1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



833 



nickels they propose to go to work in a system- 

 atic way to cul'ivate a taste for strong drink — 

 see page 796. Now, becaus^e we value the souls 

 of our boys more than we do money, they can 

 not under>tand it. They have hit the truth 

 exactly when they say, " We might as well clo^e 

 up our business," if we are permitted to march 

 on as we expect to do. 



The following comes from the manufacturers 

 of ihe type on which Gleanings is printed. It 

 was sent out as a business circular; but it 

 makes such a tiptop liiiie sermon that I have 

 taken ihe liberty of giving it to you. It may 

 not hit us all exactly; but 1 am sure, dear 

 friend-i, it hits a good many of us more or less. 

 We do not know— in fact, we absolutely can 

 not comprehend— how much better off we are, 

 so far as the comforts of life are concerned, 

 than were the people who lived only forty or 

 fifty years ago. 



A PLEA FOR GOOD TIMES. 



"HHrd times! hiud limes! come apain no more!" 



We hII sing it, we all hope it. but do we know wlat 

 hard times are? We sing it while we eat beefsteak 

 at twei.ty cents a pound, oysiers nt Ol'ty cents a 

 dozen, and tin en kinds uf breiid at the same meal; 



we think it while we stretch our com- 



foi table l«iars on Bru^isels carpet, before a blazing 

 grate, with wtll-gripomed boys and expensively 

 clad girls around us; we shout it to our neisrhbors 

 across our stnouth lawns or through our plate-gla-s 

 windows; we groan it as «e read our morning and 

 evening papeis, our plentiful rnag.'izines, and our 

 costly libraries; we dream of it in our soft and 

 springy beds, while our cial-fed furnace keeps the 

 whole house warm; we maunder about it in our 

 ■well-equipped oflic<s, sliout it through our tele- 

 phones, ring the changt-s on it as we send telegrams 

 and take expensive summer outings. We meet in 

 our political, social, literary, and business conven- 

 tions, and ring the chanires on it wbile we are spend- 

 ing fortunes with railroad-!, hotels, restaurants, and 

 places of amusement. And yet, in these days we do 

 not know what haid times are; we think we do, but 

 we do lint. 



The writer knows of a time within his remem- 

 brance— and he is no patriarch— when, in one of the 

 richett parts of one of the most favored States in 

 the Union, the wliole town of some two thnusand 

 inbahitants possessed all together not over J300 in 

 money; all exchange was by barter; there was no 

 casb payment becau'-e there was nothing to pay 

 with. Among the best and richest families (anrl 

 there were many who thought themselves well to- 

 do) beefsteak was a once-a-week visitor; round beef 

 wasalu.vury; oysters were an unheard of dainty; 

 corn bie id was t'>e usual food, wheat the rare; . . 



. . . cold bed-rooms, scanty wo id flrrs, wonlsey 

 and calico were in the liou-^e; tj.v 8 window-panes 

 were helped out by hats, old pipers, and rairs; a 

 w< ekiy pap r was an extravagance, and served sev- 

 eral fami ies. Ten books made a good fair librars'; 

 beds weie slatted or corded; r.ig carpets weie oc- 

 casional, ingrain scarce, and BrusscH a tradition; 

 the sole vacation was a rid*- to the annual picnic in 

 the one horse shay; nobody had time, mone.v. or 

 heart for conventions or amusements. We men 

 worked from 5 a. m. to 7 p m. (tlie aristocrais short- 

 ened the time by two houisK and the women work- 

 ed at a'l hours. And yet it is doubtful whither 

 there was in ihof-e times such a iiniver'^al spirit of 

 uniest and discontent, such a concert of growling, 

 astoday. Is it fair? Aiewe.iust? Can we afford 

 to waste time in bewailing hard times, when limes 

 are easy on us and treat us far better than we de- 

 serve y 



L t us nut aside these ugly tempers of ours; look 

 toward the sun; smile at the shadow; all sunshine 

 makes the desert: it's a pretty good world of oms. 

