148 



THE MJVIERICMN mmm JOURNStr. 



Bas»<i^roo<l or Liiiiden Honey. — 



On page 104 we stated tliat we hoped the 

 controversy would there end, but as Mr. 

 McKnight thinks he should be heard in re- 

 ply, we admit one more article from each 

 disputant, and then positively close the dis- 

 cussion in our columns. Mr. McKnight 

 writes thus : 



Me. Editor:— You have virtually put 

 your foot down on any attempt at further 

 controversy between Dr. Mason and myself, 

 on the alleged superiority of Canadian lin- 

 den honey over American linden honey. 

 Under ordinary circumstances 1 should say 

 you are right in doing so ; but the Doctor, 

 in his last article, goes entirely outside the 

 question, and treats me so badly, that 1 ask 

 your indulgence for a little space to reply, 

 promising not to trouble you on the subject 

 again. 



1 am free to admit that 1 often say things 

 that would be better unsaid, nevertheless 

 when speaking to the public, through the 

 press or otherwise, 1 endeavor 



To guard my words with jealous cares, 

 Least Bogles catch me unawares. 



I have not forgotten to do so when writing 

 on this subject, and have therefore nothing 

 to retract. The " Circular" that furnishes 

 so much delight to the Doctor, supplies him 

 with no proof that I have at any time " mis- 

 stated tacts." Copious as are his extracts 

 from it, he has failed to tind one to support 

 his contention. Somebody has addled the 

 Doctor's brain by furnishing him with this 

 (more than two years old) "Bee-King Cir- 

 cular," the existence of which 1 had almost 

 forgotten, as 1 have not seen one of them 

 since I lett London ; nevertheless I ac- 

 knowledge the fidelity of his quotations 

 from it. 



Since he got the Circular, he is wild with 

 delight. He shakes it in my face, exclaim- 

 ing : " Ha ! my man, I have got you now ! 

 Did you not challenge me a year ago ' to 

 name a solitary Canadian (apart from Mr. 

 Pettit) who had made the statement tUat 

 Canadian linden honey is better than the 

 American article ?' Here, sir, 1 have the 

 proof that ' you're another,' and if you are, 

 'what must we think of the man who 

 makes such a claim and then denies Ic " 



Verily, the Doctor is bringing things to 

 an unpleasant crisis ; but let him " bide 

 awee," and retlect, when he will find that 

 his "Circular" evidence will not hold in 

 court. I did say that Mr. Pettit made the 

 claim, and I reply to the Doctor's query by 

 assuring him that I do " throw all the re- 

 sponsibility of claiming superiority for 

 Canadian linden honey on Mr. Pettit," and 

 on Mr. Pettit alone— ignoring all responsi- 

 bility of doing so myself, and I assert that 

 the Doctor has no proof in the circular to 

 the contrary. 1 made no such claim in 

 England. 1 made no such claim elsewhere. 

 1 have, on the other hand, stood up at one 

 of our own conventions, and defended the 

 high quality of your linden honey when Mr. 

 Pettit claimed superiority for ours. 



I could not then, and 1 cannot now see, 

 why linden trees growing on the south bank 

 of the St. Clair river, should yield an in- 

 ferior article in honey, than the same kind 

 of trees growing on the north bank yield. 



I could not then, and I cannot now see, 

 why the honey from linden trees growing in 

 Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylva- 

 nia and New York, should be inferior to 

 honey from linden trees growing in Ontario. 



" But how," the Doctor asks, " does this 

 conduct compare with the language you use 

 in your puhlislied interview with the editor 

 of tlie Pull ^rllU Qnzeltc ? Did you not say 

 to him, ' We think that all who visit our ex- 

 hibit at the Ciilonies will admit that for 

 color, fliwor and specific grnvlty, we throw 

 all other honeys in tlie shade ?' " Yes, we 



did, and I am willing to father the statement 

 and abide its consequences. 



The Doctor will please bear in mind that 

 In this we spoke of our exhibit as it stood. 

 We spoke of our collection of honey, and of 

 its quality as a sample of our general pro- 

 duct, and not of the merits of linden alone. 

 We took the position that we can beat the 

 world (which, in llie Doctor's opinion, 

 means the United States) In the high grade 

 of quality of our honey products; and we 

 are prepared t(J maintain that position. We 

 frankly admit that the linden and white 

 clover honey of the northern States is as 

 good as ours from the same sources, but 

 there is a much larger occupied pasture 

 lield, and a much wider range in the honey- 

 producing flora in the United States than 

 there is in Canada. We get nothing but the 

 best ; you get much that is inferior, hence 

 the Canadian honey is higher in its average 

 grade, than the average grade of the Ameri- 

 can world. 



The Doctor will hardly take the position 

 that the honey of the Gulf States, and Cali- 

 fornia honey is as good as that produced in 

 Michigan, New York and Ohio. He will 

 not deny that these and similarly situated 

 States take as good honey as the world can 

 produce. The high grade of these States is 

 lowered by admixture with an inferior arti- 

 cle from other parts of the Union, thereby 

 lowering the average grade of the country. 

 Our surplus comes almost entirely from the 

 same sources, whence you derive your best, 

 viz : white clover, linden and thistle. Our 

 average being as good as your best samples, 

 and your best being as good as the " world " 

 can produce, it follows that our honey in its 

 average quality is the best in the " world ;" 

 hence the honesty, the propriety, and the 

 truth of our claim as set out in the words 

 quoted from the " Bee-King Circular." 



The only other world we had in view 

 when this claim was made, was the British. 

