1000 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



house and get a wheelbarrow full of potato- 

 boxes. Get the oldest ones you can find. 

 Fred, get a hoe and give the asparagus a 

 most thorough cleaning-out. Do it so I 

 can't hnd a weed nor a blade of grass Now 

 look sharp, and don't skip any. Mr. W., 

 take your spade, and look out for the out- 

 let to all the underdrains. See that they 

 are exactly as they ought to be," etc. 



Now, I know by experience that most of 

 thern— perhaps all of them— will misunder- 

 stand, and must be looked after. The one 

 who went to picking up stones, will, if he is 

 a small boy, perhaps spend time in picking 

 up stones so small that they do no harm. 

 He must be furnished a sample, and told 

 not to go under that size. The boy who is 

 to clean out the weeds may waste time in 

 looking for a tool, and perhaps he would 

 get the wrong patch. The one who went 

 after the boxes must be told what to do 

 next when he comes back. Very likely Mr. 

 W. was not with us when the underdrains 

 were all located, and therefore will not find 

 the outlets without showing. So I hurry 

 around from one to another, meanwhile re- 

 viewing the work to see if there is not 

 something of still more importance than 

 that which the boys were started at hastily. 

 At such times I almost always find some- 

 thing or other that was in very great need 

 of attention, so nothing is lost. Now, my 

 friend, you may think it a little strange, but 

 I have, by years of experience, learned to 

 set over a hundred people at work in just 

 this way, and not only manage it all profita- 

 bly, but I enjoy it; yes, it gives me a kind 

 of happiness that I can not find otherwise, 

 and that I enjoy almost as much as any 

 thing else in this world, furnishing my 

 friends and neighbors the wherewith to earn 

 their daily bread by honest, ennobling toil. 

 Of course, I commenced on a small scale. 

 At first I had one man to help me. When 

 we two could lay up money, a third was call- 

 ed in, and so on. You may say, we can not 

 all do this kind of work. True ; but there 

 is an unceasing demand — a constant and in- 

 creasing unfilled want for men who can boss 

 others. Now, then, you can never make 

 any progress at all in this line until you can 

 rule self. This new friend I have been 

 speaking of does his work a great deal bet- 

 ter than I do. It would hardly be safe to 

 trust me with an important work of engi- 

 neering where much money and may be hu- 

 man life depended on the result. In fact, I 

 learned long ago not to trust my judgment 

 and experience alone in such matters. Able 

 and experienced mechanics in wood, stone, 

 earth, and metals, are my companions ; and 

 it would be folly for me to rush stubbornly 

 against their better judgment. Sometimes 

 we hold counsel, or call in the aid of me- 

 chanics, machinists, etc., but I am always 

 troubled and worried to find that these care- 

 ful,, high-priced men, let those under them 

 waste time. Sometimes expensive men are 

 kept on hand, even though they work less 

 than half of tneir time. I am told that 

 there is no other way. In almost every de- 

 partment of knowledge, science, art, and 

 industry, I come every little while to the 

 point where I long for something more than 



human. I want great accuracy, combined 

 with an ability to look after a great number 

 of people all at one time. Very likely these 

 two qualifications never existed in any sin- 

 gle individual ; but by putting a good many 

 heads together, however, we accomplish 

 what no one man ever could accomplish. 

 And may God be praised that it is so ! We 

 are dependent upon one another, and if we 

 do not work together with a cheerful and 

 friendly good will we shall never succeed in 

 doing great things. Now, then, friends, 

 with your permission we will go back to our 

 story of that bright sunshiny December 

 morning. It needed your old friend, A. I. 

 Root, at almost every turn, to tell the 

 builder just what his ideas were, and how 

 he would like to have things arranged. For 

 instance, some bolts were wanted that we 

 did not expect to need, and so a boy had to 

 go half a mile after them. The ditchers, 

 too, needed a little caution. They were dig- 

 ing the trenches wider than they needed to 

 be, thus throwing out dirt uselessly. Lum- 

 ber was wanted from the planing-mill ; 

 somebody could not find the tool he w 7 anted ; 

 several things at the factory needed looking 

 after, for John and Ernest w r ere both attend- 

 ing the national convention at Brantford. 

 One or two new hauds had made their ap- 

 pearance, and wanted to be shown where 

 they were to work. Before noon the print- 

 ers wanted copy, or instructions in regard 

 to it, that must be seen to personally by 

 A. I. Root, in the absence of Ernest, the 

 assistant editor. I went through it all pret- 

 ty well, however, until symptoms of wan- 

 ing strength began to remind me that it 

 was time for my noonday nap. I looked at 

 my watch, and I found that, if I made a 

 bee-line for my accustomed lounge. 1 should 

 have just time to make it. The day was so 

 fine, and so many things needed my person- 

 al attention, that it seemed almost folly to 

 think of going off to sleep when everybody 

 w r as so busy, and in so much danger of go- 

 ing wrong if I did not happen to be within 

 hailing distance. I remembered, however, 

 that I should not only suffer during the 

 half-hour that has so long been set aside for 

 my accustomed nap, but I knew I should be 

 unfit for clear and cool judgment all the aft- 

 ernoon. I have tried it repeatedly ; but un- 

 less I have my noonday nap I feel about as 

 most of you do who have been kept awake 

 all night long. The plain, wise thing to do 

 was to drop business and seek rest. Quite 

 a few got in my way. Some wanted employ- 

 ment ; others "wanted to hinder me with 

 idle, unimportant questions ; and as 1 al- 

 most reached my home I became quite nerv- 

 ous and fidgety. Some little girls were 

 coming along the walk, but I felt too much 

 exhausted and used up to feel capable of 

 giving them even the smiling and pleasant 

 "■good-morning" that I knew I ought to 

 give. I was in a hurry, for the minutes 

 were precious. At such times when I am 

 pushing blindly ahead for my lounge, even 

 a. quarter of a minute seems a hindrance. I 

 long to be out of sight, and away from 

 everybody, where I need not even smile un- 

 less I feel like it. Now, do not imagine, 

 dear friends, that at such times I feel par- 



