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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



a beautifully bracing morning, with just 

 enough chill in the air to make one en- 

 joy life. Nothing occurred on the jour- 

 ney to mar the enjoyment, only the con- 

 stant and ever-present fear of a break- 

 down. Such roads ! It was like travel- 

 ing down the bed of a dry creek, in 

 many places. My heart went out in 

 pity to the poor farmers, and to their 

 horses for having to travel over such 

 roads, until I bethought me that the 

 former was responsible for them, in a 

 great measure, by putting men on their 

 Divisional Boards who do not know 

 enough about road-making to make a 

 decent track for a billy-goat. 



As we got farther from home, my fears 

 increased, and at last I ventured to ask 

 my friend, the owner of the buggy, if he 

 had formulated any scheme as to what 

 should be done if wo broke an axle. 

 " Case of walking then," he said, where- 

 upon I suggested that it would be a 

 waste of energy for both of us to walk, 

 and that if he would just borrow a sad- 

 dle from some settler near at hand, I 

 would be willing to ride horse-back, and 

 he would then have nothing to trouble 

 him. He said that was very good of me, 

 but he looked at me as if he didn't quite 

 think so. I think it would have been a 

 good way out of the difficulty, besides it 

 was a labor-saving idea. However, 

 nothing of the kind happened, and at 

 length, after a drive of about an hour 

 and a half, we arrived at our destina- 

 tion, and were heartily welcomed by Mr. 

 and Mrs. D. Jones. I superintended the 

 work of unharnessing and stabling the 

 horse — I like to be good to animals that 

 serve us faithfully — and then we were 

 invited to "come up stairs and have a 

 look round." 



Mr. Jones' house is built on a com- 

 manding eminence, and a magnificent 

 view of forest, farms, hills and dales is 

 obtainable from the balconies which 

 " jut " out from each side of the build- 

 ing on the upper story. Here a splendid 

 telescope was brought out, and the eye, 

 by its aid, commanded a scene which it 

 would take a small volume to describe. 

 We were assured by our host that parts 

 of the city of Brisbane can be distin- 

 guished on exceptionally clear days. 

 While we were thus feasting our eyes 

 with visions of Nature's loveliness, Mrs. 

 Jones had been preparing a feast of 

 another kind, to which we were sum- 

 moned, and of which, after our drive, 

 we were nothing loth to partake. 



"That's Harry's place over there," 

 said our host, pointing to a house on 

 another hill— something over half a mile 

 away. "Would you like to take a walk 



over ?" I was inclined to suggest to my 

 fellow traveler that I didn't mind watch- 

 ing him yoke up, but a question as to 

 whether there was a road fit for a buggy 

 between the two places, brought such a 

 look from him that I concluded the walk 

 wouldn't hurt us. I was the more con- 

 firmed in this when he, not thinking 

 how sharp a pressman's ears are, mut- 

 tered something about unmitigated 

 cheek ! 



"I'll tell Harry we will be over in 

 about an hour," said our host. Pretty 

 good lungs, thought I, and not afraid to 

 use them ; but I hadn't noticed then 

 that there was a telephone wire stretch- 

 ed between the two houses. Harry was 

 wrung up, and, after the usual " Are 

 you there?" etc., "Mr. So-and-so and 

 You-know-who from the Advocate will 

 be over in an hour ; get those bees of 

 yours on their good behavior." 



" All right ;" and we were expected at 

 the great bee-farm of Mr. H. L. Jones, 

 of Mel Bonum fame. 



Then followed a look around the farm 

 and orchard. I was inclined to linger 

 about the fernery, which is situated just 

 off the verandah, at the rear of the 

 house; it looked so invitingly refresh- 

 ing, with its beautiful, delicate, lace- 

 like greenery, as compared with the 

 wintry-brown of the surrounding bush. 

 But that awful word "copy," which 

 rings in a pressman's ears wherever he 

 may be, caused rae to rise reluctantly off 

 the lounge whereon I had thrown my- 

 self, and follow on. I stipulated to our 

 host that he was not to ring in any of 

 his lock-jaw botanical names on me, or 

 I would go on a strike, and though in 

 this respect "relations became some- 

 what strained," from force of habit, I 

 suppose, he kept his covenant fairly 

 well. I looked suspiciously at him once 

 or twice — once when I got hold of a, to 

 me, new kind of vegetable all covered 

 with spines, and inquired its name. 

 "Cboco," and, noticing my look, "no 

 that's all right ; that's its common or 

 garden name." I didn't like to show 

 my ignorance after this, and, though I 

 suspected him of backing down on me 

 now and then, I never let on, but asked 

 questions, and gained an immensity of 

 knowledge of fruits and vegetables of 

 various kinds. 



There can be no two opinions about 

 Mr. Jones' enthusiasm as an agricul- 

 turist and horticulturist, nor of his un- 

 selfishness in experimenting with plants 

 of various kinds, and giving the results 

 of his experience with them to others. 

 He has done good service to Queensland 

 by demonstrating the capabilities of her 



