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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



definite object in view. Take up some 

 question that you. wish decided, and j^ve 

 it earnest, continued thought. Think all 

 around it. Look at it from every side. 

 Gather information upon the subject from 

 every possible source; then think about it; 

 go over the ground over and over and over 

 again. Think about it so much that, if 

 you wake up in the night the subject will 

 come to you. There is such a thing as 

 acquiring skill in thinking out and decid- 

 ing difficult problems. As the thinking 

 is continued day after day, new thoughts 

 will come. They will pop into the mind 

 at a time and in such a way, almost un- 

 consciously, as it were, as to surprise one. 

 One thought is sure to lead to or suggest 

 another; and soon there is a foundation 

 upon which to build a new plan. When 

 sufficient thought is given to a matter it is 

 astonishing to notice how seldom a wrong 

 decision is made. It is wise to use all 

 possible sources for hints or suggestions, 

 and for means ot stimulating the mind. 

 To get the "seed thought," so to speak, is 

 the most difficult; the others follow on 

 quite easily; and it is to get this first 

 thought that all available means should 

 be employed. It is for this purpose large- 

 ly, that I now, as a bee-keeper, read the 

 bee-journals— not simply to be told ex- 

 actly how to do this or that, but for the 

 stimulative effect that it has upon my 

 mind. I get ideas, hints and suggestions 

 that set me to thinking. It is the same in 

 regard to the typographical work upon 

 the Review. Some of you ma3- remember 

 that soon after I started the Review, I 

 saw that some radical change must be 

 made if it were to prove a success. Care- 

 ful thought and investigation showed me 

 that the profits were all going to the 

 printer — that to succeed I must print it 

 myself. The best front room in my home 

 was given up for an office, materials 

 were purchased, and I set out to master 

 a new branch of industry — that of print- 

 ing. No one will ever know how I stud- 

 ied and worked, how I haunted the print- 

 ing offices and read the journals devoted 

 to printing. I went into it with all of the 



enthusiasm that I did when I began bee- 

 keeping. That enthusiasm is still with 

 me. I still read the typographical jour- 

 nals, and look over the leading magazines 

 of the day, but now it is more for the 

 stimulative effect upon the mind — for 

 suggestions. But few of the ideas are 

 carried out literally, but they hav-e their 

 influence upon my mind, and that, in 

 turn, has its effect upon the Review. 



Another important factor in the prob- 

 lem of success is that of thoroughness. 

 "Oh that is good enough," has kept 

 many a man from success. Nothing is 

 good enough so long as it can be made 

 better. When I was making the photo- 

 graphs, three years ago, for use in the 

 bee-keeping articles that I wrote for the 

 Cosmopolitan, I took infinite pains with 

 the work. My wife would often say 

 "Why, Will, that is good enough." So 

 long as I could see a fault I was not sat- 

 isfied. As soon as a negative was devel- 

 oped I would begin finding fault with it — 

 if I could. I never gave up until each 

 negative was as good as I could make it. 



I beg pardon for referring in this ego- 

 tistical manner to my own work; but I 

 have succeeded in some things, and I 

 know it, and I know hovv and why I have 

 succeeded, and if I can help others by the 

 telling of it, I think that I may be excus- 

 ed. 



One more illustration: When I decided 

 to put a new cover on the Review, and to 

 use colored ink, the questionsaro.se, what 

 kind of paper shall I use ? What color 

 shall it be ? What colored ink shall it be ? 

 Samples of all kinds and colors and styles 

 of cover paper were ordered. Specimen 

 sheets printed with ink of different colors 

 were also secured. After numerous com- 

 binations were considered, samples of 

 inks were ordered and used in printing 

 the front cover picture of the Review upon 

 specimens of the paper under considera- 

 tion, in order that I might see the exact 

 effect. In going about the city I was al- 

 ways noticing the colors in which houses 

 were painted and trimmed; in fact, 1 

 reached that point where I could put col- 



