316 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



you." The first thing to do to make men 

 fair, liberal, honest, and generous, is to treat 

 them that way — win their confidence. Why, 

 after a man feels satisfied that you are not 

 trying to beat him, and could not be induced 

 to do it possibly, he will oftentimes surprise 

 you by trying to outdo you in generosity. He 

 will give even better measure than you gave 

 him — "pressed down, shaken together, and 

 running over." I think I can hear somebody 

 say, " Oh dear me ! but you don't find such 

 men very often. Why, 1 never heard of a 

 man who would shake the measure so as to 

 settle the grain down when nobody was look- 

 ing at him; and then to press it down after 

 shaking, and putting on enough to make it 

 run over — why, I do not believe there is such 

 a man on the face of the earth." Hold on, 

 dear brother; there are just such, and I want 

 to give you a little sketch of a business trans- 

 action that made a lot of us on both sides feel 

 greatly troubled and worried, but which ended 

 — well, you just see how it ended. Read the 

 follow ing letter : 



Deaf Frieyid: — The seeds and onion sets arrived this 

 morning all right, but you have made a mistake in 

 the peas. You sent half a bushel of Champion of 

 England instead of Alaska peas which I ordered, and 

 which you billed to me. I inclose the labeled packet, 

 so you can probably tell whose fault it is. I never use 

 the Champion of England peas, as they reijuire too 

 much work to brush them vvlien you have any quan- 

 tity ; and in this country the wind is too hard on 

 them. Onion-sets are all right, and verv- good. 



Seward, Neb., March 31, S. H Beaver. 



You see our customer lives away off in 

 Nebraska; and sending half a bushel of peas 

 of the wrong kind such a distance as that is a 

 rather serious matt* r. The whole transaction 

 was hunted up; the clerk who copied the 

 order, the one who meastired up the peas, the 

 one who packed all the seeds in a box, and 

 put it on the train. It seemed to be all straight 

 everywhere; and the seed clerk declared most 

 positively she put up the right peas, even if 

 she did get on the wrong label. Then I dic- 

 tated the following letter : 



Fvieiid B.: — We are very sorry indeed to get your 

 report of March 31st: but our clerk who put up the 

 seeds declares that sf e put up Alaska peas instead of 

 Champion. If this is the case, of cour.se she got hold 

 of the wrong label and put it into the bag. We i uclo.se 

 you a packet of both Alaska and Champion, so as to 

 be sure that you have actually got Champion. We 

 don't see how you could mi.stake them, however, for 

 the Champion is a wrinkled sugar pea. In regard to 

 bru.shing, we never brush either of them for field cul- 

 ture. You speak of the Champion being taller than 

 the Ala.ska. The Alaska we sell are almo.st if not 

 quite as tall as the Champion; on rich ground they 

 will run up fully as high. The worst objection that I 

 know of — that is, if it is an objection — is that tht 

 Champion is quite a little later. They are a wrinkled 

 sugar pea — in fact, one of the best in the world, and 

 always bring better prices than other kinds 



Now, I e.xpect we shall have to make this matter 

 good, no matter what it costs, if you say so. I think 

 you can sell the Champion to somebody for pretty 

 nearly what they co.st. You will notice that other 

 .seedsmen generally list these higher than we do If 

 we have really sent you the wrong peas, we ask j ou 

 to sell them for what you can get for them, and we 

 will either send you the Alaska or give you credit for 

 the cost. 



This is the .second mistake we have discovered in 

 sending out seeds this season, and the only really 

 .serioiis one. If it was nothing more than putting in 

 the wrong label, we are all right after all. 



After the above had gone I watched the 

 mails a little anxiously to see what the report 

 would be. Here it is : 



Dear Friend: — I am very glad to say that the mis- 

 take was in the label, and that the peas are all right. 

 I had never had any of the Champion of England 

 peas, so was not acquainted with them, or I would 

 have recognized them; and as I was not very well 

 acquainted with the Alaska, and as they were labeled, 

 both inside and outside of the bag, I thought surely 

 they were the Champion of England, and so wrote 

 you accordingly: but I .see by the .samples you send 

 that there is a ver\ great difference in the peas, and 

 will know them hereafter, even if labeled wrongly. 

 So there is no harm done, and the only difference it 

 makes is that they would have been planted several 

 daj's ago if I had known they were all right. 



You say you never brush the large wrinkled peas 

 for field culture. I have had poor success with them 

 in that way, as they rot badly for me, so I have been 

 growing Premium Gem and the dwarf kinds of 

 wrinkled varieties. 



I am very grateful for your offer to make good the 

 peas, and appreciate it just as much as though the 

 mistake had been as I first supposed. In fact, I am 

 glad that the seeming mistake was made, as it does 

 me so much good nowadays to find a man who is will- 

 ing to do as he would be done by, for I sometimes feel 

 as Elijah did when he wanted the Lord to take him 

 out of the world, as he thought that he was alone. 

 But, praise the I.,ord, Bro. Root, he knows our feelings; 

 and when we need encouragement he gives it to us in 

 a way we can not d lubt that there are .some left in the 

 world who have not lowed the knee to Baal. I wish 

 I could see yon and talk with you personally: but such 

 is not the case: but I e.xpect to .see you when we have 

 done with the caies of this world, and shall "see as 

 we are seen, and know as we are known." 



Your brother in Christ, 



Seward, Neb., April .5. S. H. Be.wer. 



WHiy, dear fiiends, it w< uld almost look as 

 if there was a piovidence in the transaction, 

 as the writer suggests. And then conies the 

 signature of even a business letter, where he 

 signs himself "Your br'Aber in Christ." 

 Well, this is not the first time that a mistake 

 or misunderstanding has resulted in something 

 that made me feel happy. 



Away down thr )ugh the past, during the 

 years I have been in business, there are cer- 

 tain landmarks, as it were, scattered along 

 here and there. Some accident or interrup- 

 tion in business has been the means of bring- 

 ing otit the fact that I have been dealing with 

 a fellow-Christian — one who loves even the 

 very name of Christ Jesus — the name that cer- 

 tainly should be the emblem of every thing 

 that is honest and pure and upright. Of 

 course, there is once in a while one who talks 

 religion but does not lii'e it. These things 

 are sad — terriblj^ sad — but they do not happen 

 very often. Before I forget it, permit me to 

 say that friend B. will be greatly surpristd 

 when he sees these letters in print. I had not 

 time to ask his permission before using them; 

 but I am sure he will not be offended. No 

 real true Christian ever takes it amiss when 

 an}' word or act of his is tised, even in print, 

 to spread the blessed gospel. I shall reiiem- 

 ber him many a long year, and he will re- 

 member me; and how it lightens the burdens 

 of Stisiness to hear from those whom we have 

 learned to know by some little incident like 

 the one above! This fact of feeling that you 

 are in touch with those who love the Lord, 

 and those who would rather be held in the 

 estimation of their fellows as being honest and 

 true, rather than to be known as 'the possess- 

 ors of millions, is worth every thing. May 

 God help us to remember the saeredness of 

 our calling and profession. May he give us 

 grace to give good measure, pressed down, 

 and shaken together. And, by the way, dear 



