4l:.> 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



exception from the provisions of the bill— ani- 

 mals imported strictly for breeding- p'lrposes. 

 This, of course, would also exclude (jueens, and 

 exempt th(>ni from the duty. Hut there is a re- 

 quirement tluit tlu' importer shall have a cer- 

 tificate, establishing the fact tliat the animals 

 are imported solely for piu'poses of bi-eeding. 

 Now. any of us who are acquainted with gov- 

 ernmental affairs know that the amount of red 

 tape used to keep out fi'aud is something enor- 

 mous. No donijt this is all necessary. Thus 

 our iinpoi'ters will not be prepared to show pa- 

 pers that, will i^xcmpt. the queens from the duty; 

 and as the queens can not bo left in the custom- 

 office, all early importers will, ]jer force, have to 

 pay the duty. Now, I wish to suggest three 

 practical points that liear on this matter. 1. Let 

 every importer g{>t at once, from the Treasury 

 department, blanks and instructions so that he 

 may, in all future importations, liave the pa- 

 pers to show that his goods are exempt from 

 duty, so that he may secure his queens from the 

 custom-house without expense, at once. 



2. I would suggest that the executive com- 

 mittee of the AnuM'ican Bee-keepers" Society, 

 or the Bee-keepers'Union. take immediate steps 

 to have the Secretary of the Treasury rule that 

 queen-bees may be admitted free at once, as 

 coming under the law, without any special cer- 

 tificate, in that they are alwayi^ for purposes of 

 breeding, 



3. In case people have ordered queens of im- 

 porters at advertised rates, I would suggest 

 that each person pay this duty. It would be 

 but little for each one, but would be very severe 

 if the dealer had to bear it all. I suggest that 

 each importer explain the matter to every pur- 

 chaser, and I have no doubt that nine out of ev- 

 ery ten will pay the additional amount required 

 by this extra expense. I believe bee-keepers 

 are just such men. I hope, Mr. Editor, you can 

 add some word of advice to the above. I have 

 several complaints— one very loud one— from 

 importers. A. J. Cook. 



Ag'l College, Mich., May 9. 



[We have already notified our agent in Ninv 

 York to be prepared to pay duty on queens, and 

 forward them at once, "fhis duty is not so ex- 

 cessive but that we think we can pay it and still 

 maintain our old prices. The Italian queen- 

 breeders have perfected their methods of send- 

 ing queens across the ocean to such an extent 

 that there is not nearly the loss that there was 

 formerly, when the old price of .?6.00for the best 

 queens was established for the month of July. 

 Last summer wo reduced the price to ?5.00, and 

 contemplated reducing it again; but the duty 

 will probably hold ns as at ^5.00 for the month 

 of July. It might be that we shall be compelled 

 to raise our prices, but we do not think we shall 

 be under that necessity. 



Since the above was written, the following 

 letter, to Acting Secretary Willets, has been 

 forwarded to Prof. Cook, who, in turn, sends the 

 same to us:] 



Theasury Department, 

 Ofi'ick of the Secretary. 



IVashinatdii, D. C, May 5, 189 

 The Honorable. The Secretary of Aijricultvie: 



Sir:— I liiive tlie honor to acknowledge tlie receipt 

 of your letter of tlie '£ic\ ultimo, and, in repl.v, to say 

 that, undei'the existing- taritf act, lean perceive no 

 way in whicli importt'd bees can he admitted free of 

 duty when intended tor bi'eediiiji- pin poses, except 

 upon pi'oduction of the proofs piescribed liy para- 

 graph 482 of the"fi'ee list," with tlie character of 

 which you are famiiiai'. Bees, or other (hitiable arti- 

 cles iniiiorted by mail from ponntiies with which the 

 United States has no i)aicel-post treaties, are liable 

 to seizure as illegal imiioitations; l)ut, under tlie au- 

 thority of remission conferred Ijj law on the Secretary 

 of theTreasury, collectors of customs may release the 

 seizure on payment of duty and expense of seizure, 



when the dutyisfc'5or less, and where there is no 

 jirciof of willful evasion of law or i)oslal tii-aty. The 

 provision for sliipmentof (pieen-becs by mail, con- 

 tained in rule llie, page TilS of the Po^toHice Guide, 

 cited by y(ju, is uiKlcrstood bj' ttiis de|)ar;ment to re- 

 late to the doini'slic and not to the foreign mails, in- 

 asmueli as. under the Postal Union Coiuention, the 

 only dutialile articles which may be imi)orted by 

 mail are printed matter, comniereial papers, and 

 samjjles of merchandise. Respect fully youis, 



CharLe's Foster, 

 Secretary. 

