THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



231 



recognize the propriety and justice 

 in a reward for merit and intellect- 

 ual labor, in so much as you have sent 

 out many dollars to ditferent ones 

 who have invented valuable de- 

 vices. The only difference I can 

 see between these acts of yours and 

 the patent system is, that in your 

 case you are at both ends of the 

 bargain, while with that of the pat- 

 entee it takes two to make the bar- 

 gain. The office assigns to him the 

 privilege to fix the amount of re- 

 ward for his intellectual labors. If 

 all mankind had a clear perception 

 of justice, and were honest enough 

 to do that justice to all, no 

 laws would be needed ; but, alas ! 

 such is not the case ; and until it 

 is, we must have the expenses, 

 trouble, and hatred growing out of 

 enacting and enforcing said laws. 

 Some persons have an honorar}' 

 standard of inventors' rights. We 

 have several supply dealers who do 

 not, and will not make and sell the 

 inventions of a brother so long as 

 he is engaged in the manufacture 

 and sale of them, except as they 

 buy of him tosell again. Our sense 

 of justice recognizes a moi'al qual- 

 ity about such men that leads us to 

 deal with them, while the far-seeing 

 are afraid to send their cash with 

 their orders to parties who sit idl}- 

 in the shade, and sleep the sleep of 

 the sluggard, until some more in- 

 dustrious brother, by unceasing en- 

 ergy, wrenches from nature a 

 valuable secret, and then hasten to 

 divide the natural profits of that 

 secret. So far as I know of patents 

 upon implements in our line, 1 do 

 not knovv of a single case where one 

 cent is added to the price of the 

 article because of the patent. So 

 far as I have witnessed, the infringe- 

 ments are, in price and quality, 

 just what I should expect would 

 come from him who is determined 

 to live upon the merits of others, 

 and openly violate the laws of his 

 country, in the hope of accruing a 



few illegal dollars. That the inven- 

 tor of an article (whether he have it 

 patented or not) should make the 

 best job for the price is to be ex- 

 pected. He entertains greater 

 pride in the article and its success. 

 No one understands all its bearings 

 better than he. If he had it pat- 

 ented, knowing that all the reputa- 

 tion it gains must redound to his 

 exclusive interest and honor, he is 

 all the more anxious to advertise it 

 by the best material and workman- 

 ship. 



I want the readers of Gleanings 

 to look at this question fairly. No 

 matter what may or may not seem 

 to be your interest in the matter, 

 let your principle stand first, and 

 do justice to all in thought, speech, 

 and act. — Gleanings. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



It seems quite strange to glance 

 over the pages of the Australian 

 bee journal for August and find 

 the editor talking about winter 

 weather while it is so warm here, 

 and his suggestions regarding 

 the spring care of the bees are 

 quite valuable. Indeed, we are 

 pleased to note the steady im- 

 provement of this journal as it 

 gives evidence of an increasing in- 

 terest in apiculture. 



— We would urge upon the bee- 

 keepers who attend the convention 

 this fall, the necessity of careful 

 action upon all matters pertaining 

 to the welfare of apiculture. It is 

 upon you that the masses of bee- 

 keepers who cannot attend depend 

 for justice, and apiculture will be 

 just what you make it. Social 

 gatherings of beekeepers are all 

 well in their place, but conventions 

 are called for the purpose of tran- 

 sacting business and no matters of 

 importance should be neglected or 

 slighted. 



