64 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan+. 



one step more, and he could think, "I want 

 to l:e good."" AVhen he got to that point he 

 was out of the filthy mire. A smile began to 

 show itself dimly around the corners of his 

 mouth, and finally out it came, and we had 

 a bright good l)oy at the breakfast-table 

 once more. Now', then, children, for the 

 application: When these men get crazy for 

 money gotten without any fair equivalent, 

 they say, "I do not care if the oats cm? be 

 bought' for a dollar a bushel ; if I can get 

 five dollars for mine, and have a sure thing 

 of it, I am not going to l)other myself any 

 further about it." 



I will tell you, my little friends, how they 

 get the five dollars for what is worth only 

 one dollar. A whole neighborhood gets 

 crazy over this new speculation, or new 

 species of gambling, if you choose. A 

 smooth-tongued agent manages, by hook or 

 crool?, to get a few good men among them, 

 usually by telling them that it will not cost 

 them any thing, and arranging it so they 

 can't possibly lose; then after awhile he 

 slips out of it and lets the responsibility of 

 it rest on the members of the association. 

 Men of capital, and usually those who are 

 posted in all the tricks of the business, slip 

 out through loop-holes previously arranged 

 expressly for them. ]Men who are compara- 

 tively poor, who have mortgages on their 

 small farms, perhaps, and who are, may be, 

 not quite as well posted as their neighbors, 

 in the end have to shoulder the responsibili- 

 ty; in other words, they have to make up 

 the difference between one dollar a bushel 

 and five dollars a bushel, so the scheme is 

 one to rob poor men, and to put tlie proceeds 

 into the pockets of the richer ones. What 

 shall we do to avoid such traps and tricks? 

 AVhy, keep entirely oiit of them, and keep 

 out of temptation's way ; don't even ialk 

 with these kid-gloved, smooth-tongued spec- 

 ulators. Shun even the appearance of evil. 

 If your heart is full of love for God and love 

 for your fellow-men, especially your neigh- 

 bors, there will surely be no danger of your 

 getting into any siich scheme. Kemember 

 the commandment, " Thou shalt not covet 

 . . . any thing that is thy neighbor's.'' 



In connection with this subject I wish the 

 friends, young and old, would tm-n to the 

 first chapter of Proverbs, and read from the 

 10th to the 20th verse. It would almost 

 seem as if Solomon had the Bohemian-oat 

 business in mind when he wrote these verses. 

 If you know any Christians who have any 

 thing to do with "this awful piece of villainy, 

 just ask them to read these verses. 



Now, lest you think I am too severe from 

 what I have said, I want to make two other 

 extracts from the Farm and Fireto'de, furnish- 

 ed by Mr. Henry Talcott, a member of the 

 State Board of Agriculture, and a banker, 

 and a prominent citizen of Ashtabula Coun- 

 ty, this State. He replies to the editors as 

 follows: 



You have got hold of the elephant, exactly. We 

 had one Henry L. Bacon to come here four years 

 ago as the head-center of this business. I wrote up 

 the business for our papei-s instantly, and tried my 

 best to prevent our farmers from being swindled. 

 1 told Bacon, when he brought his first notes to my 

 bank to try to get them cashed, that he ought to be 

 put in the penitentiary at once, and, thank God, he 

 is there now for seven years— sent from the Sum- 



mit County courts in Akron. He made a big run 

 of the business first, however. Our farmers were a 

 set of fools over the business, and now lots of law- 

 suits are on hand in our courts as the result of it, 

 and many good people are in trouble. I hope you 

 will push this light before the farmers as fast as 

 you can. Henry Talcott. 



And this: 



As a rule, the Bohemian oats will not yield over 

 two-thirds as many pounds of grain per acre as the 

 Norway, Russian, or Welcome oats. I know this, 

 and do not guess at it, because I have given all 

 these kinds a most systematic and thorough ti'iai. 

 The Bohemian -oat swindle has been here four 

 years, and I have seen and know the bottom facts. 



A number of lawsuits, grown out of this business, 

 are now on our court dockets, and so far the swin- 

 dlers get beaten every time under the equity provi- 

 sion of the common law. No man can collect pay 

 for a Bohemian-oat note, because the giver does 

 not get value received, and the only way they at- 

 tempt to do it here is to sell the notes, before due, 

 to a third party, who can set up the claim of inno- 

 cent purchasers. Fifty cents per bushel is all our 

 courts have yet allowed as the value of the oats. 



Ashtabula, O. Henry Talcott. 



LETTER FROM MRS. HARRISON. 



something about the DETROIT CONVENTION. 



^^ HILDKEN:— I didn't sec any of you at the con- 

 r^ ' ventioii at Detroit. Would you like to know 

 l*fj who was tliereV I know you would, because 

 ^^ I'm a child myself, only a little bit old. First 

 and foremost was father Langstroth, cane in 

 hand, his face beaming with happiness and good 

 will to all. He said he had not made any money 

 out of his invention; but whenever he met a bee- 

 keeper he was warmly grasped by the hand, which 

 was worth more to him than nioneii-. He told a 

 friend, that whenever he needed any thing he told 

 the Father about it, and he sent it. Father Lang- 

 stroth used to preach; but he got sick, and could 

 not do it any more, and he told his wife, " If I could 

 only invent a hive, so that every poor family could 

 have honey all the time, I should be happy," and so 

 he is happy; and not only happj-, but beloved, and 

 first in the affections of bee-keepers. Strong men 

 shed tears as they watched him leave the i-oom to 

 take the cars for his home at O.xford, Ohio. 



Mr. Root, the president of the convention, mar- 

 ried a daughter of Mr. Quinby. Now, I always feel 

 as though Mr. Langstroth were the father, and Mr. 

 Quinby the fathei--in-law of bee culture. If I tell 

 you a secret about Mr.|Root you won't tell, will you? 

 He'gets lots and lots of honey from his bees, and 

 won't tell how he docs it. Never mind; we'll find 

 out ourselves, and we'll feel so good over it. When 

 I went to school I never liked to have any one do a 

 hard e.\ample for me; for if I did it alone I could 

 snap my fingers and cry out, "I've got it! hurrah I" 

 You have all heard of Mr. Jones, of Canada, haven't 

 you? He went to Italy, Cyprus, and Palestine, aft- 

 er bees, and raised queens on islands a long way 

 from shore. He is a good talker, and. Englishman 

 like, he brags a dood deal; but nobody cared until 

 he had the impudence to start a bee-journal in the 

 queen's domain, just as if the United States could 

 not furnish enough for all Noi-th America and the 

 rest of the world besides. 



The second day of the convention was Mr. Root's 

 birthday (Uncle Amos). You all like presents on 

 your birthdaj% don't you? Mr. Root got one— a 

 nice book. He was surprised. Some thought, that 

 because a woman was on the committee she would 

 tell; but she didn't, and so ho hadn't any speech 



