526 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



"happy surprise." It was a g-inseng-- 

 plant a foot high, with buds for thirty or 

 forty berries on it. It is rig-ht in the sun, 

 except during' a part of the afternoon, and 

 seems during- this damp rainy weather very 

 well suited with its exposed situation. 



A few days ago Mrs. Root and I went to 

 dine with a neig^hbor after Sunday-school. 

 In their home they have a stuffed specimen 

 of a hug-e wildcat killed in or near our 

 woods. Well, one day I was rushing- 

 through the dense thicket in that narrow 

 bicycle-path that leads to the celery-gar- 

 den, when there came a rushing sound, and 

 it seemed as if three or four wild cats were 

 right on to me. My hair stood on end, and 

 I fairly shrieked in my fright, " Get out! " 

 After I had backed down and collected my 

 senses I found the rumpus was all caused 

 by just one mother partridge. Even if I 

 was frightened, I could not but admire her 

 beaut3^ Her exqusitely penciled feathers 

 were very becoming to her when they were 

 all bristled up like a sitting hen; and she 

 was so determined to get my attention she 

 kept fluttering about me, ahiiost within 

 arm's length. I soon turned my eyes from 

 the handsome mother to her large brood of 

 chicken partridges; but this she was deter- 

 mined I should not do. Why, it was worth 

 half a dollar to get such a " short range " 

 view of the beautiful birds. 



No, no, my friend; you could not induce 

 me to swap my "cabin in the woods," with 

 its environments, for any city home in this 

 broad land of ours. 



SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE " MAYWOOD COLONY." 

 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. 



Mr. Root-: — My attention has been called by one of 

 your subscribers here to your issue of May 1 (p. o!)l), 

 in which you publish a very doleful letter from one of 

 your correspondents in which he tells how he has 

 been victimized in buviug land on Maywood Colony, 

 of his inability to make his land pay, the terrible 

 troubles he has had to make a living, etc. 



Now, Mr. Editor, as an old resident of this said 

 Maywood Colony I protest against such statements be- 

 ing published by you without your doitig as you advise 

 prospective purchasers lo do — that is, find out the 

 truth of the charges made ; find out if this is a fraud 

 and a fake before scattering such harmful reports 

 throughout the length and breadth of ynir subscrip- 

 tion area. It would have been an easy matter even 

 for you to show this party to be in the wrong ; for in 

 the very printed matter he sent you, you will find that 

 Foster & Woodson distinctly advise no one to come 

 here " busted," but to figure on having at \e:a.si fifteen 

 hundred dollars to start on. This man came here with 

 practicallv nothing, and told, when he came that he 

 had nothing, and must depend on his labor entirely 

 to make a living and paj^ his expenses. He states in 

 his letter that he sold " his nice little farm " in Mas- 

 sachusetts and came here. It must indeed have been 

 a very little farm if the proceeds landed him here a 

 pauper. As a matter of fact, the man must be either 

 lazy or an utter incompetent. If he and his family 

 were unable to obtain any more work than he states, 

 and unable to earn but S5t).85, the chances are that the 

 parties who paid him that amount overpaid him. 

 There is work for every competent and industrious 

 man we can get here, and at good wages. 



Possibly I speak a little strongly in this matter, but 

 I have been hunting for three weeks— no'' for a job but 

 for a man who knew enough to spade a garden and 

 dig some post-holes, and have not been able to get one. 

 ■Why ? Because every good man has work ahead, and 

 I won't have the dolts. 



This man bought a piece of five acres of land for 

 which he paid $50 per acre ; and, permit me to say, he 



got a good piece, for I know just what and where it is^ 

 He had no money to plant with, no money to build 

 with, no money to buy tools with, no money to support 

 his family on. We don't want paupers here, either re- 

 ligious or secular, and especially do we not want pau- 

 pers who can not do a full day's work. He claims to 

 be a gardener. If he is, he certainly need not have 

 been out of work a daj', except when it rained, if he 

 was a good workman. 



