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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



and big-hearted enough to see and comprehend. 

 There was a trifling difficulty between the herd- 

 men, but there was no excuse at all for a quarrel 

 between relatives. He says, "Let there be no 

 strife," and then he gives as a reason that glorious 

 text that I hope has already settled many a diffi- 

 culty — "For we be brethren." 



Now, dear brethren of the Rural and of the 

 Country Gentleman, I am sure you will excuse 

 me for having taken the liberty of taking up this 

 matter in this way. In your great work of ele- 

 vating and educating and protecting your rural 

 readers, you surely ought to recognize the great 

 importanceof feeling toward each other as Abram 

 expressed it — "We be brethren." Even if you 

 are not related by ties of flesh and blood, does 

 not your calling make you in one sense brethren 

 before the people.? Think of the example you 

 set, particularly before the rising generation. 

 As I understand it, the trouble started because 

 the Country Gentleman was somewhat slow or 

 backward about reporting subscriptions they had 

 received for the Rural. Now, in publishing our 

 own periodical we have had similar trials, and T 

 will tell you what I have done. When I was 

 satisfied that some innocent party^had given his 

 subscription money to somebody who did not or 

 would not send it forward, I have sent the jour- 

 nal along and borne the loss myself; and if we ad- 

 vertised to furnish a book or something of that 

 sort to those who paid up all arrears I have also 

 sent the book. I would send to John Dawes his 

 book, Nell Beverly, and take my chances on 

 getting the money. Surely such a great period- 

 ical would get around to it and hand it over soon- 

 er or later. Let us consider the matter a little. 



Every successful journal nowadays does lots of 

 advertising in order to get new subscribers. 

 They sometimes make almost reckless offers in 

 order to get a new subscriber started. In view 

 of this, solely from a money point of view if for 

 no other, I would see that every man has his 

 journal, at least from one of you, if he pays his 

 money for it. We have lost a little by so doing, 

 but not much. Another thing, dear editor of 

 the Rural, it does rrot pay to have a quarrel on 

 our hands with anybody, much less with some- 

 body who has influence. The Country Gentle- 

 fnan has friends, and those who will side with it, 

 even if it is wrong, just as every other periodical 

 and almost every person has his particular friends 

 who will stand by him, right or wrong. 



Now, if my good friend Collingwood will ex- 

 cuse me for the above I wish to say a word to 

 friend Tucker, of the Country Gentleman. Dear 

 brother, did you consider, when you permitted 

 that word to get into your periodical, that the 

 word "lie" is rather harsh language.? I often 

 think that, if people would go to the dictionary 

 and see what it says about lying, they would be 

 more careful about using such an " ugly word " 

 as President Roosevelt called it. Your reply 

 would indicate that there has been some previous 

 trouble back of it. But has not that been settled 

 and ended.? Surely no one who knows Mr. Col- 

 lingwood, or who has read the Rural, would be- 

 lieve for an instant that he is guilty of falsifying, 

 or that he is guilty of any thing unfair or un- 

 gentlemanly, unless, indeed, it was in writing 

 that editorial I have copied, to go into the Rural. 

 Of course, this is not the first time that periodi- 



cals of great circulation have come out before the 

 world with their difl^erences, and called each oth- 

 er names; and, if I am correct, it is more the 

 fashion nowadays than it was a few years ago to 

 be courteous and gentlemanly, especially toward 

 those who occupy prominent positions such as 

 teachers, preachers, and editors. You can fight 

 evil without fighting the persons who are, per- 

 haps, making a mistake. My mother used to 

 say that we should love the sinner while we hate 

 the sins of which he may be guilty; and that 

 same old mother taught me a nursery rhyme 

 which I can remember her saying to me over and 

 over again very slowly until I could remember 

 the hard words. Now, do not laugh and call me 

 old-fashioned if I put in that little nursery rhyme 

 here. I can remember how slowly and patiently 

 she said the words over, one line at a time, until 

 I could repeat the whole. If my memory serves 

 me right it goes this way: 



Let dogs delight to bark and bite, 



For God hath made them so; 

 Let bears and lions growl and fight, 



For 'tis their nature too. 

 But, children, you should never let 



Your angry passions rise; 

 Your little hands were never made 



To tear each other's eyes. 



Bless the memory of good old Dr. Watts! 

 Somebody has said we are all children of a larger 

 growth; and I wonder if it would not be a good 

 thing for all of us to go back occasionally to the 

 time when we sat at our mother's knee listening 

 to her wise counsel adapted to our infantile com- 

 prehension God bless the mothers. 



Now, I do not mean to say that there is no 

 occasion for downright fighting and warfare. 

 God forbid, however, that war should break out 

 between friends and neighbors, or those who are 

 leaders of the people. I will tell you where I be- 

 lieve in ^ivar, and I should like to see it come 

 right now, and I would be glad to help it along. 

 If the remnant of my poor life will count in this 

 war I am ready to die as a martyr. I mean war 

 on the whisky-bottle — especially those planned 

 for schoolboys, and war on the cigarette business. 

 If anybody really deserves imprisonment for life 

 it is the man who will push the cigarette traffic 

 just for the boys' nickels, without any regard to 

 the wrecks and ruin that ensue. I can not be- 

 lieve that more wars are necessary between great 

 nations; and I can not think it right that hard- 

 working people should be taxed in order that 

 more millions may be invested in men-of-war. 

 The Cleveland Plain Dealer of April 30 has the 

 following piece of sarcasm in regard to the mat- 

 ter: 



The idea of compelling the world to be peaceful by threaten- 

 ing to shoot it full of holes if it offers objections to the beneficent 

 program, is, perhaps, not exactly new. 



And here is another in about the same line: 



Let the public be not beguiled into supporting an organization 

 whose slogan is, " Keep the commandments or we will break 

 them over your head." 



Rutledge, the great temperance orator, told a 

 little story to illustrate the folly of a clash be- 

 tween the Prohibitionists and the Anti-saloon 

 VN'orkers. Even if I have told it before, it will 

 bear repeating. 



A gentleman who loves fine poultry, but who 

 did not believe in cock-fighting, had two very 

 handsome game cocks. His colored man was so 

 sure they could whip every thing in that region 



