He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.— Lukk 16:10. 



MYSELF AND MY NEIGHBORS. 



EXCELLENCE OR CHEAPNESS— WHICH? 



Through wisdom is a house I'uilderl.— Puov. 24:2;}. 

 ELL, little friends, the convention of 

 bee-keepors of ^'ortli America have 

 appointed your humble servant to 

 p:ive thematalk al)out excellence or 

 cheapness ; and as tlie talk I propose 

 is to be a sort of neighborly chat, I thought 

 I would just put it in here for you to read. 



I do not know but that this subject was 

 given me because some of the brethren think 

 I have been a little too eager to recommend 

 cheap tools and appliances; and may be 

 they thought I would defend my side of the 

 subject while somebody else would take up 

 excellence rather than" cheapness. Xow, it 

 seems to me that wisdom and experience 

 should guide us in this matter, and that we 

 can not very well lay down yeneral rules for 

 purchasing bee-supplies, or for purchasing 

 any thing else, in fact. Isaiah tells us, in 

 his first chapter, to " learn to do well ;" that 

 is, doing well is progressive ; and 1 should 

 also say, learn to purchase wisely. If you 

 have got a little money that you want to in- 

 vest in bee-supplies, don't be in a hurry to 

 get rid of it all. Our text says, " Through 

 wisdom is a house builded;" and I should 

 say, through wisdom we make prudent pur- 

 chases. 



Suppose a boy gets big enough to need a 

 knife. What kind of a knife should he pur- 

 chase — a five-cent knife or a two-dollar 

 knife? AVhy, I should say it depends upon 

 who the boy is, his age, and what he wants 



to do with the knife. But with the average 

 boy, I think it would be a pretty good idea 

 to try the cheap knife first. Even if he has 

 laid up a couple of dollars to buy a pocket- 

 knife, I think he will get more satisfaction 

 by trying a cheap one lirst than liy trying 

 the two-dollar one first. If the cheap'one 

 does not please him, nor answer his require- 

 ments, it would not be very much expense 

 to give it to some other boy, and try a little 

 better one. Let him carefully examine and 

 test each knife he buys, until he Ijecomes a 

 tolerably good judge bf knives, and is able 

 to purchase understandingly. 



There are a great many people, and good 

 people too, who have a way of saying, in re- 

 gard to every purchase that comes up, " The 

 best is the cheapest."' A good deal depends 

 upon what you mean l)y best. Suppose you 

 want a hammer. There are hammers in the 

 market, for only five cents. They are not 

 loose nor rickety either, for they are made 

 all of one piece bf iron ; and although they 

 may be awkward and cheap-looking, they 

 Avill do a vast amount of service for many 

 kinds of work. They cost so little that if 

 somebody borrows one. or loses it, it does 

 not matter much ; and I have found it quite 

 convenient to have these cheap hammers 

 scattered all around the premises. We have 

 one down in the barn, and one in |the stable 

 out in the lots. The children have them to 

 crack nuts ; and, in fact, there are so many 

 of them on the premises that whenever you 

 want some sort of hammer for just a min- 

 ute, you can almost always get hold of one 

 of these, without going a great way or hunt- 



