The Swiss Honey-Cake. 



In all our travels in Europe we found 



honey on the hotel tables but in two 



countries — Switzerland and Italy. But 



a peculiar kind of honey-cake is always 



found on the dessert-plates of every 



"table d'ftoie," i. e. the dinner table 



where a regular course is served up at 



a stipulated price to all guests alike. 



The Continental Gazette, of August 28th, 



gives the following description of this 



honey-cake or "Leckerli," as it is 



called : 



Every tourist in Switzerland quickly be- 

 comes acquainted with the oblong little bis- 

 cuit compounded of honey, flour and certain 

 roots, which goes by the name of "Easier 

 Leckerli." He sees it invariably on the des- 

 sert-plates at every table d'hote ; the waiters 

 of the Basle hotels are almost certain to 

 thrust a packet of it upon his notice before 

 he leaves the city ; on his way to Basle or 

 on his way from it, at the buffets of nearly 

 every railway station in Alsace and Baden, 

 he will be confronted by a small glass case 

 with the superscription " Basler Leckerli," 

 or the French adaptation, "Leckerlis de 

 Bale." He may or may not be pleased with 

 the curious flavor of this widely-advertised 

 delicacy of the local confectioners, which is 

 as famous in Basle as the "Lebkerchen" in 

 Nuremberg and Bern, or the "Spanish bread" 

 in Baden. Here and there in the streets of 

 Basle he will come upon a manufactory of 

 the article— "Leckerli-fabrik" — the sight 

 of which will give him some conception of 

 the enormous quantities of this piece of con- 

 fectionery which are produced in the town 

 of Holbein and Erasmus. A Swiss " Cook's 

 Lexicone" gives no fewer than fifteen re- 

 cipes for the concoction of Leckerli, and the 

 popular dialectic poet of Basle, Theodor 

 Meyer Merian, has devoted an entire poem 

 to its history, qualities, and uses. The 

 greatest trade in it, however, is done during 

 the Christmas season. Thousands and thou- 

 sands of packets are then sent by the Swiss 

 to their friends and to children through the 

 post ; and it is said that a Switzer never 

 goes to Basle on a tour of business or pleasure 

 without being strictly charged by his wife 

 and children, " Be sure t© bring back a pack- 

 et of real Leckerli." 



tt3fWm. H. Kirk, of Waterbury, Conn., died in 

 September, after a week's illness. Mr. Kirk has been 

 an enthusiastic bee-keeper for at least 20 years. 



Michigan Convention'.— The Annual State Con- 

 vention of the Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 will be held at Jackson, Mich., on Wednesday Dec. 

 10, 1879. Come all. T. F. Bingham, Sec. 



t^~The Muscatine Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold their Annual Convention on the 19th and 20th of 

 November inst., at the court house, in the city of 

 Muscatine, Iowa. All members of this Association 

 are especially invited to attend our Annual Conven- 

 tion. L. Allen, Pres. 



483 



"Yankee" Advertising in London. 



From the London Echo of a recent 

 date we copy the following item, which 

 appeared in their city news under the 

 title of "A Dynamite 'Scare' in the 

 City:" 



Owing to alarming rumors in the locality, 

 and also it would seem, to direct complaints 

 on the part of some of the neighbors, the 

 premises occupied by the firm of H. K. and 

 F. B. Thurber and Co., 115 and 117 Cannon 

 street, City, were yesterday afternoon vis- 

 ited officially by Superintendent Foster, and 

 Inspector Carter, of the Metropolitan Police. 

 It would appear, so far as particulars of the 

 rumors and complaints are traceable to re- 

 liable sources that many of the passers-by 

 in this busy thoroughfare, on Friday after- 

 noon last, were seized with something ap- 

 proaching panic by observing, in prominent 

 letters, the word "Dynamite" on a large 

 number of wooden cases, then in course of 

 unloading from a van. As may readily be 

 supposed, from the well known fearfully de- 

 structive qualities of the article in question, 

 the passers-by did not linger on the way, 

 and the matter came to the ears of the po- 

 lice. Hence the offical visit to the prem- 

 ises yesterday. It will be satisfactory to 

 many who daily pass along this part of Can- 

 non street to know that their fears are 

 entirely groundless. The boxes in question, 

 however, far from containing dynamite, 

 really contain comb honey, the entire label 

 running, "Handle gently as dynamite, as a 

 drop of one inch will cause certain destruc- 

 tion to the contents." Such was the method 

 taken by the American firm to direct special 

 attention to the necessity of care in hand- 

 ling the boxes. 



I notice that by the addition of a 

 single letter "n"to "either" in my com- 

 munication on page 445 in the October num- 

 ber, I am made to say exactly the contrary 

 of what I wrote and meant. 



C. W. Taylor. 



AN EXPLANATORY CARD. 



Jerseyville, 111., Oct. 28, 1879. 



T. G. Newman, Esq., Chicago, 111. :— After reading 

 through carefully the circular of J. Y. Detweiler, of 

 Ohio, I find I have been wrongly influenced, and am 

 truly sorry for the part I have taken against you in 

 said circular, for I find they are all wrong. Please 

 publish this card in justice to myself. 



Truly yours, Elvin Armstrong. 



[We cheerfully give place to the above card from 

 Mr. Armstrong. Other parties, whose names appear 

 in that circular, have made the amende honorable. 

 But few can read the circular without discovering 

 that there is no real cause for complaint or for un- 

 kind words. "Truth is mighty and will prevail."— Ed. 1 



!t^~Mr. C. F. Muth received premiums on display, 

 quality, and merchantable shape of comb honey at 

 the Cincinnati, O. Exposition, last month. 