 En.|i>.v its beauties; let us Iiorrow no trouble; shed 

 light on our neighbors; quit us like men, and times 

 will seem (as they are) good. 



keeping the flies entirely out of your kitchen this 

 summer. You rcmemlier last winter joii weie very 

 sure lilt re wouKi l>e jiokc (See i>. HO, Gleanings for 

 Feb. 1.")). Our plans in that line alwa.\s re(iuire 

 nindifjing somewhat before the summer ends, so 

 please reli us about it soon. Chas. Chapman. 



Watkius. N. Y..Oct. CT. 



Lly good friend, there were not any flies — 

 that is, of any account — in our kitchen last 

 summer nor any other summer since I can 

 remember— that is, our kitchen over home. 

 There would not have been any at all; but the 

 children and "papa" could not be broken of 

 the habit of holding the screen-door open 

 occasionally, therefore a few did get in. These 

 were trapped with sticky fly-paper, and 

 "spanked " with a folded newspaper until the 

 flies decided that tluit locality was not con- 

 ducive to health and enjoyment. Over here at 

 the factory they were a good deal worse. In 

 fact, the cook did not have a tight kitchen so 

 as to k( ep them out. as we have over at our 

 home; and, come to think of it, I believe they 

 were a little worse during the past season than 

 ever before. 



I have just been reading with great interest 

 a government hnlletin from the Department of 

 Agriculture. The subject is "Household In- 

 sects," Quite a part of the book is devoted to 

 mosquitoes and house flies; and here for the 

 first time in my life I found out where house- 

 flies are propagated, and how long it takes them 

 from the laying of the egg to maturity. Let 

 me go over it briefly. They breed in manure 

 and filthy dooryards. The number of epgs laid 

 by a single individual averages about 120; from 

 the egg to hatching, a third of a day; from 

 hatching to first molt, one day: first to second 

 molt, one day: second molt to pupation. 3 days; 

 pupation to adult, 5 davs; total life-round, ap- 

 proximately. 10 days. There is thus abundance 

 of time for the development of 12 or 13 genera- 

 tions every summer. The principal part of the 

 propagation of house-flies is from stables. We 

 may cut oflF the snpply by using air-slacked 

 lime on the manure to kill the larva3. My im- 

 pression is, however, this would li Derate the 

 ammonia so as to cause a loss in the fertilizing 

 value of the manure. Let me quote from the 

 bulletin in regard to the best method of getting 

 rid of the fly nuisance: 



A careful screening of windows and doors during 

 the summer months, with the supph menlary use 

 of sticky Hv-paper. is a metbod known to everv one, 

 and there seems to be little hope in the near future 

 of much relief by doing awav with the breeding- 

 places. A sinffle stable in which a borse is kept 

 will supply house flies for an extended neiirbboi> 

 boi'd. People living in agricultural communities 

 will probably never be rid of the ) est; but in cities, 

 with better methods of disposal of garbage, and 

 with the le.S'iening of the numbers of horses and 

 liorsp-stablcs consequent upon electric street lail- 

 waj's and bicycles. and jirobably horseless carriages, 

 the time may come, and before very long, when 

 window-screens ma.y be discrded. The prompt 

 gathering of horse manure, which mav lie treated 

 with lime, nr kept in a specially prepared pit, 

 would g-rcatly abate the liy nuisance; and city 

 ordinanci'S ci mpellinar liorse-owners lo follow some 

 such course are desirable. Absolute cleanliness, 

 even under existing circumstances, wi'I always 

 result in a diminution of the numbers of the house- 

 fly; and. as will be pointed out in other cases ia 

 this bulletin. m'>st household insects are less at- 

 tracted to the premises of what is known as the 

 o'd- fashioned housekeeper than to those of the 

 other kind. 



HOUSE FT.rKS. 

 Wife says she is sure there are more feminine 

 readers of Gi^EAMNOS tliao herself who have long 

 been anxious to learn if you were successful in 



MAPLK SUGAR WOI?MS— A MISTAKE. 



On page 787 there is a report from Mr. Her- 

 man F. Moore, to the effect that maple sugar is 

 liable to be honeycombed by worms. When I 

 first saw this I felt almost certain it was an 



