1034 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



good friend Atkinson; but inasmuch as we 

 have had similar letters from quite a num- 

 ber of people I do not think it will do any 

 harm to let him see some friendly criticism. 

 This matter of a school for horses suggests 

 another wonderful field for experiment and 

 invention. When Ernest came home from 

 the St. Louis exposition and said there was 

 a horse there that knew his A B C's, could 

 spell easy words, and "cipher," I remon- 

 strated with him. I told him all such things 

 were only shrewd tricks, and that it was 

 not worth while to waste time in unraveling 

 the trickery. But now the Scientific Amer- 

 ican comes out and declares that some of 

 the foremost scientists of the world have 

 been compelled to admit that this horse 

 "Hans" has actually been taught by a 

 process of careful schooling so he has quite 

 a little education. I will make a little men- 

 tion of his acquirements. He can not only 

 do simple examples in mental arithmetic, 

 but he has acquired a vocabulary of words 

 that he can spell. The keeper turned his 

 back and told his audience to test him by 

 asking him some questions. Somebody ask- 

 ed him if he could spell Nebuchadnezzar. 

 After studying on the question for a while 

 with his trained horse sense, he shook his 

 head. It was too big a job, and was beyond 

 his schooling. The trainer interposed, and 

 told the audience to give him the names of 

 some of the large cities of the United States. 

 When asked if he could spell New York he 

 pricked up his ears and nodded in the affirm- 

 ative, and then picked out the proper letters 

 from the pigeonholes in plain sight, and 

 spelled the words correctly. He did the 

 same with San Francisco and New Orleans. 

 His mental arithmetic was about like that 

 of a child five or six years old who has had 

 some little training. If the example was 

 not too hard he could manage it all right. 

 Well, if it had not been for radium, wireless 

 telegraphj'^, and similar unfoldings, I might 

 let the matter drop; but, dear friends of the 

 human family, does not this suggest that, 

 what ' ' Hans ' ' has been taught to do, other 

 horses can be taught in like manner? Who 

 knows but that, in a few days more, we 

 shall be startled and appalled to know the 

 possibilities that lie along the line of train- 

 ing that dear friend of mankind, that noble 

 creation and gift of God? 



Now, to come down suddenly to earth 

 (from our mental ' ' flying-machine ' ' for in- 

 stance), let me suggest that Bro. Atkinson 

 and the host of farmers who have been fol- 

 lowing him should get some lumps of sugar 

 and teach their hoi'ses to take it from their 

 hands while they sit in an automobile. In- 

 stead of scaring the poor dumb brutes out of 

 their senses by the spectacle of a buggy that 

 goes without a horse to pull it, shall we not 

 teach them, as fast as possible, that every- 

 body who rides in an automobile is very 

 likely to have some lumps of sugar in his 

 pocket that he will be glad to give to every 

 horse that looks at him inquiringly? Why, 

 bless you, this is no fiction. We once had a 

 horse on the vegetable-wagon that had been 



bothered by mischievous boys until he show- 

 ed his teeth, and snapped at everybody who 

 passed under his nose, myself not excepted. 

 I said at first I would whip it out of him; 

 but on further consideration I filled my 

 pockets with sweet apples until he learned 

 to expect an apple every time I came in 

 sight. It was laughable to see him, each 

 time his bad disposition was aroused, with 

 his ears laid back on his neck, change so 

 suddenly to a bright and intelligent-looking 

 horse with his ears pricked forward, when 

 it took nothing but a sweet apple to win his 

 big clumsy self, heart and soul. Yes, I be- 

 lieve a horse has a heart, and that he will 

 remember his friends just as he does every 

 thing else; and I do not know but the dear 

 fellow has some sort of soul. Who knows 

 what has been slumbering, only awaiting de- 

 velopment, in the horse's mind during the 

 centuries that are past? May God help us 

 to recognize the wonderful possibilities 

 with these animals that have been right 

 with us so long, and yet we did not know it. 

 After the above was in type I noticed in 

 the Farm Journal for November the editor 

 has made an extract of where I spoke of 

 passing a buggy containing a baby, its 

 mother, and grandmother (see page 854, 

 Sept. 1). The editor presents the matter 

 very kindly, but he has drawn some wrong 

 deductions. In a little picture that is very 

 cleverly drawn, he represents myself as 

 riding the automobile as I passed the wo- 

 men. Now, perhaps I was careless in 

 describing the event ; but the truth of the 

 matter is, I ran the machine up to the side 

 of the road, and walked quite a distance to 

 meet the women. I took the horse by the 

 bit, led him close to the machine, and even 

 went past before I could induce them to get 

 in. The Farm Journal says further in 

 regard to it : 



Mr. Root's effort to soothe the frightened grand- 

 mother was well meant, but not at all effectual; and he 

 does not seem to appreciate the great wrong done that 

 poor old lady, nor seem to care if this shall be the last 

 time she will ever take the risk of another ride. 



The above statement is not quite in ac- 

 cordance with the facts. I did succeed in 

 soothing the grandmother, and mother as 

 well; and they were profuse in their apolo- 

 gies for having made such a fuss when there 

 was really nothing to be alarmed at. I was 

 exceedingly pained to know that I had been 

 the means of giving them such a fright, but 

 I do not think either of them felt at all like 

 saying they would not go out with a buggy 

 any more. Now, is it not possible that 

 these two women had been reading what 

 the Farm Journal has said for some months 

 past (you know it goes anywhere)? and is 

 it not possible the editor of that journal is 

 as much responsible, or more so, for the 

 fright of those two women than I was my- 

 self? One thing they said I had almost 

 forgotten. It was to the effect that my 

 machine made so little noise, comparatively, 

 it was not likely to frighten horses ; and that 

 if other drivers would take the same pains I 

 did, there certainly would be no reason for- 

 such apprehension. 



