810 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



or a little less than four cents by the quantity '? 

 Well, this is the way they do it: They take 

 green logs, about four feet long. These are 

 put into a big turning-lathe, with the requisiie 

 machinery, to pare off a thin veneer of wood, 

 much in the way your mother pares a long 

 potato. The log keeps rolling in the lathe, 

 while the sharp keen blade works closer and 

 closer toward the center. The shaving that 

 comes off is about like a roll of wall-paper. In 

 fact, the whole operation is like pulling off the 

 end of a strip of wall-paper so as to unroll a big 

 roll. Then these big sheets of wood, like unto 

 paper or thin pasteboard, are cut into strips or 

 basket splints by machinery. Expert women 

 weave these splints together so as to make the 

 bottom of the basket. Then a boy takes this 

 bottom, with the splints sticking straight out 

 all around, and pushes it into a form so that 

 the splints stand straight up — or, rather, 

 straight up oft' on a diagonal. Then he winds a 

 piece of heavier stuff around the basket, so as 

 maKe the hoop that goes around the edge. 

 This is all done with such lightning-like rapid- 

 ity that you can hardly see the motions of his 

 hands. Before commencing he tills his mouth 

 with tacks. It made me think of the boy I 

 have read of, who, while tisliing, carried the 

 bait in his mouth, so as to have it handy and in 

 good condition. I wondered if the sharp tacks 

 did not prick his tongue. He looked very 

 pleasant and good-natured about it, if it did. 

 But the most wonderful part of it all was 

 to see those tacks get out of his mouib and 

 into the rim of the basket, just in time to catch 

 the quick strokes of the light hammer he held 

 in his hand. Why, before you could say "Jack 

 Robinson" every nail was in its place, and 

 clinched down at that. Then he tossed the 

 basket over to a man with a great big sharp 

 buzz-saw. The basket was crowded into a 

 square box, and pushed against the saw until 

 allthe splints sticking out, and a little of the 

 rim, were nicely trimmed. Then the buzz-saw 

 man tossed the basket over his head, and it dis- 

 appeared somewhere in the upper air. After- 

 ward we found a person in the loft above who 

 caught the basket as it came up through the 

 hole in the floor, and handed it to some women 

 who nailed on the handle. There is your bas- 

 ket — labor, tacks, and timber, thrown in, all for 

 less than four cents. As these baskets are very 

 bulky and unwieldy to ship, at the same time 

 being of very small value for the space they 

 occupy, it seems almost necessary that they be 

 made right in the fruit-regions, so the fruit- 

 grower can back his wagon up at the door and 

 take his baskets straight to the peach-orchards 

 to be filled. 



The fishing and the baskets made me so late 

 that I decided to take a ride home after night. 

 .Just as I had begun to feel the exhilaration of 

 drawing in great breaths of fog-laden air as I 

 passed through the low lands (you know 1 have 

 mentioned this to you before), I came up out of 

 the valley and saw a farmer and his wife going 

 somewhere by the light of a lantern. It made 

 me think of my father and mother, away back 

 on the old farm. I decided that they must be 

 going to meeting. Pretty soon a little church 

 with a lighted lantern in front proved my sur- 

 mises to be correct. Quite an audience had 

 gathered, and they were singing one of my 

 favorite hymns. Although I did not know the 

 name of the town, nor what denomination these 

 people belonged to, it was a real pleasure to 

 join with them in worship. I had been away 

 from home three days in the middle of the 

 week, and found a prayer-meeting or preaching 

 each evening. The good pastor noticed a 

 stranger among his people, and it was my priv- 

 ilege to give my testimony with the rest. Now, 



dear friends, so long as it is true that Christian' 

 people are gathering together all over our land,, 

 in every little town, and on almost every day of 

 the week, to worship God and to ask his guid- 

 ance, our country is not so very far gone in 

 wickedness and iniquity. " Ye are the salt of 

 the earth." " Ye are the light of the world." 



And be ye kind one to another, forgiving- each, 

 other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. — 

 Eph. 4:32. 



I have many times felt sad to think that it is- 

 not possible for me to look over all of our cor- 

 respondence and business deal, and give direc- 

 tions for its management, as I used to in years- 

 gone by. We have plenty of willing helpers, 

 providing they knew just exactly what 1 want- 

 ed done, or what I would have done under spe- 

 cial or peculiar circumstances. A little trans- 

 a,ction that came up a few days ago has induc- 

 ed me to take up the subject which our 

 beautiful little text above covers somewhat. 

 I'erhaps I may remark that a certain class of 

 letters, espiecially if complaining letters, usual- 

 ly come directly to me. The one below is of 

 that class. We give only the initials instead of 

 the full name, because we would not willingly 

 hurt any brother's feelings, or give him pain: 



Mr. itoof:— Yours of the lOtli inst. is received. As 

 I stated before, I will send the tliree doliiirs just as 

 soon as 1 can, whicli will be after I gather my crop 

 — not because it is justly due you, but because class 

 laws will g-ive you the privilege of collecting: it. 



U. H. W. 



1'. S.— Head the flfth chapter of James. 



In the first place we try to have it distinctly 

 understood that our establishment never wants 

 a copper from anybody unless it is justly due; 

 and, as a rule, we would not want any thing 

 unless the debtor also agreed that it was justly 

 our due. I do not know just exactly what 

 friend W. means by "class law;" but his post- 

 script, where he directs me to the fifth chapter 

 of James, would indicate that he stands with 

 quite a large class of people who have recently 

 got into a way of laying all the troubles that 

 beset our nation at the present time to the fact 

 — or at least they call it a fact — that the rich, 

 or the men of capital, if you choose, monopo- 

 lize not only the property, but make our laws. 

 I have not time nor space here to enter into a 

 discussion of this matter. If friend W. would 

 pay me a visit I think he would be satisfied 

 that my dress, appearance, and habits do not 

 indicate that I belong to the class alluded to in 

 the tirst verse of the fifth chapter of James. 

 My clothing is never expensive, and very often 

 it is so untidy-looking that business men would 

 look all over our establishment before they 

 would think of calling me A. I. Koot. I do not 

 know that my course is just right in this; but 

 while I *am around home I am so often called 

 upon to go down into the basements to look 

 after the sanitary drainage, water-pipes, or 

 machinery, that it seems almost folly for me tO' 

 put on expensive or new clothing for my daily 

 work. I have never had a gold watch nor a 



fold chain in my life, but constantly use a 

 Vaterbury for a timepiece; neither do I ride 

 in a fine carriage. I presume I may be excused 

 from saying any thing further on this point. It 

 is true, I do have the management of a consid- 

 erable amount of capital; but this capital is all 

 u^ed in giving work to or otherwise benefiting 