Right here I want to say that the Christian papers of 

 which your correspondent speaks — the Christian Her- 

 ald, Sunday School Times, and other papers did send 

 their representatives here, and looked this Maywood 

 Colony up thoroughly. As a lesult they wrote Foster 

 & Woodson that their columns were always open to. 

 them for any matter they wished to publish. Brad- 

 street sent a man here for the .-ame purpose ; and if 

 you will consult their reports you will find the result 

 of their investigation. One of their men bought land 

 here after the eport went in. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I will tell you what I'll do with 

 you : It would do you lots of good to take a trip to 

 California, especially if it did not cost you too much, 

 and I will agrer to pay your fare here and back pro- 

 vided you find Maywood Colony lo be a " fake ' and a 

 " fraud " such as you and our dear bi other claim it to 

 be. It would do me good to prove to you that he has. 

 totally misstated conditions here If you find, how- 

 ever, that this place is what we claim lor it, you will 

 pay your own fare, and I will leave the decision en- 

 tirely with you. 



I claim th t we have a magnificent valley here, a 

 fine climate, an abundance of pure wate , and as fine 

 a lot of orchar s in bearing as there is in the S.ate or 

 the United States ; that we have a soil that will grow 

 practically any thing in reason in the way of semi- 

 tropical products, provided some brains are used in 

 the work. I claim that it is as hard work here to do- 

 hard work as it is anywhere. I claim that it takes, 

 money here as elsewhere to buy land, buy trees, buy 

 stock, and support a family, and that the man who- 

 comes i.ere expecting to do these things without mon- 

 ey and hard work will surely get left. I claim that 

 we have here a good market for every thing produced, 

 and at fair prices ; but one must wear out the soles of 

 his shoes ratlier than the seat of his pants to produce 

 the stuff. I also claim that our trees are fairly break- 

 ing down under iheir load ol fruit, and that we shall 

 need at least 500 workers in our cannerj' to handle it, 

 and -500 m .re more to gather it from the orchards ; 

 and I think I am safe in claiming, aiso, that our broth- 

 er will still be unable to find work that is not " hard 

 and disagreeable." I also claim that every picture 

 shown in the printed matter of Foster & Woodson is a 

 true picture of the scenes here, as I have helped to 

 make most of them ; and I will agree, moreover, to 

 show you each particular .scene, and within four miles 

 of our depot here. Theie is not one idle cirpenter or 

 mason on the colony, and there are not three houses 

 in the place to rent. Come out and see us ; and if you 

 do not buy a piece of land in ^Maywood Colony I think 

 that you'll want to before you leave, and that you will 

 write an apology for publishing the letter in j-our May 

 1st issue. 



On the theory that you want to be fair, I suggest that 

 you publish this letter, or as much of it as will contra- 

 dict the letter you gave. Bear in mind, we do not 

 want paupers, cranks, incompetents, or " busted " peo- 

 ple to come here. v\ e want people with some money, 

 some mu.scle, and some brains. If they will come 

 with these requisites they will find here a fruitful val- 

 ley for which God has done more than for nine tenths 

 of the earth, and he expects only that man will do his 

 small share to make of it an abiding-place that will 

 hold him safe from want and care. Come and see us— 

 I make nij- offer in good faith, feeling that I can leave 

 the decision to you with perfect .safety. 

 Very truly, 



Corning, Cal., May 23. C M. Woodland. 



We have now given a statement from both 

 sides, and hope the matter may be dropped. 

 I do apologize for not having given a more 

 careful examination of the printed matter 

 sent me, and for not noticing that such a 

 careful periodical as the Sunday School 

 Times had indorsed the colony. Some of 

 our firm may visit the colony before very 

 long. I am sure both of these letters will 

 prove of value to those thinking about seek- 

 ing new homes in far-away lands. 



