438 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mav 15 



My wa3' is easier for you and for the team. 

 We are almost done with this kind of work ; 

 shall we not g-o on?" 



"But, Mr. Root, I have cleared up land 

 all my life. I know how to do it. I don't 

 quarrel with anybody'. I worked for one 

 man ten years." 



"That surely speaks well for both of you; 

 but I have several people now in my employ 

 who have worked for me more than twenty- 

 five years. Can't we g"o on and finish up?" 



I was now feeling- pleasant. My prayer 

 of the morning had been answered ; the Holy 

 Spirit had regained possession of my heart, 

 and had driven out the evil one. It was an 

 easy matter now to laugh him out of his 

 bad mood. 



"Well, Mr. Root, if you know how, yon 

 take the team and go on," and he handed 

 me the lines. I took them; but the heav_v 

 chain soon began to tell ou iny strength. 



"Mr. B., I'll drive, and you see if I don't 

 rest the horses ; but you will handle the 

 chain, won't you ?" 



At first he playfully declared it was my 

 job, but finally took hold and worked with 

 a will. Dear brother or sister, whose ej'es 

 rest on these pages, do you not see how 

 much better was this kind of ending of a 

 little disagreement? 



If I had paid him off as I started to do, 

 and let him take all his tools home (two 

 miles away), and then got some one else to 

 come away out here in the woods to finish 

 a little job, what a piece of folly it would 

 have been ! and then, more than all, sup- 

 pose I had tried to write a Home Paper in 

 keeping with such a course — what would it 

 have been like? and where would I have 

 found texts to justify such a loft.v pride, for 

 pride it is, and nothing else, when you pay 

 a man off in this way and let him go? 



Since the above incident it has occurred 

 to me that this foolish custom, or, better 

 still, foolish spirit, has been, perhaps for 

 ages past, entering, more or less, into the 

 affairs of life. Not many years ago, if a 

 man struck you a blow the world thought 

 there was no honorable way out of it but to 

 strike back, and perhaps fight a duel ; and 

 in some parts of Kentucky this is still kept 

 up, until murder keeps following murder. 

 If a man in the heat of passion calls you a 

 " liar'''' you are to strike him down, or try 

 to, even if it costs you your life. Where did 

 we get such a code of morals ? Surely not 

 from the book where I found the three "texts 

 at the head of this talk. 



Finall}', is it not possible that the real 

 germ and root of all of our labor troubles 

 comes from this readiness, even under 

 slight provocation, to get up on your dig- 

 nity, and say, " Well, give me my money, 

 and I will get out of your way " ? or, "Here 

 is the amount I owe you. I have no use for 

 you any longer"? 



Does anybody know how much it is worth 

 in this world to have onl3' kind words (and 

 kind feelings) in parting with every one 

 who has worked for 3^ou, even if it be for 

 only a little while ? Yes, sometimes we 



do have to stoop a little ; sometimes it is 

 humbling to our pride ; but is it not worth 

 all it costs — nay, ever so much more than it 

 costs, to be sure that all who know you 

 have only kindlj' feelings toward yon when- 

 ever they may hear your name mentioned ? 

 Can it be said of you, and said truthfully, 

 "He 'suffers long, and is kind;' he is 

 ' peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of 

 merc3^' '"? 



DOES IT PAY TO HAVE A BAROMETER ? 



What, in brief, are the practical advantages of the 

 barometer to hay-harvesters, herders on prairie, and 

 ontdoor people in general? Does the instrument fore- 

 cast falling weather with reasonable accuracy, in 

 your opinion? and ususallj' how many hours, in ad- 

 vance, decided changes — as from dry to wet? 



Trinidad, Col. Edgar Smith. 



Friend S., the advantages of a barome- 

 ter to anj' one engaged in outdoor work, 

 providing he takes a notion to the instru- 

 ment, and consults it not only daily but 

 several times a day, are almost be^'ond 

 computation. A captain would no more 

 think of sailing without a barometer than 

 without a clock or compass. The instru- 

 ment does, as a rule, forecast bad weather 

 with accuracy; but we are usually unable 

 to tell just how long it will be before the 

 weather changes. If it continues to fall, 

 and keeps falling, and the change does not 

 come, 3'ou can be prettj-^ sure there will be 

 a fierce storm of wind as well as rain when 

 it does come. In the same way, when it 

 continues to rise, and we keep predicting 

 fair weather that does not come, there is 

 almost sure to be a long spell of nice weath- 

 er after the storm has passed. One who is 

 not acquainted with the instruinent might 

 get impatient, and saj^ it did not amount to 

 anj' thing. For instance, the women-folks 

 ask me if they will need to carry their um- 

 brellas when going up street. I sometimes 

 repl}', "I do not think you will need any. 

 thing of the kind. The barometer is run- 

 ning up fast, and the sun will probably be 

 out in an hour or two.'" Well, the sun 

 comes out, just as I said, but another cloud 

 comes up, and we have what is sometimes 

 called a "wind-up shower." You see, the 

 barometer did not and could not give all 

 these little minutia; of the finishing-up of 

 the bad weather. 



Another thing, a falling barometer means 

 wind or rain. A big blow produces exactly 

 the same result as a heavy rain; and no one 

 can tell whether it will be a blow or rain, 

 or both blow and rain. A sudden change in 

 the weather from warm to cold or from cold 

 to warm also influences the barometer, and 

 may bring about different results from what 

 we should have if the temperature had re- 

 mained about the same. All these things 

 must be learned by carefully watching the 

 instrument; and even then no one can tell 

 exactly what is going to happen. Some- 

 times a barometer indicates rain, and we 

 have onl}' a thunder-cloud and ever}^ ap- 

 pearance of rain. Still another thing, a 

 thunder-shower a mile or two away will 



