its practice conduce to his success 

 in lite. Another very serious charge: it tends to 

 make a man selfish. How often do we see a smoker 

 enjoying his pipe, compelling his neighbor to breathe 

 the noxious smell he is making! Is not this selfl^h- 

 nens, which stands at the head of the list of wicked 

 characters in II. Tim. 2:2? And then, you do not 

 wish that your influence on others shall lead them 

 to spend their time, money, and mental powers for 

 that which has for its strongest argument, "It 

 doesn't do me any harm." One more question: Are 

 you willing to be one of the tools to circulate those 

 pictures of a very questionable character that are 

 hidden in so many packages of tobacco ? 



Hammonton, N. J. A. A. VanDoren. 



Humbugs and Swindles. 



PROF, humbolt's electkic- light fi-uid. 



One day last week a man was hei-c selling Prof . 

 Humbolt's "Electric Fluid." I bought $1.00 worth 

 of it, and pronounce it a fraud. The chimney was 

 smoked just the same, it took just as much coal oil, 

 and the light was no better that I could tell; and as 

 to the lamp not exploding, I have lived 38 years 

 and not had an explosion; and if I live that much 

 longer without one, I guess I shall be nearly ready 

 to die any way, so I do not want it on that account. 

 The agent came into the house, talking so glibly 

 and incessantly that one had no time to think for 

 himself. He i>ut in a small quantity of the powder, 

 dipped the wick into the coal oil, set it on lire, and 

 put it down into the lam|> full of oil. Well, it did 

 not explode, and I was convinced; and I have since 

 been told that it would not have exploded any way, 

 which I knew when I read the directions, which 

 say, "Letihe powder dissolve for 20 horns." Just 

 think of him making tliat wonderful experiment in 

 less than a minute! I think 20 hours is to give 

 the agent time to get out of the country. He also 

 told me he had sold to every lady on the road; in fact, 

 that he would give me ^.5 00 for any that ho had not 

 sold to. Now, if I could catch him I would make 

 quite a neat little sum, as he sold to only one, or, 

 rather, traded her $1.00 worth for a lunch; nor was 

 that all the misrepresentation he made, but perhaps 

 you don't care to hear any more. 



Mks. F. F. Johnson. 



Pagosa Springs, Colo , Aug. 24. 



My good friend, I am very sorry that you 

 have lost; your dollar; but as misery loves com- 

 pany, It may help you a little to know that 

 your humble servant A. I. Root was swindled 

 out of all his money, and watch besides, by just 

 such a chap as you describe, and just about 

 the same sort of stuff. I paid the dollar for a 

 little of the powder, and then paid the rest of 



my money and watch for a recipe to make it; 

 but it was almost JO years ago. Will our friends 

 please look out for him "? 



Special Notices in the Line of Gardening, etc. 



By A. I. Root. 



SEED POTATOES AS PREMIUMS FOR SUBSCRIBING. 



Although we have been making no offers of .'-eed 

 liotatoes to those who send money for Gleani.n(;s, 

 for the past few months, quite a few seem to be ex- 

 pecting them, nevertlieless. Now, friends, we have 

 a great crop of potatoes— between 2000 and 3000 

 bushels from about 8 acres of ground. That is a 

 pretty good yield for a "book farmer," is it not ? 

 Well, Providence has given us good measure, and 

 we are trying to give good measure to our patrons. 

 Last year, when potatoes had to be given away to 

 get rid of them, we gave, as you may remember, a 

 dollar's worth of potatoes for every dollar sent us 

 for Gleanings. This year, however, the prospect Is 

 at present that potatoes will not have to be given 

 away. Now, it is on object with every journal, 

 especially every good journal, to get it started in 

 new homes and new localities; therefore we offer 

 special inducements to any old subscriLer who will 

 introduce It into a new home; so I hope no one will 

 complain when we offer c.rtni inducements to those 

 who introduce Gleanings into a family where it 

 has never been taken before. Of course, you will 

 see the point. In order to do this we hereby make 

 the following offer, to be good until it is recalled: 



Every person who is already a subscriber to 

 Gleanings, and who will get it introduced into 

 some home where it is not going already, can have a 

 dollar's worth of Thoroughbred potatoes forgetting 

 it thus started, providing you ask for no other 

 premium. Of course, the dollar must come with 

 the name of the new subscriber. Potatoes are to be 

 at the list price below; and if wanted by mail you 

 must send the money for the postage with the dol- 

 lar. Of course, you can do what you choose with 

 the potatoes— keep them for your trouble, give the 

 new subscriber half of them, or fix it up any way 

 you two have a mind to. If you do not want to go 

 to the trouble and expense of hunting up a new 

 subscriber, make some relative or friend a present 

 of it. Almost any person interested in gardening 

 or growing potatoes will find Gleanings valuable, 

 even if he is not a bee-keeper. So much for new 

 names. 



* The above prices of Early Thoroughbred are for selected tu- 

 bers, mostly from the cro]) grown by T. B Terry. For seconds, 

 half above prices. Very small Thoroughbreds, say about the 

 size of marbles, will be sold at one fourth prices in the table 

 while they last. This will give everyone a chance to supply 

 himself with seed at 11 very moderate price so long as the small 

 sizes and seconds last. 



SEED POTATOES AS A PREMIUM TO THOSE WHO RE- 

 NEW OR PAY UP PAST DUES. 



Every present subscriber who renews, or everj' 

 subscriber who pays up whnt he is in arrears, can 

 have 1 lb. of the new Thoroughbred potato for every 

 dollar he sends for Gleanings, providing he sends 

 the postage if the potatoes are wanted by mail, and 

 providing- he asks for no other premium. Now, 

 friends, this is a tremendous otter. The potatoes we 

 expect to use for f?/i'.s premium otter are, first, 

 northern grown Thoroughbred potatoes. Second, 

 they were grown in the sandy soil of northern Mich- 

 igan. They are pei'fectly free from scab, and are 

 the smoothest and handsomest lot of potatoes I ever 



