18 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



hives, sections or comb foundation. 

 We used to hear bee-keepers saj' they 

 "couldn't atford" to buy foundation, 

 just as though it were akixurj^of some 

 kind. As well might the merchant 

 say he couldn't afford to buy goods, 

 the manufacturer that he could'nt 

 afford to buy anything that brings him 

 in more money. If what a man buys 

 brings in more than it costs, then it is 

 a profitable thing to buy — it is not a 

 luxury. If it brings in less than it 

 costs, then it is unprofitable to buy it, 

 and its use should be shunned, unless 

 it is bought because of the pleasure 

 that comes from its use. For 15.00 a 

 man can get about all of the journals 

 there are published in this country, 

 and, if he ever expects to make a suc- 

 cess of bee-keeping, or make as great 

 a success as he might make, he will 

 spend his first and last dollar for these 

 journals. When I was keeping bees, 

 before I began publishing the Review, 

 I read all of the journals published, 

 and found it profitable to do so. Some- 

 times one little item alone was worth 

 dollars and dollars to me. A man 

 can't know too much about his own 

 business; and he who can't afford to 

 buy or read a bee journal, will never 

 become a bee-keeper worthy of the 

 name. He who would succeed, simply 

 can't afford not to read the journals — 

 he must do it. 



ADVANTAGES OF ORDER AND 

 SYSTEM. 



Let me give an illustration or two 

 regarding the value of order and 

 system. Since I began publishing the 

 Review the cuts have been accumulat- 

 ing until now there must be two or 

 three bushels of them. Until recently 

 they have been piled on long shelves 

 in a big cupboard. Whenever I wished 

 to find a cut I had to look them all 

 over, pile them over and over, until the 

 desired one was found. I have looked 

 as long as half an hour before finding 

 the one that was wanted. Now they 



are arranged in a large cabinet, and 

 indexed, and I can find any particular 

 cut in half a minute. 



I am sure that I do my office-work 

 in one-half the time, and with greater 

 pleasure, than I did before I had it 

 thoroughly systemized and equipped 

 with labor-saving devices. My desk 

 stands in the corner, with its back 

 against the north wall of the room. 

 At my left is the west wall, and, firm- 

 ly attached to this wall, is a little 

 shelf upon which stands my typewriter. 

 I sit in an office chair that has a re- 

 volving seat, which enables me to turn 

 instantly, without rising, either to the 

 typewriter, or the desk. At the left 

 of the typewriter stands the dictionary 

 in a holder. In the lower part of the 

 desk, at both the right and the left, is 

 a tier of drawers, each drawer being 

 devoted to some particular use. At the 

 right of the desk stands a cabinet fitted 

 with shelves for holding all of the bee 

 journals, each in iis place. On top of 

 the cabinet is the letter press, in which 

 is kept the book into which are copied 

 all of the letters I write. In front of me, 

 above where I write, are 28 pigeon holes, 

 each labeled according to the use to 

 which it is to be used. Above these 

 pigeon-holes is a book-case, containing, 

 among other things, a complete set of 

 back volumes of the Review, substan- 

 tially bound. Before getting these 

 bound, how many, many times have I 

 had to hunt and hunt for some particu- 

 lar issue. On top of the book-case 

 stand a row of letter files containing all 

 of the letters I receive — all arranged 

 alphabeticall3'. I can find any letter 

 in half a minute. On the left end of my 

 desk, to the right of the typewriter, stand 

 a series of boxes, or trays, in which is 

 kept the subscription list of the Review, 

 the names being written on cards that 

 stand upon their edges in the boxes just 

 mentioned. Colored cards with pro- 

 jecting tabs upon their upper edges 

 project above the general upper line of 

 the cards. Upon these projecting tabs 



