1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



675 



Qm peMRf^- 



He that is faithful in that wiiicli is least is faitli- 

 ful alsi) ill much.— Luke ltj:Ui. 



This has been one of my favorite texts foi' so 

 many years, and I have talked on it so inces- 

 santly, perhaps some apology should be made 

 for taking it up again. But 1 i-eally think the 

 lack of success in business, and the recent com- 

 plaints fj-om many quarters that farming does 

 not pay, and other kinds of business do not 

 pay, comes more from lack in the special 

 line of our text than from any other one thing. 

 In other words, the greatest foe of the farmer — 

 yes. and the village mechanic too. is not the 

 millionaire? of our land, but the half-hearted- 

 ness of the very people who complain. Our 

 good friend VV. I. Chamberlain has touched the 

 matter up with some practical illustrations 

 from real life with such wonderful vividness in 

 the Ohio Farmer for Aug. 1st, that I have de- 

 cided to copy his article entire, and here it is: 



THE NON-EXPERTNESS OF VILLAGE EXPEKTS. 



" Mr. Hoot," said a student friend of mine to 

 a village photographer, showing him a first- 

 class city photograph, which had the tine shad- 

 ing and delicate finish of the real artist — " Mr. 

 Hoot, I wish you would make our class photo- 

 graphs look like that." 



"Ah I"' said Mr. Hoot looking at the city pho- 

 to. •"Ahl if 1 only couitZ make them look like 

 that, tny (jtdlery would he in Chlc(t<jo. not in 

 Ames, and I should soon be rich I" That longing 

 look showed that he is a rising man. Soon a 

 small city, and then a large one. will get him. 

 For the " room at the top " for experts and for 

 those who "do the best they know how or can 

 learn how,*' is ustially in the city. And so the 

 cities take our best experts and k^ave us ? 



Twenty-six years ago a village expert grained 

 a part of my house. It is as good as ever to- 

 day, and as tine in quality as the best city 

 graining. He was a real expert, and in two 

 years he was foreman, then partner, then pro- 

 prietor of a painting, graining, and papering 

 establishment in Cleveland. Many of those 

 that remain as village experts lack not only 

 skill, but push, enterprise, desire to excel and 

 please. 



"Alas! I could a tale unfold '■ of my experi- 

 ence with real experts and with so-called ex- 

 perts. I once hired a real expert to paper a 

 number of rooms, and paid ^3.50 per day and 

 board and car fare from Des Moines to Ames. 

 He averaged 30 single rolls per day; ceiling, 

 wall, and border, fitting edge to edge, trimming 

 both edges; and tie left no "nasty mess "on 

 tioor and paint to be cleaned up. One day he 

 hung J5 coif-s " just for the fun of it;" and to 

 show wliat he could do on plain ceiling and 

 good wall. I once liired a village " expert " at 

 •*:.*..")0 per day. He averaged about 10 to 12 rolls 

 per day, lapped the edges in the old-fashioned 

 way, and left behind him a siege of houseclean- 

 ing — paper pasted to tlie tiooi's, and tramped in, 

 mixed with tobacco juice. 



A village " expert " once painted my blinds, 

 and another, at another time, oiled tliem, Ixjth 

 in my absence and while tlie house was vacant. 

 Both left the slats shut, lapping upon eacli oth- 

 er to dry, instead of rolled wide open at right 

 angles. The slats stuck as if glued. When we 

 came to use the house we had to loosen each in- 

 dividual slat by hand or screw-driver, and witli 



great care not to break them oi' pull the little 

 staples, before lliey would roll. Wlien my 

 good wife tried to turn ttiem for a long time 

 one day to ventilate a chamber, without ttuow- 

 ing the blinds themselves wide open, slie at last 

 made the .somewhat unchriiitian or hyperbolical 

 remark tliat she " would Just like to wring 

 tliose painters' necks I" 1 could actually have 

 oiled tne blinds in less time than it took to un- 



glue th'.Mn 



uA real expert once did some painting and 

 kalsomining inside. He did not ask to have 

 fui'niture or carpets removed oi' covered; a)id 

 wlien 1 asked liim how he dared risk it, he 

 made the somewhat sai'castic remark, that 

 when he " couldn't woi'k without spattering and 

 daubing he would quit the business." A vil- 

 lage " expert " at another time daubed and 

 spattered the haixl-wood floors around the 

 " mop- boards " so that the l)orders around the 

 rugs had to be scraped wiiti glass, and sand- 

 papered, fo/tyer tZwvi (t toofe to paint the room, 

 beioie the borders were tit to Oe dressed witli 

 " Butcher's Boston polish" or "hard oil tinisli." 

 Tlie window glass was spattered and daubed 

 too, so that it took much muscle and much 

 cleaning soda to make them tit to be seen. I 

 afterward told him about the floors. " Why, 

 he supposed we would carpet tliem." I wanted 

 to asl< him if he supposed we would carpet the 

 window glass, but forbore. 



Then, too, the delays, mistakes, and cost! 

 For example, on an excellent old wagon, 2ii 

 years old, one wheel collapsed, and a few days 

 later another, showing the spokes to he brash. 

 They had been put in new some six years be- 

 fore by a village expert. Inferior timber. 

 When this second one collapsed 1 sent it and 

 the two still unbroken, but evidently untrust- 

 worthy, to another village expert, with explic- 

 ii insuuctions to lill ((i/ i/(/'ee wlieels with new 

 spokes complete, and set the tires. Well, next 

 day. by mere chance I went to town and to the 

 shop. He was settiiiy the tires with the old 

 spokes still in. He had '" only spokes enough 

 for one wheel, and the other two looked ijretty 

 good." " Did 1 leave it to his judgment?" 

 .. t^q" •• jjid I probably know what I want- 

 ed '?" " Yes." So the wagon waited three days 

 more until he sent to the city and got Just 

 enough more spokes to till the two wheels, and 

 of course I had to pay the express and " stand " 

 the delay. Strange that I ever sent another job 

 to him, but pretty soon I did — a lumber wagon- 

 box tor a new bottom. 1 was too busy to do it 

 myself. " Yes, he would do it promptly. It 

 would take only two hours." But not needing 

 it 1 left it a full week, to be .sure it should be 

 done. Then 1 wanted it to drive ten miles for 

 special sizes, elbows and connections of sewer- 

 pipe for my main tile outlet that carries tlie 

 water of some .50 acres. 1 went at noon for the 

 big afternoon's drive. The box had not been 

 touched. He " hadn't any lumber," and " could 

 not get any planed at the mill." They " liad 

 broken the planer," etc. I felt like advising 

 hiia to keep on hand enough dressed and sea- 

 soned lumber to make himself a coffin, or else 

 grind his hand-planes enougli to dress 33 feet of 

 lumber on one side for a wagon-box bottom! I 

 took the box to the other shop and had a new 

 one complete. Last week 1 bought a new wag- 

 on, box. top box, spring seat, and brakes com- 

 plete, for almost exactly twice what 1 have paid 

 lor repairs and improvements on the old one 

 witliin two months: In one case I paid their 

 own prices to village; experts for retail piece 

 work. In the other ca.se 1 paid my price, aided 

 by sharp competition, to a great concern of city 

 experts, that turns out thousands of wagons 

 each year. Retail and piece-work prices will 

 soon ruin the farmei'. 



