1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



107 



plants boing as thick as thoy can stand without 

 •crowdini;, is a satisfaction of itsalf. 



If you niiii<e much use of board No. 1, look 

 out they ai> moved into a now bed spaced with 

 No. ;J. jusi as soon as they begin to sutt'er from 

 crowding: and if No. 3 is to be used at all, pro- 

 •ceed in the same way. With these three boards 

 you can do ail your planting. We have beets 

 now coming up over the way in the greenhouse 

 in just beautiful shape, planted with board No. 

 1. We set strawberries with board No. 2. but 

 they are too close together. In a few days we 

 shall move them again and put them in a bed 

 spaced with No. 3. 



Now, don't you agree with me that I have 

 worked out a very nice little arrangement for 

 putting the plants in with mathematical pre- 

 cision? In fact, it is the same kind of mathe- 

 matics we find in tlie cell of the honey-comb. 

 Each plant is the center of a little he.xagon, 

 with plants all around it. 



Perhaps I should add. that board No. 3 is 

 a 14 in. lioard jjlaned down to ?i in. in thick- 

 n'^ss; and to prevent warping there are several 

 % battens across the back of it at intervals. 

 No. 1 is simply a % board. No. 3 is made of 

 slats l^jX^g. We prefer slats because they are 

 lighter than the board, and a board so wide 

 would be liable to warp. ' _:i 



Another thing, in setting plants a foot apart 

 we often have to dig quite a cavity — this is the 

 case with strawbeiries where we take them up 

 with transplanting-tubes. Well, after having 

 made this cavity it is not easy to get the plant 

 just where the knob made the mark: but by 

 pressing No. 3 into the bed so the slats of which 

 it is made also make their imprint, you have a 

 guide for placing the plant exactly where it 

 ought to stand. 



And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 

 ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that 

 whosoever Ijelievetli in him should nut perish, but 

 have eternal life.— John 3:14, 15. 



In the 21st chapter of Numbers there is a 

 brief little story told us. It is told in a very 

 few words, and with little or no comment, and 

 yet it teaches a wonderful lesson. Let us take 

 it up verse by verse. 



And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way 

 of the Red sea, to compass )he land of Edom: and 

 the soul of the people was much discouraged be- 

 cause of the way. 



Let us consider that God was leading this 

 people. In fact, they had abundant evidence 

 of it, not only by a succession of miracles, but, 

 if I am correct, by an ever-present miraculous 

 manifestation— a pillar of cloud by day, and a 

 pillar of fire by night. The people all knew 

 that they were under God's immediate and di- 

 rect guidance, and yet they became restless and 

 impatient. There is something peculiarly 

 touching and pathetic in that expression, "The 

 soul of the people was much discouraged be- 

 cause of the way." In the margin we see the 

 word might be translated " grieved " or " short- 

 ened." Neither did they keep their discourage- 

 ment to themselves. Let us read the next 

 verse. 



And the people spake against God, and against 

 Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of 

 Egypt to die in the wilderness ? for there is no bread, 

 neither is there any water; and our soul loathetli 

 this light bread. 



The people murmured and complained. They 

 even "spake against God." Let us go back a 

 little. They had formerly been slaves under 

 Pharaoh. They were a wonderfully strong, 

 vigorous, and athletic people, those Israelites. 

 Pharaoh had discovered it, and he had discov- 

 ered, too, that they were men of coiu-age. and 

 might prove troublesome if he let them get the 

 upper hand: therefore he gave them the very 

 hardest tasks— perhaps kept them on public im- 

 provements: and for fear they might rise up 

 and rebel they were ground down and kept 

 down. Very likely it would not have been pos- 

 sible to keep them in such subjection otherwise, 

 for they were a rebellious and stiff-necked peo- 

 ple, as we are told. Hut even while in this ab- 

 ject slavery they were under God's immediate 

 care and notice. Without question, deliverance 

 would have come before, had they not been re- 

 bellious and contrary toward him. They were 

 descendants, we are to remember, of the breth- 

 ren who used their younger brother Joseph in 

 such a cowardly way. God doubtless saw fit to 

 let them writhe and groan under the bondage 

 of Pharaoh: hut in his own good time, how- 

 ever, he sent them deliverance through Moses 

 by a series of wonderful miracles; and with 

 scarcely an effort on their own part they were 

 delivered from the hand of Pharaoh. Surely 

 they must have known what liberty meant, aft- 

 er their great trials. They were free, out un- 

 der God's blue skies, and rejoicing in his sun- 

 shine. Nay, more than this. They were told 

 of a promised land, even the land of Canaan. 

 By the way. what has become of that good old 

 hymn of our childhood — 



O Canaan, bright Canaan! 



I'm bound for the land of Canaan ? 



These people were on the way to the land of 

 Canaan. The way was not easy, however, and 

 they were called upon to push their way through 

 many difficulties. Why could they not have 

 recognized that God knew best? Why could 

 they not, in a manly way, have pushed into and 

 through difficulties, without murmur or com- 

 plaint? Oh dear me! Why can't (ce. with this 

 bright and beautiful world before us, push 

 ahead with more manliness and courage, in- 

 stead of grtimbling and complaining against 

 the great God who is trying to lead us? Do 

 some of you look up and question ? Why, to be 

 .sure he is trying to lead us. just exactly as he 

 tried to lead the Israelites. But part of us 

 think we know more than God does; and anoth- 

 er part are contrary and stubborn, and would 

 not be led any way if they thought God- had 

 any thing to do with it. Poor MosesI They 

 were not permitted to see and talk with God, so 

 they vented their spleen by continual grum- 

 blings against Moses, the God-appointed leader 

 and law-giver. I wonder if they had learned 

 by past experience that nothing vexed Moses 

 more than to have them get on that old strain, 

 and declare they would rather b-^ back in Egypt 

 than to put up with the hardships he called 

 upon them to endure. They said, •* Wherefore 

 have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in 

 the wilderness ?"' This was a most flagrant and 

 glaring untruth. Moses brought them out of 

 Egypt, from a terrible bondage, into the most 

 wonderful freedom, to live. Why. their freedom 

 was like unto that of the I'nited States of 

 America. No king like Pharaoh held them at 

 all. In fact, nothing and not)ody stood between 

 tliem and Ood. They were to obey God's will, 

 and they were accountable to him and to no one 

 else. They had not, however, very much of the 

 spirit of Peter when he said, " We ought to obey 

 God rather than men." But they did not see 

 it. They had got into a chronic fashion of 

 grumbling, and so they did not know when they 

 were well off. They said there was not any 