 [Prof. Cook adds:] 



Friend Root: — This seems to give us but little 

 hope. The thing to do now is to find out just 

 what course to pursue to get relief from dtity. 



A. J. Cook. 



[You, friend Cook, if we are not imposing on 

 you too much, are just the man to secure that 

 relief, as yon have a friend in court in the per- 

 sonage of tltc Secretary of Agrictiltiu'e, Edwin 

 Willets.] 



THE NEW WATEE CURE. 



SOME EXTRACTS FKOM THE WATER-CURE MAX- 

 UAI., PUBITSHED IN lS-47 BY FOWLER 



& WETT.S. 



In addition to what we have already taken 

 from this book. I have thought best to give also 

 the following, from Chap. IV. The Water-cure 

 Library comprises seven volumes. The ex- 

 tracts we make are from Vol. IV. 



THE enema, clyster, INJECTION, OR LAVEMENT. 



This very imiiortant part of the water cure is as 

 old as the liealing ait itself; but in the endless com- 

 plications of the remedial means of modern times, 

 almost any irritating or disgusting tiiud, other tlian 

 pure water, is preferred. A variety of insti'uments 

 for administering injections are now manufactured, 

 varying in price from tifty cents to four or five dol- 

 lars. The cheaper kinds, if well made and used with 

 some degree of dexterity, answer a good purpose. 

 Every person should have access to one; no lady's 

 toilet is com] ilete without it. Contrary to the com- 

 mon notion, a pi'rson, by the exercise of a little skill, 

 can easily use this remedy' without assistance. It is 

 in no wise inunful. but decitledl\ agreealile, and af- 

 fords, in a variety of complaints, speedy and effi- 

 cient relief. Thousands suffer incalculably from 

 constipation year after year, when the use of this 

 simple means would give the greatest I'elief, and 

 thousands more are in the daily and constant habit 

 of swallowing catliartic and aperient drugs, Bi'an- 

 dreth's i>ills. castor oil, magnesia, blue pill, niercur.v. 

 and so through the long chapter, that irritate and 

 poison the delicate coats of the stomach, and exert 

 their pernicious infiuence throughout the number- 

 less lanes and alleys of the system, destroying the 

 healthy tone of the tissues, deranging the nerves, 

 and tlius causing a state of thiigs incomparabl.y 

 worse than the disease itself, and rendering even 

 that more and more i:ei'sisf ent. 



Most ])ersons may and should use this I'eniedy cold. 

 A beginning may tie made with the water slightly 

 warmed. In olistinate cases, lukewarm water ef- 

 fects the object (ndcker and with greater certainty 

 than cold. But, in\aluable iuid (>JHcient as is this 

 remedy, li't no one iiersist in those habits of diet, 

 such as tea and coffee drinking, the use of heating 

 and stimulating condiments, greasy and concentrat- 

 ed forms of food, etc., that tend so certainly to con- 

 stipation and irri'gularit^' of tlu' bowi'ls. 



In all forms of looseiiessof the bowels, as diariliea, 

 dysentery, cholera morbus, choleia infantum, aiifl 

 the like,' this reniedj- is most excellent. In many 

 a sudden attack, injections sutliciently i)erseyeied in, 

 will sulTice quicklj- to correct the attack, and this 

 when, in the ordiniiry treatment, a (■ouise of jiower- 

 ful drugging, would be deemed indispensable, that 

 would resul; iierhaps in death. 



So also in constipation and obstructions of the 

 bowels; when no powerful cathartiL's that any one 

 dare venture to exhibit can be made to att, this sim- 

 ple remedy is effectual in bringing about the desii'a- 

 ble object. In iiny of these cases, if there is debility, 

 and especially if ii be great, whether the patient be 