 We had seen the products of most of her 

 Colonies on the ground ; and they could 

 not " hold a candle " to ours. We had seen 

 and tasted English honey— -so highly prized 

 by her people. Its flavor is good, but its 

 color is murky. We had not yet seen the 

 famed Scottish heather honey, "but through 

 the kindness of our lamented brother, the 

 late Mr. Raitt, we were afterwards supplied 

 with a sample. In flavor, no other honey is 

 like it, and no other honey can be compared 

 with it. In color it is as dark as molasses. 



When the Doctor next tackles me, let him 

 stick to the text. It is upon the relative- 

 merits of linden honey the question hinges, 

 and 1 nail him to that tree. 



As to the great yield of our linden, I can 

 only say, that the phenomena of observing 

 honey-drops chasing one another down the 

 cheeks of basswood bloom, is not observable 

 around Owen Sound. It may be seen in the 

 neighborhood of Beeton, for aught I know. 



That superior " honey-belt " bothers the 

 Doctor a good deal. I assure him that such 

 there is ; and that Ontario lies within it. It 

 is not bounded by parallels of latitude ; but 

 isothermal lines, within which the mean 

 temperature is much the same, and within 

 which there grows and flourishes the best 

 honey-producing flowers. 



I am pleased to know that the circular has 

 done the Doctor some good. It has added 

 to his geographical knowledge, by furnish- 

 ing him with the tact that Canada is larger 

 than the United States ; though I greatly 

 fear it has disturbed him not a little to learn 

 this. He "snioles" a smile over our 

 alleged claim that Ontario lies within the 

 United States ; surely the Doctor knows 

 this is a mistake. If he does not, let me as- 

 sure him that the delegates, one and all, 

 would rather be situatedoutside the " honey 

 belt" than in theUnion. 



Thank you, Mr. Editor, for your indul- 

 gence, while I bow and retire from the 

 field. R. McKnioiit. 



Owen Sound, Out., Feb. 17, 1S89. 



In order to close this controversy In this 

 issue, we here give the reply of Dr. Mason 

 as follows : 



Mr. Editor :— I am glad indeed that you 

 have concluded to let our friend McKnight 

 " kick " once more before he surrenders, for 

 I felt pretty sure he would dodge the issue, 

 and give me a " wild goose chase." I am 

 in the same fix that he is, in regard to say- 

 ing things that were better unsaid, and 1 

 thought after my article on page 103 had 

 been sent to you, that perhaps 1 was a little 

 too severe on him, but I had either to furnish 

 the proof for my statements, or be willing 

 to admit that Mr. McKnight was right when 

 he said, " Dr. Mason misstates the facts," 

 etc., and I think that it would have been 

 better for him if he had kept in mind the 

 fact that tangible and solid " corporosity " 

 was of more account than " Bogles." 



I am not aware of having accused Mr. 

 McKnight of " misstating the facts," but he 

 accused rac of doing it, and "challenged" 

 me " to name a solitary Canadian (apart 

 from Mr. Pettit) " who has " sought to de- 

 stroy confidence in the good qualities of 

 American basswond honey, and claim 

 superiority for their own ;" and the main 

 object I had in view in writing the article 

 on page 103 of the Bee Journal was, to 

 furnish the evidence that he "challenged" 

 me to produce ; and if the " Bee-King Cir- 

 cular'' produces such an "addling" effect 

 upon a Yankee, what must have been its 

 effect upon the tens of thousands of English, 

 and others who read it ? 



But, as what is in the circular seems, ac- 

 cording to Mr. McKnight, to have such an 

 "addling" effect on him, perhaps evidence 

 from the " Old Reliable, " that never " ad- 

 dles" any one's brain, will convince him 

 that he has " put his foot iu it." 



On page 694 of the Ajierican Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1S86, in speaking of the Ontario 

 honey exhibit in London, it says : " It has 



come over in charge of a deputation who 



are on a visit to this country with a view 



to open the English market to the best honey 

 in the world, as they constantly describe 

 the article which they have on view." 



To me, that alone i« conclusive evidence 

 that somebody besides Mr. Pettit did claim 

 that Canadian honey was better than 

 American, and one of the somebodys was 

 Mr. McKnight. 



Instead of being "wild with delight," as 

 he says, since getting the circular, my heart 

 is saddened at the spectacle he makes of 

 himself in saying, "I made no such claim 

 in England." I could furnish other evidence 

 of the fact that " the deputation " did make 

 the above claim, and will do so further on. 

 When a person's brain gets in such condi- 

 tion that he can deliberately say that he 

 does not care what a person " may say or 

 think of him," as Mr. McKnight does about 

 Mr. Pettit, on page 100, evidence is of no 

 account to him, for as he says, such "evi- 

 dence will not bold in court." 



He credits me with stronger language 

 than I had thought of, but I guess he had it 

 about right when he makes me say, " Ha ! 

 my man, I have got you now." 



I do not wonder that he " throws all the 

 responsibility" on some one else (Mr. 

 Pettit, for instance), and "ignores all re- 

 sponsibility " himself. Mr. Pettit never 

 denied claiming superiority for Canadian 

 honey, as I know ot. 



As I read along in Mr. McKnight's article, 

 I am more and more amazed. He first de- 

 nies all " responsibility of claiming super- 

 iority for Canadian linden honey," and then 

 a few lines further on says, " Yes, we did 

 say to the editor of the Pall Mali Budget 



'We think that for color, fl-avor and 



specific gravity, we throiv all other hnneys 

 in tlie shade,' and I am willing to father 

 the statement, and abide its consequences." 

 If "color, flavor and speciflc gravity " does 

 not constitute quality, what does ? 



