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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



181 



of going down, it goes up. Then the towns- 

 people who are obliged to buy their butter 

 and milk talk about the greediness of farm- 

 ers, and of their want of conscience and 

 scruple, and that thej- would just as soon 

 '' see a body starve '' as not. Now. these 

 speeches are all uncharitable — they are all 

 wrong. They are not Christlike. They are 

 not neighborly. And, oh how far, how very 

 far, they are from the disposition shown in 

 our little text ! The Savior, who had been 

 forty days without food, and was suffering 

 from hunger, turned away from Satan and 

 his suggestion at once. " Get thee hence,'" 

 he said, a little afterward. " I am in the 

 hands of the great Father. He has provid- 

 ed thus far, and I am going to wait on him 

 now. If it is his will that I should bear 

 hunger still longer, his will, not mine, be 

 done. For this cause came I into the world, 

 to suffer and to bear the burdens of human- 

 ity, whom I love.'" 



Yesterday a friend wrote us, saying he 

 had asked us repeatedly for a price list. 

 The last time, he ordered a sample of our 

 sections, and asked again for a price list. 

 The sample of sections came promi)tly. but 

 no price list. He thought the clerks were 

 careless, and had neglected to send one. 

 Tliey did send it, however, in the same mail 

 the section went in ; but as he did not get it, 

 he got provoked and sent his order to friend 

 Falconer. I wrote back to him, saying that 

 we were very sorry to lose his order on ac- 

 count of the price list ; but inasmuch as 

 what was our loss was friend F.'s gain, I 

 did not feel so very bad about it after all ; 

 and just as it occurred to me to put it in 

 this way I felt happv about it. It is true, 

 we lost quite a number of dollars— may be 

 twenty or thirty crisp new dollar bills ; but 

 I wish to say to the friend who talked about 

 the perfume of the dollar bills, that I en- 

 joyed the " perfume '" of the thought that 

 friend Falconer had the order, even if we 

 didn't, more than that of many crisp dollar 

 bills. And this reminds me "that our boys 

 have, during the few past months (almost 

 without my knowing about it), been estab- 

 lishing friendly relations with supply-deal- 

 ers all over the land, to a greater extent 

 than has ever been done before. We have 

 not had any sleighing here, and. in fact, we 

 have had nothing but deep mud for several 

 months, and therefore no basswood has been 

 brought in. When they discovered that the 

 supply of sections was going to run short, 

 they wrote to nearly all the supply-dealers 

 in the United States. In comparing notes 

 we found that many of them were in much 

 the same situation as we are. The boys 

 suggested, therefore, that we agree on uni- 

 form prices, and not injure each other by 

 cutting them down to a price that would 

 not pay the cost of production, especially 

 while the supply was going to be limited. 

 Some rather objected to any agreement in 

 regard to prices. Sooner or later, however, 

 I believe all agreed. And now comes the 

 pleasant part to me. If somebody in York 

 State wants sections, he does not want to 

 pay freight all the way from Medina. We 

 hope to arrange with some one there to fill 

 the order ; the same way with friend Jen- 



kins, in the South, with Xysewander in 

 Iowa, and with some friend in Wisconsin. 

 How about the quality of all these makes? 

 Well, friends, we have bad samples from al- 

 most all of them. Xot only single samples, but 

 samples of thousands. And it is pleasant to 

 notice that each one seems to be doing a little 

 better than he ever did before. In fact, we at 

 the Home of the Honey-bees will be in dan- 

 ger of getting behind if we do not look out. 

 Now, we want to do good work, friends— as 

 good as anybody else does ; but I am sure I 

 tell the truth when I say that it does not 

 make me feel bad one bit to have the bee- 

 friends say they get their sui)plies from 

 some other supply-dealer. The thought to 

 me that there is now no rivalry or jealousy 

 among us is worth a thousand times more 

 than the rustle of dollar bills. Do you ask 

 if I do not believe in the old adage, that 

 competition is the life of business? Yes, I 

 do believe it. But I want to see the com- 

 petition a kind and friendly one. I want to 

 see on both sides the spirit of " in honor 

 preferring one another," instead of the old- 

 fashioned way of saying, " / make the best 

 sections in the world, and at prices lower 

 than any other live man dare mention.'" I 

 do not know whether any supply-dealer ad- 

 vertises like that nowadays or not. 1 trust 

 not. Dear friends, the world is wide enough. 

 There is plenty to do, and plenty of money 

 for us if we are faithful and honest and 

 true. Let us advertise our sections with all 

 onr might by giving every customer nice 

 work at reasonable prices, by promptness 

 and fairness in dealing. Instead of wasting 

 our money in spread-eagle advertisements, 

 such as I "have given above, get up early and 

 work late. Watch carefully, answer every 

 letter promptly. Do not overlook a single 

 request. Answer courteously and good- 

 naturedly even questions that seem to be 

 unnecessary. Above al],do?iOf be greedy. 

 If the spirit gets possession of your heart, 

 of wanting to rise above your neighbors or 

 competitors, put it away. Say, " Get thee 

 hence, Satan." Do not envy the rich. Do 

 not, I pray you, fall into the terrible fault 

 of worshiping money. It is pleasant to have 

 money in the pocket; but the pleasantest 

 use I have ever made of money was to pay 

 debts with it. I love to have some in my 

 pocket, to buy things of farmers. In fact, 

 I enjoy this so much that I am afraid I 

 sometimes pay more than I ought to. The 

 boys say that I encourage farmers in run- 

 ning after me, because I always give them 

 more than their things are worth. Well, I 

 am sure that this is a better way than not 

 paying them enough. Shall we become im- 

 poverished by so doing? Surely not— that 

 is, within the bounds of reason. No man 

 becomes poor by being fair and honest. 

 Much has been said of the value of a good 

 name ; but, dear friends. I am sure that the 

 half has never been told. The aroma, or 

 "perfume,'' or the "music "'in one's ear 

 (express it as you choose) of feeling that he 

 has won the confidence of his fellow-men, 

 and established a good name, is worth to 

 me, oh ! ever so much more than the sound 

 of the chink of gold or the rustle of paper 

 bills. A few days ago a lady who is a book 



