1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKK. 



667 



J^jYgEIiF MJ) fIY]\[EI6}IB0KS. 



Why beholdcst thou the mote that is in thy broth- 

 or's eye. but considerest not the beani that is in 

 thine own eye?— Matt. 7: ;!. 



IIYdowe see our neighbors' faults 

 so plainly and so easily, while it is 

 with so niMch diffimilty that we can 

 he made to see and comprehend our 

 own? I have just been thinking of 

 one reason for this state of affairs. There 

 are several reasons, but I am pretty sure 

 tills one is an important factor. It comes 

 in something this way : The world says, 

 " Every man should first look out for num- 

 ber one."' The Bible says. '' Not so. Tlion 

 shalt love thy neighbor" as thyself." The 

 world says, '^ Look upon every man as a 

 thief until he has proved himself to be an 

 honest man." The Bible says to this, as J 

 understand it, '' Not so ; but, rather, look 

 upon every man as an honest man until he 

 has proved himself to be a thief." Now, 

 when I say this I also say. but by no 

 means intrust even an honest man with a 

 large amount of property in a reckless way. 

 Even while you recognize that your neigh- 

 bor is as good a man as yourself, you are not 

 to lie in haste to place temptation in his 

 way. Many of the troubles and jangles that 

 come al)ont among the bee-friends are be- 

 cause things are left loosely. Business is 

 done in a sort of heedless and careless way. 

 One man sends on a lot of honey or bees- 

 wax, and does not even know how much he 

 has sent. Now, friends, it seems to me you 

 have no right to do things in this way, no 

 matter whom you are dealing with. If you 

 want to feel kind and charitable toward 

 your neighbors, keep things straight as you 

 go along. Instead of trying to remember 

 the particulars of a transaction, write it 

 down in white and black. If yju keep bees 

 on shares, have a clear understanding as to 

 how it is to be done, and write it down and 

 have both parties sign the paper, but don't 

 either of yon sign it without reading it 

 through carefully" Having done this, abide 

 by the paper, no matter who loses or gains. 

 If you want to have confidence in" your 

 neighbors, keep business close and snug. If 

 you are intrusting work to others whom you 

 have employed to work for you, keep an eye 

 on them, tf you want the work well done, 

 make arrangements so you can look after it 

 often, then see whether yoin* hired help un- 

 derstands exactly what your wishes are. 

 Many people lose their confidence in their 

 neighbors and in their fellow-men, because 

 of their own heedlessness in this respect. 



Friend Terry, in his potato-book, express- 

 es strong doubts as to whether artificial fer- 

 tilizers are of any value to the average 

 farmer. I think very likely he carries the 

 matter to extremes ; but of this I am sure: 

 Thatia great many pay out money for fertil- 

 izers when it does them no good whatever. 

 What, then, are we to do'? The agricultural 



Eapers of late are recommending that each 

 iirmer shall test fertilizers on his own 

 grounds; that is, don"t get enthusiastic, and 

 take it for granted that because others have 

 done well by the use of phosphates you can 

 lie well also. A good many, the first time 



they try phosphate or bone dust, in their 

 zeal will put on double the usual quantity. 

 They take it foi' granted, that if a little is 

 good more is better. Now, it is a very diffi- 

 cult matter indeed to be able to say positive- 

 ly what it was that gave you a crop. If you 

 occasionally withhold the fertilizers from a 

 strip of ground right through your lot. this 

 affords pretty good evidence. In my earlier 

 experiments with guano I killed so many of 

 my choice plants that I began to wonder 

 whether guano i)ossessed any value at all or 

 not. I became so disgusted "with it, in fact, 

 that the bag was iillowed to stand in the 

 greenhouse, without being used at all. 

 Finally we had some celery-plants in boxes, 

 that stood so long before being transplanted 

 they began to look yellow and as if half 

 starved. Wateiing them rejieatedly did lit- 

 tle or no good, for so many waterings had 

 washed all of the fertilizing material out of 

 the dirt contained in the shallow boxes. 

 One of the boys suggested sprinkling a little 

 guano among the plants before they were 

 watered. It acted like a charm. The'plants 

 started up with vigor. The foliage became 

 dark green, and the growth rank. A lea- 

 spoonful of guano to (me of the boxes help- 

 ed them wonderfully ; but a handftd might 

 have killed them all. Now, my friends, 

 while you have faith in God and faith in 

 humanity, and feel anxious to do something 

 for Christ and something to help your fel- 

 low-men, you might commence exactly as 

 we commenced with guano. If a friend of 

 yours is in straitened circumstances, and 

 needs a little assistance, be carefid about 

 overdoing the business. Giving him so 

 much help all at once may work as much 

 mischief as the guano woidd if put on the 

 strawberry-plants. Look into his circum- 

 stances carefully, and give him a little as- 

 sistance at first ; then watch and see how it 

 works. If good comes of it, help him a lit- 

 tle more in the same way, and so on with all 

 your deal and intercourse with humanity. 

 This is reason and judgment. Don't he in 

 haste to do some big thing. 



Last evening a missionary just returned 

 from Africa made a remark something like 

 this : A man who is doing mission work at 

 home will probably do successful work in 

 Africa. If he is not bringing souls to Christ 

 in his own neighborhood, he will rarely suc- 

 ceed in doing so in Africa. If you want to 

 be a missionary, commence right where you 

 are, commence with little things. When 

 you succeed with the neighbors you have, 

 with commonplace individuals, you will 

 probably succeed in a wider field; but don't 

 start out in a wider field all at once. 



I have just been pained by a letter from a 

 > ounger brother of mine, lie is trying to 

 be a Christian, nnd trying to be a good 

 member of society : but he has troubles and 

 trials and tribulations beyond those com- 

 mon to most men. Why is it. he says, that 

 when I am trying to do right, I get deceived 

 and wronged at almost every turn '? The 

 trouble is. my friends, he is trying to do too 

 much. He owns a large farm close to a 

 growing city; but instead of staying at 

 home, and keeping an eye on every acre of 

 that farm, he has two or three times tried 



