AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



195 



he replied, because 1 should not have 

 them if I did not. I tried your plan, 

 (of raising something else to buy berries 

 with) and we did not have, I presume, 

 more than a peck of berries during the 

 season, although they were plentiful in 

 the market. I could not buy more than 

 a quart or two at a time, and that went 

 against the grain, my bringing up on the 

 farm had been another kind. I could 

 not buy them freely. It was raise them 

 or go without. 



"Again, a well known agriculturist 

 sat with me at a hotel table. He had 

 been a farmer all his life, and is well off. 

 For a wonder, there was some real good 

 cheese on the table. Our friend helped 

 himself several times. He seemed to 

 like it very much. I said, "You do 

 act get good cheese down your way, I 

 guess, judging from the way you take 

 hold of that." His reply was: "They 

 have it at the groceries, but, to tell the 

 truth, as we do not make cheese we do 

 not have it on our table one week out of 

 the fifty-two." Now this farmer lives in 

 a house that cost at least $5000.00, and 

 has no lack of funds ; but although evi- 

 dently fond of cheese, he goes without it 

 because they do not produce it. His 

 bringing-up clings to him, and he cannot 

 use freely what must be bought for mon- 

 ey — don't you see? 



If this is the case among well-to-do 

 farmers, who could draw their checks 

 for thousands of dollars at any time, and 

 have them honored — how would it be 

 likely to be where there are two or three 

 ways for every dollar to go? 



I visited such a farmer, last winter. 

 He is not really poor, but is not yet out 

 of debt, and said he had hard work to 

 pay the interest and make both ends 

 meet. 



His wife told me that she had tried 

 every Spring to get her husband to set 

 out strawberry plants. He said ; "Oh! 

 we can buy strawberries cheaper than 

 we can raise them;" "And now," she 

 says, "how many do you think he 

 bought last year? not one single quart!" 

 Now this looks a little against that 

 friend, but I know how it was. He 

 thought in the Spring it was cheaper to 

 buy than to try to grow them, but when 

 it came time to buy, he hadn't the money 

 to spare. He felt as though he must 

 pay his debts instead of buying luxuries, 

 and that was honest and square. 



Just for this reason, thousands of 

 children and families will go without 

 honey and strawberries, unless they 

 produce them. Even if they are not in 

 debt, they may be sliort of money, and 



berry time will slip by and they will 

 not have any. 



Now, let us take human nature as we 

 find it, and urge every farmer to pro- 

 duce his own honey. 



Floyd, Texas. 



Foiil-Brool ComlJS'. 



K. L. TAYLOR. 



"1 send you a rough pencil sketch, giv- 

 ing something of my ideas of how it 

 should appear. I also send you a piece of 



ENLAKGED CELL — CELLS NATURAL SIZE. 



comb containing the diseased and dried 

 up larvse. To see the dead larvae to the 

 best advantage stand with your face to- 

 ward the point of the compass where the 

 sun is and hold the comb down in front of 

 you, with what was the lower edge away 

 from you, so that the sun lights up the 

 upper side, and scJthat your sight strikes 

 across it at an angle of 30 or 40 degs. 

 This will make the presence of the dis- 

 ease very evident." 



Following are comments made edito- 

 rially on the foregoing letter by Mr. 

 Root: 



In a former article Mi'. Taylor said: 

 "The dead brood is entirely dried up — 

 mere scales, almost the color of the comb 

 itself, lying fast to the lower sides of 

 the cell and drawn back more or less 

 from the opening." In the sample of 

 comb sent there seemed to bo a sort of 

 residue a little darker in color than the 

 comb itself, lying fast to the lower sides, 

 as explained. It is, perhaps, exagger- 

 ated a little bit in the engraving, but the 

 purpose is to show about how it lies on 

 the bottom sides of the cells, or what 

 are the bottom sides when in the hive. 

 It seems these scales are nothing but 

 maturated masses of foul brood dried 

 up, and which the bees are loath to clean 

 up. — Qlcanmgs. 



