718 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



boil to see it. And tliis matter of letting boys 

 who ai-e too small or too young, worry a team 

 until it is tired out: and I liave seen hoi'ses 

 thus worried and fatigued, when, if let alone, 

 they would have shown much more intelligence 

 than their driver. 



If I was disgusted with mankind during these 

 days of exjx'riencc. I was at the same time 

 taught to reverence and I'espect the intelligence 

 of these dun)b fi'iends of ours. When the cut 

 became quite deep, steep passageways were 

 made throngh the bank, to enable the horses to 

 get up with their load. As the pile of dirt be- 

 came liigher. these steep roadways became 

 steejjer and steei)er. The liorses that had had 

 no drill on the work could not go up and down 

 them. Eut tliese faithful friends soon learned 

 to plant their feet where the road was so steep 

 that they literally slid down, as boys slide down 

 the cellar-door. They soon leai-ned. too. to do 

 their work' carefully and easily if they weiv not 

 annoyed, yanked, jerked, and pounded by a 

 blasphemous driver. Did you ever watch a 

 horse when its driver was swearing at him? 

 See how his naturally bright eyes s(>ttle down 

 into a kind of dull. ho|ieless desi)on(l<'ncy. His 

 ears, that aic usually e\'er in motion to catch 

 the least word from his master, dro]) back sul- 

 lenly as if he had decided that it is of no use to 

 try any more; that the only thing was to plod 

 along as best he could— "bear the toil, endure 

 the ])ain." Dear tViends, do you ask why I stop 

 ill (|U()ting these closing lines of my favorite 

 hymn? I stopjjed tiecause the ])oor horse, so far 

 as we know, has no such support as we have. 

 The Grod who made him has never given him. 

 so far as we know, a jiromise of some \\ onderfnl 

 reward in the unknown future, if he is |)atieiit 

 and faitiiful and kind. If this is ti'ue. oh how 

 much more iloes it behoove us to treat iiim as 

 one of (Jod's creatures, and, out of respect for 

 the great Fathei- above, if nothing more, treat 

 him kindly and lovingly: to I'ecognize him as 

 a great and pi-eciousgift from the loving Father 

 above I 



Of course, our big Clydesdale team was work- 

 ing near them, moving the rich soil fnmi the 

 surface of the gi-ouiid. Most of the railroad 

 men stop|)ed. sooni'r or later, to admire and 

 point out the contrast between such a team and 

 the rest on the job. Our team did their work 

 easily and well. They filled the largest scrapers 

 on the ground, without sweat or fatigue. Some- 

 liody stai'ted a repoit — I do not know how— that 

 there was not a man on the grounds w ho could 

 stall them by setting the scraper down into the 

 hard ground. These horses have seldom if ever 

 been tried to their utmost. They hardly know 

 what it is to undertake to move something and 

 fail. The boss came along one day, and jesting- 

 ly asked the driver if it were true that nobody 

 could hold them with a sci'aper. Several were 

 standing aiound, while the driver tpiietly re- 

 mai'ked that he did not remember that anybody 

 had ever yet stalled them. Now. there was a 

 hard -wood stake a little ah(>ad that needed 

 grubbing up, but nobody had yet got around to 

 it. It was pretty well covered with dirt-. The 

 driver knew where it was. As the boss took 

 hold of the scraper and loaded it up, the driver 

 turiKHl the team in the direction of the stake. 

 •Just as th(> boss got ready to show his skill, the 

 driver gave the big team a signal. There was 

 a biii-st of merriment as the boss picked himself 

 up from over between the horses: and he just 

 lia)jpened to remember then that lie had urgent 

 business on another part of tlu' grounds. Fi- 

 nally, as the men were crowding upon us with 

 additional teams, old Charlie, who draws the 

 market-wagon, was hitched to a smaller scraper, 

 and set to work. I intended to, get along soon, 

 and give the driver directions: but something 



called me: and, before I knew it; good faithful 

 old Charlie was panting for bi'eath, and would 

 probably hav<' come pretty near falling down 

 too hail not somebody interfered. 



