1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



25 



matter over pleasantly, and tlien bid each oth- 

 er good-by in a way that will leave the matter 

 in good shape for pleasant business relations 

 in the future if such should come about. Let 

 every human being know that he can feel that, 

 no matter what has happened, he can come to 

 you in the future, feeling sure of your friend - 

 Iv sympathy and co-operation. Who has not 

 experienced the value of a friend in time of 

 need .'' and what a place of refuge it is in very 

 truth when we have met unexpectedly just the 

 kind of comfort we sadly need ! Is this na- 

 tion of ours, as we begin the year 18it8, fur- 

 nishing cities of refuge, not only for the peo- 

 ple of our land, but for every burdened soul 

 who is honestly and earnestly trying to do his 

 duty? If not, then will you, dear reader, try 

 a little harder to make your home and your- 

 self a place of refuge to some burdened soul 

 who has been unable to make itself fully un- 

 derstand amid this busy, rushing age of ours? 

 And now may I, after all this preface, wish 

 you a happy new year ? 



BIBI,ES FOR PREMIUMS. 

 The man who sees only evil and nothing 

 good in the events of this rushing age is cer- 

 tainlv getting a wrong view of things. I have 

 been pleasantly astonished of late to see that 

 pushing the business of offering Bibles for 

 premiums seems to be taking the precedence 

 of almost ever}' thing else. Periodicals that 

 one would hardh' expect to give space to even 

 a favorable menlion of the Christian religion 

 are offering Bibles as premiums with a vehe- 

 mence and vigor that is astonishing, and the 

 matter seems to be on the gain. The Bibles 

 are beautiful, and, so far as I have been able 

 to discover, thev are even cheaper than those 

 sold by the American Bible Society. The se- 

 cret is, that the publisher agrees to take a very 

 gi'eat quantity; and in this age of rapid and 

 not only accurate but nice printing, great prog- 

 ress is being made. Our own children have 

 been sending for magazines that we probably 

 would not take except to get the beautiful 

 Bibles offered. The combination reads some- 

 thing hke this: A Bible worth !?."i. 00, clubbed 

 with a magazine worth SI. 00, and both togeth- 

 er for only Sj.oo. So you get a §5.00 Bible for 

 only $2.00, or a less sum. Now, this is all 

 right, if the people who are pushing the Bibles 

 do not stretch and exaggerate in their urgent 

 entreaties to have every one buy. I am glad 

 there is money in our country to buy Bibles 

 in such quantities, and it rejoices my heart to 

 see every man, woman, and child ( I guess 

 that is right, is it not? ) have a beautiful, con- 

 venient, and handy Bible. Some kind friend 

 has just mailed me a beautiful edition of that 

 quaint old book — yes, it is 480 years old — call- 

 ed "The Imitation of Christ," written by 

 Thomas a Kempis long before America was 

 discovered. In the very first chapter I read: 



If thou knewe.st the whole Bible l.y heart, and the 

 saying.s of all the philcsopher.s, what would it profit 

 thee without the love of God and without grace? 



I hope and pray that God's grace may find 

 its way into the heart of every one in our land 

 who has in any way become the possessor of 



one of these beautiful Bibles I have been talk- 

 ing about. 



Health Notes. 



SHALL OUR DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 ENCOURAGE THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY? 



A few da3'S ago a bulletin was received from 

 Washington, D. C, offering prizes from $15 to 

 S150 for articles on growing tobacco, and pre- 

 paring the crop for market. I took the liber- 

 ty of writing a remonstrance. Below is a re- 

 ply : 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Division of Soil, 

 Washington, D. C, Nov. 30, 1897. 



Afi. A. r. Root : — Your letter of November 27 has 

 been received, critici.sing me for publi.'^hing bulletin.s 

 on tobacco. Tobacco is one of the staple crops of 

 large areis of this country. The people raise it, and 

 find good markets for it, both in this countrj- and 

 abroad. In the .same way hops and barley are raised 

 for beer ; corn and rye are u.sed for the manufacture 

 of distilled liqnors ; apples are used for brandy, and 

 grapes are grown in great quantities for wine. I do 

 not approve of the excessive use of any of these bev- 

 erages ; but my pergonal feeling in the matter has 

 nothing to do with my official work of investigating 

 the soils adapted to particular crops in the United 

 States which the people elect to grow. 



If tobacco is grown, it is better to raise good tobacco 

 than poor. Good cigars are less harmful than bad 

 ones. The finer types of tobacco for cigarettes, chew- 

 ing, and smoking, are far better for the morals and 

 material welfare of the people than poor grades, 

 which are produced in such quantities. If for no oth- 

 er reason than this, the Department is fully ju.stified 

 in efforts lo improve the quality of the tobacco grown. 

 It is conducive to both the health and morals of the 

 people. 



I have never thought of advocating the u.se of to- 

 bacco in any of the bulletins I have published. This 

 is a matter for the people themselves to decide upon. 

 As an individual, I am an advocate of the moderate 

 use of the cigar and pipe. Thej' have done much 

 good. So has the horse and .so has the bicycle, yet we 

 all know that much harm has come from both of 

 these. We want to be consistent and thorough, how- 

 ever, in this as in other matters, and have as good to- 

 bacco as can he raised, and raise it in the most eco- 

 nomical and profitable manner. 



Respectfully, 



Milton Whitney, 



Chief of Division. 



Permit me to make a little objection to the 

 arguments used above. Corn, rye, apples, and 

 grapes are all used for food, and were designed 

 for food, evidently, by the great God above. 

 They do not require an almost complete trans- 

 formation of the bod}- to keep one from throw- 

 ing them up when eaten, nor do they produce, 

 in a natural slate, delirum tremens, cancerous 

 sore throat, color-blindness, and enough other 

 evils to fill the box of Pandora full to over- 

 flowing. Tobaeco is a poison. It has no legit- 

 imate use, that I know of, unless it is for poi- 

 soning insects that annoy the cultivator of the 

 soil. I did not know before that good cigars 

 are less harmful than bad ones. By the way, 

 where has the experiment been tried on a large 

 scale, to prove conclusively that ' ' good ' ' ci- 

 gars are better than "bad" ones? What is 

 "good " tobacco except that which has more 

 nicotine in it than some other? and would to- 

 bacco be used except for the nicotine, any 

 more than liquor would be used except for the 

 alcohol in it ? Is not the very thing that makes 

 tobacco so dangerous to the human system the 

 very thing that commends it to the officers of 

 our government ? I suppose the way in which 



