148 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



June 



yourselves " progressive bee keepers." 

 Who would think it ? The Standard 

 defines Progressive as characterized 

 by " making or tending to make prog- 

 ress ; aiming at or encouraging prog- 

 ress ; making effort for advancement." 

 Your position does not verify your 

 assumption. Imagine men who con- 

 sider themselves " well-informed bee 

 keepers" resorting to the English 

 sparrow and similar bugbears to prej- 

 udice the undertaking. " Well-in- 

 formed bee keepers," indeed ! Why, 

 this was the very argument of a mis- 

 informed (I will not say ignorant) 

 farmer I met, and furthermoi-e he 

 said : " That bees were a nuisance ; 

 they eat his peaches, apples and grapes, 

 and if we had larger ones they would 

 not only eat his peaches, etc., but the 

 the pumpkins and everything eata- 

 ble." Thus do the two extremes 

 meet : the " well-informed bee keep- 

 er " and the mis-informed farmer. 

 Are they so much alike ? If so, then 

 from the " well-informed bee keeper," 

 Oh ! Lord, deliver us. The "reasons " 

 you advance are not in keeping with 

 the intelligence of our times, and in- 

 tended only to deceive, prejudice and 

 delay. Past events have left a shad- 

 ow, and although you are careful to 

 conceal it, the real reason for your 

 course is apparent. You may " fool 

 some bee keepers all of the time and 

 all bee keepers some of the time, but 

 you can not fool all the bee keepers 

 all the time." There is not one word 

 in the petition we would change. We 

 believe it has already been circulated 

 and signed by enough of the best and 

 really progressive bee keepers to jus- 

 tify us in every assertion. The gov- 

 ernment will get these bees if we ask 

 it. Would those who are engaged in 



other pursuits, if offered such an op- 

 portunity , hesitate or try to delay it ? 

 Oh ! shame. Here we are at the end 

 of the nineteenth century and you 

 think an undertaking " premature " 

 that has already been neglected too 

 long. We believe that God intended 

 man should ' ' subdue and have domin- 

 ion over " these beautiful honey bees, 

 and to neglect them, generation after 

 generation, is a sin. Why not import 

 these bees into our own country, where 

 we can test them in our own way, and 

 in our own time? Your " reasons" 

 are too absurd for further considera- 

 tion. The time has come for action. 

 We will not delay. 



"Art is long, and time is fleeting, 



And our hearts, though stout and brave, 

 Still, like mutlled drums, are beating 

 Funeral marches to the grave. 



In the world's broad field of battle, 



In the bivouac of life. 

 Be not like dumb, driven cattle ! 



Be a hero in the strife ! 



Trust no Future, how'er pleasant ! 



Let the dead Past bury its dead ! 

 Act, — act in the living Present I 



Heart within, and Crod o'erhead ! " 



Chapiuville, N. Y., May 18, 1896. 



VASSAR GIRLS AND ATHLETICS. 



All Vassar girls are fond of the well- 

 equipped gymnasium, but for out-of door 

 amusements perhaps their first choice is for 

 a fine long tramp over the hills, rowing or 

 skating on the neat little lake close by, or a 

 game on the tennis court. " We like to be 

 country girls and wear cotton dresses and go 

 without our hats," said one fresh-faced, 

 healthy student ; and the statistics of the 

 woman physician in the infirmary on the 

 top fljor, which is a complete little gem of 

 an infirmary, bear witness to the Vassar 

 girls' wise choice of recreative amusements. 

 Increasing interest in athletics has been 

 manifested the jiast year. Basket and bot- 

 tle ball teams liave been formed, and as the 

 college i.s situated far away from the town, 

 and the tennis and ball grounds are in the 

 shelter of the Plaisance, the students are 

 encouraged to this sort of exercise and al- 

 lowed to count it as time spent in the gym- 

 nasium. — From "A Day at Vassar," in 

 Demorest's Magazine for May. 



