('.I.KANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



69.'] 



or two who think Ihoy can not use the bee- 

 space; unci, besides, there is a heap more coin- 

 forl in working with the bees and takin.i^ off 

 the honrv. Whv, the point seems to me to 

 be hardly' debatable.— Ivn.] 



" El'M, oi' rRi>MiSH to apiculture" is the 

 idea of breeding,' bees for lons^^er tons^ues, 

 accordin.i^ to Prof. Cook, p. ()5S. But when 

 he says, " It will take long years, hence the 

 necessity of great patience," I think he throws 

 on moro culd water than is warranted. Look 

 at Dr. ^lurdock's bees with worker -cells, 

 some of them as large as drone-cells, and con- 

 sider the fact of the great inequality in the 

 present length of bees' tongues. Say, Mr. 

 Editor, just you offer for sale as good glossom- 

 eters as they have in I'Vance, or better ones, 

 and a whole lot of us will go to work at once ; 

 and instead of "long years" I believe the 

 question could be pretty fully settled in three 

 to five- years ; and no one would be quicker or 

 gladder to say he was wrong than Prof. Cook. 

 [Somehow I do not enthuse very nmch over 

 the possibility of getting bees with longer 

 tongues. A good many attempts have been 

 made at it, but practically nothing has been 

 accomplished. Perhaps if an experiment 

 station could take hold of it something might 

 be done. — Ed.] 



BIOGR.APHY OF DR. JESSE OREX. 

 Another Banker Bee-keeper. 



BY O. O. POPPLETON. 



The late Adam Grimm will long be remem- 

 bered as the " Banker Bee-keepir." It is nut 

 generally known that we have another man 

 in our ranks, still alive, who dividt^s honors 

 with Mr. Grinmi of having graduated from 

 bee-keeping into banking, but has, I think, a 

 nmch more interesting and unique personal 

 history. 



Dr. Jesse Oren was born Sept. 22, 1824, in 

 York Co., Pa., which locality had been the 

 home of several generations of his ancestors 

 on both sides, some of whom suffered severely 

 during the Revolutionary and early Indian 

 wars.* It would be very interesting to record 

 some of their adveiiturc-s, but lack of space 

 prevents. 



* All hi.s ancestors on both sides were born and rear- 

 ed ill York Co., Pa., and owned farms adjoining each 

 other. The.*^ farms were near the Susquehanna 

 River — on the south side of the river, opposite Middle- 

 town. Ju.--t below Middletown are the rapids in the 

 river, and it is considered very dangerous to attempt 

 a passage t>y any ordinary boat. Middletown is situ- 

 ated at the junction of Sweet Arrow Creek with the 

 river. Jacob Keller had gone across the river, and 

 was attacked and pursued to the mouth of this creek. 

 Ice was thick in both river and creek, and just grind- 

 ing along prior to closing up for the winter. It seem- 

 ed to be only a choice as to the manner of dving. 

 Jacob Keller'cho.se death by ice and water rather'than 

 to be captured. He rushecl in among the ice, succeed- 

 ing after a time in getting on top of a large cake of it, 

 and went over the falls safely, and landed on an island 

 about three miles below the falls. On this uninhabit- 

 ed island of about five acres of ground he remained 

 nearly three days before the river closed and he was 

 able to cross to the shore on the ice. The island has 

 ever .since been called ' Keller's Island." 



Dr. Oren's early life on his father's rocky 

 Pennsylvania farm laid the sure foundation 

 for his .subsequent life of industry, frugality, 

 etc., n.-ce.ssary for the success of his later life. 

 Deciding that he must have a better education 

 than could be had on the farm, he, when !(> 

 years of age, botind himself otit to a harness- 

 maker, with the distinct agreement that he 

 was to have a certain amount of schooling; but 

 the agreement not being lived up to, he went 

 fir.st to Lancaster, O., and then to the Plain- 

 field Academy, where the principal took him 

 as scholar, knowing he was dollarless. From 

 here he went to Johnstown, Pa., where he 

 taught a school during the winter of 1S42. In 

 the spring he started for Oberlin College; but 

 by chance he was stopped at Richmond, O., 

 where a new college had just been started. 

 Plere he remained three vears in alternate 



DR. JESSE OREN. 



study and teaching. Some of his experiences 

 during this time were interesting and very 

 characteristic, but space forbids giving them.f 

 Hard sttidy and work had broken down his 



t He remained in Richmond, O., three years, all the 

 time at study. At the end of five months Dr. I.orimer 

 gave him a "certificate of cliaracter, and sent him to 

 Judge McCuUougli, who lived at the mouth of Yellow 

 Creek, about three miles from Wellsville, O. Here he 

 obtained a school at good wages, but .soon learned 

 that William McCullough, son of the judge (and at 

 the pre.'^ent time superintendent of a railroad, with 

 headquarters at Wellsville, O. ). and John and William 

 Hammond (now and since, and during the civil war, 

 John made his figure as an eminent physician) were 

 to commence the .study of algebra and geometry. As 

 Mr. Oren had not studied geometry at all, he felt 

 embarrassed, t)ut nevertheless assigned them a lesson, 

 and then went home to .study it himself. As his 

 school was but ten miles from' Richmond, where it 

 was well known he was unbooked in geometry, and 

 as he felt the situation was a bad one, he determined 

 to fortify himself by always hearing the lesson of the 

 boys without having the 'book in his hands. In five 

 months the boys passed through six books of Eegendre 

 without a miss or a fault. This will he news to Dr. 

 John Hammond should he see this in print. 



