The Smoker Question. 



DEAR Editor.— On page HI, Feb. No., you state 

 that the Bingham Smoker is not a copy of the Quin- 

 hy, but i.s "original in construction and design," es- 

 pecially in " its internal arrangements." Is not the 

 "direct draft " tlii' cinly tiling oriffimil in it? Is it not 

 a copy of the (Jiiinby in everything else? Please an- 

 swer in the next issue. Qviz. 



Quiz is quite inquisitive. We dislilve in- 

 vidious comparisons, and sliall not malie 

 ."^uch in this answer— aiming only to givetlie 

 simple facts. 



As the Bingham Smoker is in every part 

 designed for, as well as adapted to the "di- 

 rect draft" principle, it cannot be a copy of 

 c»ne whose construction is not adapted to 

 tliat end. Among the dissimilarities we 

 note the following: 



The Quinby has a small, long tube, with 

 a loose wire grate; the Bingham has one, 

 short and wide, with a perforated iron fire- 

 grate. 



The former has a spiral spring; the latter 

 two long flat springs. 



The former has two loose, metal valves; 

 the latter one tight, spring valve. 



The former has a long, thick bellows, with 

 a diaphragm; tlie latter a thin, square bel- 

 lows, with 710 diaphragm. 



The former has arms of tin to hold the 

 tube to the bellows; the latter is held by a 

 block of oak. 



The former has a sharp, thin joint, 

 strained with every motion; the latter a 

 long, wide joint, and remains almost mo- 

 tionless. 



The question now is. Where is the simi- 

 larity? Our statement in the February 

 issue was that "the upright bellows and tube 

 in form bore some resemblance," but in no 

 otiier respect are they similar. Can Quiz 

 find any other resemblance? 



p^ Chas. Hastings, of Carlville, Pa., 

 says he has a new plan for holding foun- 

 dation. He says, "I call it the convex 

 wedge slot; thus Y IM inch at surface, and 

 ^ inch deep. This form holds it so much 

 better than a saw kerf. A little resin put 

 into the dipping wax will be beneficial. No 

 patent." 



|U^~J. Oatman & Go's new Price List is 

 on our table, quoting figures for this sea- 

 son's operations. They are good men to 

 deal with, so far as we have ever heard, and 

 have a large advertisement in this issue. 



|^"In J. E. Cady's letter, on page 57, 

 Feb. No., read "I got 700 lbs. of honey and 

 sold it for $1SS. 



m^" Sixteen extra pages in this month's 

 Journal, and yet, for want of room, many 

 interesting Letters and Communications, 

 prepared for this issue, are crowded out! ! — 

 The proceedings of the North-Eastern Con- 

 vention did not come to hand till the 2.3d, 

 and then, in order to give it room, two 

 whole departments— Marketing, and Notes 

 and Queries — had to be omitted! 



We are in the midst of a great Revival; 

 thousands of bee-keepers, many of them 

 hitherto belonging to the class styled slov- 

 enly, being convinced of the folly of that 

 course, have made up their minds hereafter 

 to work scientifically. "Old things are 

 passing away," and out of the chaos is 

 emerging "the new order of things"— the 

 new heaven at intelligence, and the neio 

 earth of practical and scientific work! 



The breezes of this consternation have 

 already reached the consumers, who are 

 turning their attention to the value of 

 honey, as a medicine. Anciently its heal- 

 ing powers were acknowledged everywhere 

 —but of late, people have, in its stead, been 

 swallowing death-dealing drugs by whole- 

 sale. This Revival promises to reinstate 

 Honey in its jiroper place, as Nature's rem- 

 edy, pure and simple, for diseases of the 

 chest, lungs and stomach, as well as for 

 healing wounds, bruises, etc. 



As the Journal presents the old, as well 

 as the new converts, an opportunity of 

 "telling their experiences," it must enlarge 

 its borders, as occasion may require, even 

 if it takes sixteen extra pages, each month, 

 to accommodate tliem. 



The April number promises a rich feast 

 in every department. Our readers having 

 greatly increased since the new year, our 

 energy and courage is correspondingly 

 increased, and we, renewedly, devote our 

 attention alike to producer and consumer — 

 believing that their interests are identical. 



El^" Henry Alley, of Mass., and N. Cam- 

 eron, of Mo., say that they have, for years, 

 sent queens by mail, with a written letter, 

 paying letter postage on the package. — 

 When letter postage is paid on a package, 

 the contents being unknown to the Post 

 Master, he is under obligation to forward it 

 —and so they say they have had no trouble 

 about sending queens by mail. This evades 

 the letter of the law, but without further 

 light on the Postal law, we could not rec- 

 ommend its general adoption. We shall 

 investigate the new law about to be passed^ 

 as soon as we get a copy of it, and report la 

 the next Journal. 



