A CLERK 13 



series of many outyards and much help, it is rather the one-man 

 business that we will just now discuss, for many people who can 

 be successful in a business whose every detail they can oversee 

 are likely to fail when it comes to organizing a system and 

 delegating the actual operations to hired help. 



A Minister. — As a first example there is the case of a Pres- 

 byterian minister who took up bee-keeping as a business. He 

 soon had 300 colonies of bees in four yards. One hundred and 

 twenty colonies was the largest number he had in one yard, 

 while there were but thirty colonies in his smallest yard. His 

 average return was seven dollars per colony per year for a series 

 of years when honey was at the extremely low price that pre- 

 vailed prior to the world war. This amount was probably in 

 excess of the salary he received in serving a small congregation 

 in a country town. 



A carpenter gave up 'his trade to keep bees as an exclusive 

 source of livelihood many years ago. When he abandoned his 

 trade and took up bee-keeping he rented a house and two small 

 lots in an Iowa town. At the end of two years he purchased the 

 property and occupied it as a home for more than twenty-five 

 years. During the early years of his experience, before he became 

 well established, there was one season of failure of the honey crop, 

 when he found it necessary to work at his trade temporarily for 

 a few months. Aside from that, the bees furnished his entire 

 support. He paid for his home and business, from the apiary, 

 built a better house and added to his real estate holding. While 

 his income was not large, he had a better support than his trade 

 could furnish and his business was at home where he enjoyed the 

 assistance and association of his family. Although he lived to 

 a ripe old age, he cared for his bees until within a short time 

 of his death. 



A Clerk. — One might also cite the case of a shipping clerk 

 in a manufacturing establishment. Because of failing health he 

 was compelled to seek the open air. The pressing necessity of 

 providing for his family compelled him to find something that 

 would furnish the needed support, without demanding too heavy 

 toil from a weakened body. He has been remarkably successful 



