THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



feel such an influence. Farmers come 

 in contact with Nature more than an\- 

 other class, yet the fraternal spirit of a 

 common pursuit can be scarcely said to 

 exist among them at all. 



Being under the influence of such a 

 spirit, it is no wonder that the readers of 

 the Review have so highly appreciated 

 the improvements in it; and said so man}' 

 nice things about it and its editor; and 

 that he has appreciated the same by suit- 

 able expressions of appreciation. Since 

 the editor of the Review has made such 

 a success of apicultural journalism, I re- 

 gret that the apicultural world is too 

 small for a man to fully expand in. The 

 agricultural world is large and wide and 

 in it there has long been a want for an 

 agricultural journal of the highest type — 

 national in character and gotten up in the 

 highest stj-le of the art of publishing. 

 Such a journal should be in every rural 

 home; and its influence to elevate, refine, 

 and ennoble would be great. Where is 

 the man that will do as well in agricvil- 

 tural journalism as friend Hutchinson has 

 done in apicultural journalism ? 



As to further improvements in the Re- 

 view, I would state that it seems to me 

 friend Hutchinson is fully equal to the 

 task of improvement, even without help 

 from his readers. Still, since he has ask- 

 ed for opinions in the matter, I will give 

 some ideas in relation to it that may be 

 of interest; hoping that I will not be con- 

 sidered too critical and over particular. 



Too nmch sameness is tiresome to the 

 eye and mind; hence, changes in the 

 make-up of a magazine, in certain respects, 

 should be made at the proper time. Wit- 

 ness how much better the cover of the 

 Review looks b}- the mere change in the 

 color. Even so small a change as the 

 rearrangement of headings of articles or 

 changes in the type of the same, has its 

 effect. Of course, the changes I have 

 reference to need to be made only at 

 certain intervals, determined by whether 

 they would be of advantage or not. 



The cover is an important feature of a 

 magazine; and if properly gotten up adds 



much to its attractiveness. It should be 

 neatly and tastily, but not extravagantly, 

 decorated; and the same should be the 

 case with the other parts of a magazine. 

 I am no friend of the slip-shod, tumble- 

 down-fence style of decoration. Some 

 artists seem to think that they are doing 

 a fine thing when they picture a country- 

 man as a crude looking affair, with long, 

 disheveled hair, over-loose, ill-fitting 

 clothes and coarse looking features. If 

 they illustrate a nice country residence 

 the}- are almost sure to spoil the picture 

 by having a worm fence, or a tumble-down 

 fence, or some other rude affair as a part 

 of the surroundings. They do not seem 

 to know that true art is not distortion, 

 but is purely natural. 



The title page, or rather the first page 

 of the reading matter, the upper part 

 of which answers to a title page, affords a 

 good chance for display of decorative art; 

 and even so simple a thing as the title 

 at the top of each page can be improved 

 by simple decoration, which I have seen 

 done. Right here let me ask why is it 

 that the word ' ' the ' ' is put in front of the 

 name of a magazine or paper as is often 

 done ? I do not suppose that such a thing 

 is ever thought of when the name is put 

 on a ship or locomotive, or probably any- 

 thing else. It always seems curious to 

 me. I prefer a rule between the columns 

 of the printed page. It takes away the 

 bare appearance of the vacant space. 

 Compare the second page of the cover 

 with the pages of reading matter. I think 

 a suitable border around each page would 

 be an improvement. Notice how much 

 more attractive those advertisements look 

 that have decorative borders. Even a 

 line around the page with decorative cor- 

 ners, would, I think, be an improvement. 



Engravings add greatl}^ to the value of 

 a publication, and I hope the editor of 

 the Review will continue to make them a 

 prominent feature of his magazine. I 

 very much admire the beautiful half tone 

 engravings, and am glad that the process 

 of producing them has been so far improv- 

 ed that they can be printed by fast work- 



