160 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



supply of both this and the spider plant, we 

 have just built a very pretty little green- 

 house, adjoining our boiler-room, and our 

 engineer, who is happily a lover of plants 

 and gardening, is taking charge of it while 

 running his engine. As our engine and 

 boiler have a capacity of fifty horse power, 

 while the power we use is perhaps less than 

 half that, be has considerable spare time. 

 The size of the house is 12 x 24, and I do not 

 know that I ever invested $25.00 in anything 

 that has given me as much pleasure as this 

 little structure. Our Simpson plants are as 

 fresh and green as one could desire ; and as 

 we thought best to try a few vegetables, 

 while we had room, we have lettuce, radish- 

 es, cabbage, etc., peeping forth from the 

 ground, and growing in a way that is a nov- 

 elty to me at least. No matter how fierce 

 and cold the blast outside, or how keen the 

 frost at night, the inmates of this charmed 

 enclosure seem to have nothing to do but to 

 be happy and grow. The engineer thinks he 

 can raise cabbage-plants alone, sufficient to 

 pretty nearly pay all expense of the struc- 

 ture. Why do not those who are idling 

 away their time and begging for something 

 to do, take up some avocation like this and 

 bring from the s<>il enough to feel that they 

 are at least doing a little better than nothing? 



SENDING MONEY BY MAIL, UNREGIS- 

 TERED. 



MOST of you know of our troubles last 

 year, and of the young man who is 

 J now serving his time out in the peni- 

 tentiary, for having robbed us of our money. 

 Well, there is more trouble this season, 

 though not to the same extent as last season. 

 Worse than all, since it has got out that I 

 have been in the habit of sending the goods 

 (because I felt sorry for our friends who had 

 honestly sent money and been disappointed 

 in not getting their things) asking them to 

 send us half price for the same, certain un- 

 scrupulous parties have been claiming that 

 they had sent money when they had not, 

 and, of course, after getting the goods have 

 sent nothing. In view of this, I am obliged 

 finally to say I can not be responsible for 

 any money sent except by draft, P. O. order, 

 or register. It is with a feeling of sadness 

 and sorrow I say this, for I know many of 

 you who are innocent must suffer with the 

 guilty. Our mails now amount to over 100 

 letters in a day, and, as the mail clerks have 

 learned that letters addressed to me almost 

 always contain money, it is putting tempta- 

 tion before them, which we should not do, if 

 it can be avoided. The following kind let- 

 ter comes from the superintendent of the 

 department, Captain Henry. I give it here, 

 that you may all see our reasons for asking 

 you to help us. 



Friend Root:— The Post Office Department advises 

 everybody sending money by mail to register or 

 send by M. O. Several thousand men are employed 

 in the postal service, nearly all young men, and ex- 

 perience has demonstrated the fact that it is wise 

 not to tempt them, as now and then one falls, and 

 the punishment falls most heavily on a wife, child, 

 or mother. We will do all we can to guard the 

 mwils, and find mit the guilty, but it often fakes 



months and years to do it. Can you not advise your 

 customers to send by register or money order? An- 

 other point: people are tempted to claim that they 

 sent money for the purpose of getting goods, in or- 

 der that they may get goods for nothing. Several 

 years ago, Mr. Vick advertised that all sums under 

 £1.50 could be sent at his risk, and that persons re- 

 mitting and failing to get seeds could notify bira of 

 the fact and he would fill the order. In less than 

 three months, he had several thousand alleged losses 

 of less than $1.50 each. 



Very respectfully, C. E. Henry, 



Special agent P. O. D. 

 Cleveland, O., March 15, 1880. 



I presume you all see the force of this. I 

 know it will be some trouble and expense to 

 register or get a money order for every small 

 amount, but by having your neighbors club 

 with you, you can save the expense of the 

 order, as well as the freight on goods, or you 

 can make a deposit of a small amount if you 

 desire, and then order things as you need 

 them by postal card. It is a great saving in 

 many ways, to put your orders all together, 

 as nearly as you can. Postage stamps are 

 seldom taken, and we have several times 

 had letters opened, the money taken out, 

 and the stamps left. On this account, I 

 would use stamps for amounts less than a 

 dollar. To help you all I can, I have made 

 arrangements so that I can use Canada 

 stamps, and I presume I can manage to use 

 also stamps from any foreign country. I 

 presume our losses, at present, are about 

 one letter in every two hundred. Therefore, 

 if you have a mind to take your chances, 

 you can send money loose if you choose, but 

 if it is lost, bear in mind that after this you 

 must send the whole amount again. For 

 the reasons given above, I dare not offer any 

 longer to stand even half of it. I have 

 sometimes thought it might be well to pub- 

 lish the names of those who have had goods 

 sent them at half price, and after they have 

 got the goods refuse to pay even a copper. 

 What do the friends think about it? There 

 are quite a number, too, that have very gen- 

 erously insisted on paying the whole amount, 

 saying as the money was sent "loose 17 it was 

 their fault entirely, and not mine. I want 

 to thank this latter class, for their acts have 

 given me a new faith in humanity. At the 

 very low prices at which I have been selling 

 many of the counter goods, there has abso- 

 lutely been no margin for me to take any of 

 the chances of losses. It gives rare pleas- 

 ure, my friends, to be able to astonish you 

 in price and quality, in the things you send 

 to me for, and I feel sure you are glad to 

 help me in so doing; are you not? May 

 God in his mercy open the eyes of those 

 poor, blind brothers, who have been taking 

 our hard earnings, with this awful, unscru- 

 pulous disregard of the rights and just dues 

 of their fellow men. 



MOICE "RED CLOVER O.I EENS." 



illilfi 1 * - EI)ITOTJ:— l cant stand around looking on 

 Jl wit anJ l° n 8 ei 'i without saying something about 



vvj queens that have a knack of extracting 



honey from red clover. I have 5 colonies of pure 

 Italian tows tt»'at Peixireu orvr 100 lbs. of hxmojf imiolx 



