1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



387 



ually concerned I am convinced that your 

 statements regarding the workings of this are 

 abundantly borne out by the facts. So favor- 

 able were the reports that we finally incorpo- 

 rated the system in our hives. If any one is 

 interested in the system, and desires to try it, 

 all he will have to do is to call for any com- 

 bination that has the letter C in it ; for in- 

 stance, CE64P I 8 calls for a Pettit bottom- 

 board with a set of fences (dividers, as Mr. 

 Pettit calls his), on the outside of each out- 

 side row of sections. Indeed, all fence supers 

 made by The A. I. Root Co. (and probably by 

 the other manufacturers) have this feature, 

 with the exception of the Danzenbaker M su- 

 per. By selecting any hive or any super, and 

 putting with it the bottom-board designated 

 C, one will get the Pettit system pure and sim- 

 ple. The only difference between our dividers 

 and those of Mr. Pettit is that ours use hori- 

 zontal oblong openings instead of round holes; 

 but practically the results are the same. 



But say, Mr. Pettit, I did not mean to give 

 you the impression that I considered your sys- 

 tem old, and would soon point out some one 

 who antedated you. The footnote to which 

 you refer is doubtless that which is given on 

 page 288, April 15, 1897. What I meant was 

 that a cleated separator with holes was old ; 

 and in proof I referred to our English cousins. 

 But your manner of using the same is, so far 

 as I know, new; at least, in the three years 

 that have gone by no one has pretended to lay 

 claim to it. 



The Pettit system was first described, I be- 

 lieve, in our issue for Jan. 15, 1897, page 52, 

 and those who are especially interested can 

 refer to this back number. — Ed.] 



POLICY m BOOK-MAKING. 



Especially the Making of Bee-books. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



Dear Mr. Editor : — I wish to present a 

 matter which I think is quite important in the 

 policy which you and I should adopt as ma- 

 kers of books. I refer to the matter of giving 

 a mention, and also the character of the books 

 and journals which treat of the subject which 

 the book considers. I do this because a good 

 friend of mine, and a person for whose judg- 

 ment I have the greatest respect, urges me to 

 leave out of all succeeding editions of my 

 work the notices which I give in the early 

 pages of the work of the several journals and 

 books which treat of bee-keeping. I do not 

 agree with my friend, though from your prac- 

 tice I take it you do. My friend urges that it 

 is not for my interest ; that the other authors 

 do not do this, and so it handicaps me. I ad- 

 vertise them and get no return. He also adds 

 what seems to me a more important reason, 

 that books grow old and cease to be published, 

 while the journals even die outright, and so 

 the information is often unreliable. 



I wish now to give my own opinion, and ask 

 you in an editorial to expose all its weak 

 points. In the first place, it seems to me that 

 the wisest author is he who keeps his readers 



in mind and not his own interests. True, this 

 may not pile up the ducats so rapidly ; but I 

 am quite sure that you agree with me in be- 

 lieving that a grander thing was never said 

 than those beautiful words of the Master, 

 " Man shall not live by bread alone." There 

 is nothing that I am more interested in, in 

 studying any treatise, than to know fully of 

 the literature of the subject ; and if there are 

 good notices of the books, so that we may 

 know something of the contents, I value this 

 still more. That I am not alone in this appears 

 from the fact that all of our leading treatises 

 in science in these later better days give a full 

 bibliography. I hardly know of a good book 

 on any scientific subject published in the last 

 few years that does not add what to me seems 

 one of the best parts of any treatise. 



I am sure that you will agree with me that, 

 if this is a right policy, we have no business, 

 nay, not for a moment, to consider what may 

 be to our financial advantage. 



I have always felt that in bee-keeping we 

 were writing for more than ordinarily intelli- 

 gent people. I think our bee-people are read- 

 ers, and are very generally students of no 

 mean rank. If I am right in this opinion, 

 then the readers will rarely be satisfied with 

 any one book, and will wish to purchase other 

 books intelligently. Surely you and I with 

 all our study and experience can give a review 

 of the books which will aid them greatly in 

 just this direction. If I am right in my view 

 of this matter I feel that I can not afford to 

 omit this part of my book, even though such 

 a course might contribute never so largely to 

 my pocketbook. You have given to the apia- 

 rian world a splendid treatise. You must 

 have thought this matter all over. I know 

 you too well to think for an instant that any 

 selfish argument has had any weight with you. 

 Therefore it is that I feel greatly interested in 

 knowing your views regarding what seems ta 

 me a very important policy. To put the case 

 in a nutshell, I would say we write for the 

 best interests of our readers. The best of our 

 readers are most interested in the literature of 

 the subject. Therefore we must include a 

 full bibliography. 



[The mention of bee- books and bee-journals 

 was left out of the last edition of our ABC 

 book for several reasons. First, we desired to 

 make use of the space which it occupied, as 

 the subject-matter of the main part of the|book 

 was crowding upon the smaller departments 

 in the latter portion of it. Second, as your 

 friend very correctly says, books stand on the 

 shelves for years ; and whenever one turns to 

 the book notices, unless the volume in hand 

 is just fresh from the press the mention of the 

 various treatises and journals relating to the 

 subject is apt to be very much out of date, 

 not to say stale. I was reminded of that quite 

 forcibly in reading some of the notices in our 

 book regarding certain other books and peri- 

 odicals. Some journals had passed from the 

 scene of action. The editorial management 

 of others had been changed as well as their 

 general character. Some books had been re- 

 vised, and others were out cf print. All this 



