196 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



days. I have met you but once, and that was at the 

 convention of the North American Bee-keepers' Socie- 

 ty at Indianapolis, in 1880. I then lived in Indiana. 

 Probably you remember my exhibit of honey at that 

 meeting. You saw some work done by the bees, with 

 my help, that you likely never saw before, and none 

 since. That was letters formed in penmanship, my 

 address in full, and a skeleton of a queen. This was 

 a part of a display of honey that I exhibited at our 

 State fair a few days previously. One other thing I 

 wish to mention : I exhibited some of those plain 

 sections of honey at that fair you have been talking 

 about of late, and I have some of those fence separat- 

 ors to-day that I made then, as nearly like those you 

 are using now as can be from pictures in Gleanings, 

 and those plain sections gave me a good display every 

 time So much for plain sections away back in early 

 days. 



I now live in Indiana. I helped organize the State 

 Bee-keepers' Society at Indianapolis and was the first 

 to introduce the socials or picnics in Indiana in which 

 meetings I enjoyed many a happy hour. I still take 

 Gleanings, and always expect to as long as I live and 

 it is published. A. Cox. 



jgkSummertown, Tenn., Jan. 14. 



g5I received your present. Accept thanks. I showed 

 it to the children, and they are busy comparing it with 

 the real cells They read Gleanings and are well 

 acquainted with " Uncle Amos." In fact, our oldest 

 son is named Amos. He is 19 years old, and wanted to 

 go and fight the Spaniards. 



We are in the foot-hills of the Coast Range of moun- 

 tains, about forty miles from the coast; nearest rail- 

 road station is nine miles. The honey flora here is the 

 afilaria, vine maple, mountain sage. The afilaria will 

 grow all winter, and bloom when the sun shines. The 

 vine maple blooms just after fruit-bloom, and the 

 mountain sage blooms in June. The country here is 

 very different from the East, there being two seasons 

 — the wet and dry. It seldom freezes, and stock of all 

 kind does fairlv well all winter. Bees generally win- 

 ter well, and fly almost every day, and carry pollen 

 all winter, We have all had the grip, and know how 

 to synipathize with you. There is a mineral spring 

 close to us, the water of which is good for grip; in 

 fact, I believe the water will cure many stomach trou- 

 bles. Jesse W. Thornton. 



Oak Creek, Ore., Feb. 14. 



I have taken Gleanings since the fall of 1883 You 

 sent it to me gratis one year in consideration of my 

 having been sick so long. That drew me very close 

 to you, for I had learned to love you through your 

 Home Papers Our Homes turned my thoughts in the 

 right way. They taught me of Jesus. I sought him 

 and found him, blest hit mints. I have always wanted 

 to tell you, but didn't quite know how. Please excuse 

 my blundering, and remember that I expect to take 

 Gleanings as long as I am able to read it, and I feel 

 it will continue to prosper. May God bless you for 

 the good work you are doing. C. W. Vanhouten. 



Cuba, 111., Jan. 11. 



In response to your call for those who have taken 

 your paper for 25 years or more, I stand up and speak. 

 I am not sure that I have any right to arise, as I have 

 not any record at hand to refer to. I think I com- 

 menced taking Gleanings sometime in the second 

 year you published it. I first saw a copy at my old 

 friend's, Moses Quinby. I subscribed for" it at once, 

 also sent for the back numbers. I have every issue of 

 Gleanings that ever was printed, and I prize them, 

 as they contain a vast amount of useful information. 

 If I am not old enough to be in your class, please 

 omit me and there will be no harm done. 



Randallsville, N. Y., Jan. 21. E. D. Clark. 



I wish not to claim to belong to the Roll of Honor; 

 but as I became interested in bees in the 70's I sub- 

 scribed for Gleanings in 1878. Bee-keeping is a side 

 issue with me, and very largely recreative. My yield 

 last season was 00 lbs. of comb honey per colony. I 

 greatly admire the principles set forth in Gleanings, 

 of thrift, morality, and Christianity, and trust that 

 you may be spaied many years yet to your sphere of 

 usefulness. F. P. Nash. 



