1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



591 



Not only is Mr. Cutting- praiseworthy for his ener- 

 gy and enthusiasm, which have accoinph'shed so 

 much, but he is remarkable for his modesty and 

 reserve. He nf ver pushes himself to the front, but 

 is always urfilng others to places of honor and re- 

 sponsibility. While he never pushes himself for 

 position, he always g-ives most efficient service 

 when called upon to act. Michigan bee-keepers 

 can never be too grateful for the valuable work 

 that he has wrought in our State. 



A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., July 23, 1890. 



In addition to the well -written sketch 

 above, of Mr. Cutting's career as a honey- 

 exhibitor, and of his services in connection 

 with bee-associations, we would add that our 

 friend was born in Hudson, Columbia Co., 

 N. Y., July 22d, 1842. He attended school 

 and worked in a printing-office till Sept. 9, 

 1.S.58, when he removed to Michigan. He 

 began working for the Michigan Southern & 

 Northern Indiana Railroad, now known as 

 the L. S. & M. 8., in the capacity of a bag- 

 gage man. In 1861 he left this position and 

 went into the army. In the spring of 18(>3 

 he commenced work at New burg, N. Y., 

 building marine and stationary engines, lie 

 was married to Miss Frances Gardner, Sept. 

 27th, ]865. lie now has a family of seven 

 children — four boys and three girls. In 

 1867 he removed to Clinton, Mich., and 

 started a machine-shop of his own, and he 

 has been engaged in building machinery 

 ever since. 



lie has been interested in bees for a good 

 many years, and commenced the business in 

 I86(i. He has not been a prolific writer, but, 

 as will be seen by Prof. Cook's sketch, he 

 has rendered valuable service to bee keep- 

 ers, particularly those of Michigan. He was 

 president of the South-eastern Bee-keepers' 

 Association, also president of the North 

 American Bee-keepers' Association for 1886, 

 and is now superintendent of the Bee and 

 Honey Department of the Detroit Exposi- 

 tion. He has acted as an expert judge of 

 bees, honey, and supplies, at many of the 

 largest exhibitions. Besides bees, Mr. Cut- 

 ting is interested in poultry and small fruits. 

 He is also a student of the microscope, and 

 finds great pleasure in all these pastimes. 

 He is strongly opposed to the use of intoxi- 

 cants and tobacco, and so far none of his 

 children use them. So much for a good 

 example. 



Friend Cutting paid us a visit a short time 

 ago, and we found that he was not only en- 

 thusiastic on bees and every thing connect- 

 ed with tlie industry, but he enjoyed in- 

 tensely talking about machines and ma- 

 chinery. He is a very fine mechanic, and 

 has a splendid knowledge of almost every 

 thing connected with his trade. 



RAMBLE NO. 26. 



IN WAYNE COUNTY. 



The R. & W. R. R. conducted us rapidly into 

 Wayne County. Tnis and several other counties 

 bordering the shores of Lake Ontario for a distance 

 of a hundred and fifty miles, are all noted for their 

 fertility, and especially foi- the fruit interests cen- 

 tered there. Large orchards of apple, pear, and 



other fruits, both large and small, are visible at all 

 stages of the journey. Peaches are also grown to a 

 certain extent. As a consequence, from so much 

 fruit culture Wayne County is one of the pioneers 

 in the evaporating industry; and taken up at first 

 on apples, the industry now extends to all kinds of 

 fruits and to many vegetables. Every village has 

 one or more large evaporators; and many small 

 ones, with a capacity of five or ten bushels per day, 

 are seen in farmyards. We learned that pepper- 

 mint i.= also raised to a great extent in this county. 

 In fact, a great share that is put upon the market is 

 produced here. 



In the pleasant village of Williamson we met Mr. 

 Ashmead, who has kept bees quite extensively, but 

 now has only a few colonies. Mr. A. fills out his 

 spare time with taxidermy, and also in the fruit- 

 business. He has spent several winters in the 

 South, especially in Florida and South Carolina, 

 and has had much experience in different localities, 

 and thinks that westtrn New York, and especially 

 Wayne County, will not give bountiful yields 

 etough to warrant any one to make a specialty of 

 bee-keeping. While the immense orchards may 

 yield much honey, the weather is usually unfavor- 

 able for bees td take full advantage of the brief 

 honey-fiow, and it is only in an exceptional year 

 that bees store any surplus from this source. 



After a brief call we sought the object of our 

 journey into Wayne County, an old-time relative, 

 and stopped over Sunday with him. We found him 

 inteiested in fruit culture, but not in bees, and 

 also found him, with the aid o£ the Free Thinker, 

 trying to prove that Lincoln was an infidel, and also 

 trying to demolish Samson. As to whether Sam- 

 son rent the lion in twain or not, seemed to the 

 Rambler a small thing to argue over. We do not 

 pretend to understand all that happened over 3000 

 years ago; but we do know, both Coristian and in- 

 fidel, that a new era dawned when the gentle Gali- 

 lean came upon earth, and gave us a religion of 

 love; and if it is a failure in any place it is not the 

 fault of the teachings, but of the one who does not 

 receive the truth. This stumbling over things we 

 can not understand, and which are of no lutal in- 

 terest to us in this era, was neatly illustrated in a 

 sermon heard by the Rambler. Said the preacher, 

 " When you eat a fish you pick out the bones and 

 lay them aside and consume the life-giving flesh. 

 So with the Bit Id. When we come to a hard bone, 

 lay it aside; ihere is untold richness for the mind 

 to feed upon without. But, my hearers, how.many 

 are devoting their energies to the gnawing of the 

 lifeless skeleton!" Our friend, though versed in 

 the false doctrines of the Free Thinker, was not so 

 well versed in the Scriptures; for while in Sunday- 

 school in the afternoon, the teacher asked him for 

 a passage of Scripture from Hebrews; and after 

 fumbling through Isaiah and the Psalms, said he in 

 the Rambler's ear, " Where in the Dickens is He- 

 brews? " My opinion was clear, that more study of 

 Scripture and less of the Free Thinker would have 

 resulted in a far difl'erent moral condition of his 

 mind. 



I found my friend putting much faith in signs 

 and other superstitions; and his theory as to the 

 cause and cure of fever and ague was peculiar. He 

 claimed it to be a spinal disease, because the chills 

 run up the backbone; and a sure cure for it is to 

 crawl downstairs head first for several days in suc- 

 cession. 