Let me e.xplain a little. Old Charlie was pur- 

 chased some time ago, at an astonishingly low 

 price, for so large aiui fine-look'iiig an animal. 

 After the purchase, however, we discovered the 

 reason for the low price, lie was wind-broken. 

 He will pull an enormous load, and walk faster 

 than any other horse 1 ever saw. if you keep 

 watch of his wind, and do not let him overtask 

 it. With a careless driver, however, and one 

 who is unused to his infirmity, he will, if pusli- 

 ed, get out of breath and fall down in the road. 

 He has done it several times — not of late years, 

 however, for 1 will not pei'mit it. At on(> time 

 in his life, old Charlie was a celebrated walker. 

 He would walk ahead of any horse in the sur- 

 rounding country; and he "is often now so am- 

 bitious that, if not constantly watched, he will 

 lose his wind. Over two years ago. during the 

 hot. dusty weather, he gave out. and most of 

 the horsemen said he was u.sed u)), and that 1 

 had better "trade him off," or take him off and 

 shoot him. 1 sent for a veterinary surgeon, and 

 he said the horse was just as good as he ever 

 was, if rightly treated. We had been feeding 

 liim dry chop feed. The sui'geon forbade that, 

 and said we should give the horse corn fodder. 

 little potatoes, or any thing that he seemed to 

 want, instead of dry grain, and he would do his 

 work without trouble, pi'oviding we renuMuber- 

 ed to keep careful watch and not let him go 

 b<'vond the limit of his wind. To-dav you could 

 not buy old Chailie for *150. Witli all' Charlie's 

 ambition and great strength, he is nervous and 

 impatient at any thing like being yanked and 

 nagged, especially by small boys. If anybody 

 comes around him whom he thinks may be in- 

 clined to take delight in w ori'viiig him. he bites 

 savagely, i have been told that lioys punch 

 him and pinch him for the purpose of seeing 

 him act up. If he gets worried or excited, it 

 increases his infirmity. V,\ the way. friends, 

 isn't that the case with almost anybody? Well, 

 after I exjilained to the driver Charlie's good 

 points as well as his weak ones, I told him that 

 lie must work on all the dirt that was to be 

 di'awii a .s/(o;-f (//.s'f((/irc — let the big Clydesdale 

 team take the long |)ulls. In a little time I saw 

 Charlie doing "big work." and doing it easily, 

 and apjiarently enjoying it. Several remarked, 

 liefore long, that old wind-liroken Charlie 

 would move more dirt than many of the teams 

 on the job. 1 spwke to him aiiprovingly several 

 times as 1 passed by: and knowing his disposition 

 as 1 do — his wonderful energy and amliition — 

 it just seemed to me as tlumgli I should like the 

 fun of working side by side with old Charlie, 

 every day of my life; and 1 am sure 1 could 

 make him hapiiy; and I feel equally sure that 

 old Charlie, with his great energy and faithful- 

 ness, would make me happy. Dear reader, is it 

 your good fortune to own a horse or to work 

 with oiK^? ]Mak(^ that horse your fi'iend. and 1 

 assure you he will do his best to make himself 

 your friend. Last night my wife asked me if it 

 did not seem strange that man and wife should 

 get along so nicely together, while each one 

 would get along so uncomfortably without the 

 other. 1 replied that 1 did not tliliik it at all 

 strange, because it is a relation of God's own 

 planning; and it seems to me just now that the 

 relation betwen the horse and his owner is much 

 that same way. Neither would be happy with- 

 out the other.' But when the two work together 

 in a loving and friendly way, it seems to me as 

 if (rod's blessing rests on both. I do verily be- 

 lieve that we are only carrying out God's plan 

 in the beginning, in these relations with our 

 domestic animals: and whenever we fall in line 