Tin O St., Washington, D. C, Feb. 20. 



Friend Root: — After reading the letters from old- 

 timers I examined mv stack of Gleanings, which is 

 over 3 ft. high, and found volume III., 187"). I have 

 been a subscriber ever since, and expect to be as long 

 as I live. R. B. Parker. 



La Fayette, Ind., Jan. 17. 



I have taken Gleanings ever since it was first pub- 

 lished; and if I am not too late I will accept the " little 

 present." I can not remember how many years since 

 the first number came out. G. W. Dean. 



Boneta, O., Jan. 13. 



I have been a subscriber since 1870. I then lived in 

 Lapeer, Mich. I farm and operate a cotton-gin in con- 

 nection with bees; but I prefer working with the lat- 

 ter. While bees fail some years to return any income, 

 I believe that, after my 10 years in Texas, they can be 

 depended on as well as or better than any other rural 

 industry. Wm. Wrigglesworth. 



Ocee, Tex., Jan. 5. 



RIDING ON SUNDAY FOR PLEASURE. 



Friend Root: — I want to enter a protest against your 

 article, " Notes of Travel," for Jan. 1, especially at 

 this time when the tendency is to break down the 

 Christian Sabbath — vea, the American Sabbath — and 

 make it a holiday. Earnest men and women all over 

 the country are working, writing, and praying to stop 

 this very evil that you are laughing about and print 

 in a public journal I refer to wheel-riding on Sun- 

 day, for pleasure, and yourself a preacher of righteous- 

 ness ! 



Years ago temperance (?) men would take a trip 

 back into the woods, and there indulge in the " good 

 crather." O consistency ! thou art a jewel. But I 

 never knew them to come home and tell about it. 

 Dear Bro. Root, for the sake of our young people, and 

 for the sake of our Lord's day, frown down every 

 thing that is merely " worldly pleasure." If I have 

 written too strongly, pardon me, for I felt that I must 

 speak out Your temperance talk in the same issue 

 did me lots of good. G. S. Stancliff. 



Chasm Falls, N. Y., Jan. 0. 



Dear brother, we so nearly agree in this 

 matter, that, if you will not come over and 

 stand on my side, I don't know but I shall 

 have to confess I did wrong, and go over and 

 stand on your side. I should have added, at 

 the time I wrote that, were it not for the 

 amount of space it was going to take, that I 

 never ride my wheel on Sunday for pleasure, 

 neither does Bro. Kratz, I am sure. I use it 

 to go to meeting, and to go out in the country 

 when asked to speak or help in a Sunday- 

 school, but never for recreation. In the case 

 you allude to, Bro. Kratz uses his wheel a 

 great deal to make his appointments to preach. 

 He had never seen a chainless wheel, but had 

 heard much about them. All the riding he 

 did that Sunday morning occupied only a few 

 minutes, and there was nobody present to take 

 it as an example. Perhaps I did wrong to 

 mention the matter at all. In attendance at 

 that Sunday meeting there were quite a lot of 

 youngsters. After the meeting was over I saw 

 that they were quite curious about that wheel 

 that had no chain. Now, was it my duty to 

 look sober and solemn because it was Sunday, 

 and refrain from looking at or speaking of the 

 wheel ? I can not think it was. I showed it 

 to the boys, got to talking with them about it, 

 and answered their questions and let them see 

 that I was not only flesh and blood like them- 

 selves, but that I had boyish ideas and sym- 

 pathies, even if I ?uas gray-headed. I did not 

 get on to it, nor ask the boys to get on ; but I 

 did use it as a means of getting acquainted, 

 and letting the boys know that I loved them, 

 and felt anxious about them, and sympathized 

 with them in their sports and pleasures. We 

 might not all draw the line in the same place, 

 but I do think we may err in both directions. 

 May the Holy Spirit guide and direct us ! 



