176 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



many bees visit liere, and tlie air 

 will be filled with their drowsy 

 droning. 



Each weed possesses its own in- 

 dividuality, and all soon become 

 sentient objects to ns. When we 

 first made their acquaintance, they 

 had become, through long and un- 

 disturbed occupation of the land, 

 quite lords of the domain. The 

 docks and the horseradish were ri- 

 val feudal lords, occupying by 

 right of conquest and granting 

 what seemed meet of the common 

 territory to lesser vassal weeds. 

 If one of these two powerful ri- 

 vals occupied more ground than 

 the other, it was made up for by 

 the remarkable tenacity with 

 which the other held possession 

 when once it had gained foothold 

 and on account of its very unnat- 

 ural and illegal methods of propa- 

 gating itself. 



These mouarchs of the field 

 hardly condescended to notice the 

 insignificant eflTorts of one small 

 pair of hands, attempting to dis- 

 turb the foundation of their an- 

 cient rights. As hopefully might 

 the mouse attempt to reuiove the 

 mountain ; but monopolies shall 

 not always prosper. The bur- 

 docks waxed high for many sea- 

 sons and annually presented their 

 wonderful crop of bright burrs. 

 Sometimes it seemed wicked to 

 farther attempt their demolition. 

 The thought of other and long 

 past dull days in childhood which 

 had been made tolerable by these 

 and kindred blossoms, together 

 with a feeling of utter incapacity 

 to cope with tlieir remarkable 

 growth, often discouraged from 

 further effort. Yet, as time passed, 

 they gradually took on a less 

 haughty demeanor, until, finally, 

 one began to feel a sort of pity for 

 the bab_y plants which were ruth- 

 lessly cut off, and the parent 

 plants, doomed by their nature to 

 an early death, seemed to foresee. 



in the loss of these little ones, the 

 decay of their ancient grandeur. 



Tlie day at last came when no 

 one individual of the species could 

 be found in all our borders. All 

 their strength and pride had not 

 been sufficient to withstand the in- 

 roads which were so constantly 

 kept up by the one small pair of 

 hands. They have taken refuge 

 in a neighboring, unoccupied lot, 

 from which they attempt, by all 

 manner of devices, known only to 

 themselves, to regain a foothold in 

 their ancient realm. But the war- 

 fare is now insignificant and af- 

 fords a pretext, on these dull days, 

 for many a lazy, dreamy saunter, 

 among the tangles of fences and 

 hedge-rows. 



Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



TILE HONEY MARKET IN 

 THE WEST. 



G. C. Stewart. 



I have sold comb honey in a town 

 in northwestern Missouri for four 

 years from 20 cents at first to 15 

 cents last year. The last sale I 

 made there was at 13 cents, because 

 honey had been shipped in and 

 sold at 13 cents as California 

 honey ; but I know by the style of 

 package it was from towa or Mis- 

 souri but it was sold by a commis- 

 sion man. I knovv I could have ob- 

 tained 15 cents for the same, and 

 not call it by a wrong name either. 

 Bee men, you are to blame for the 

 low price of honey. The commis- 

 sion man will sell quickly if he sells 

 for § the value. Why not sell to the 

 I'etailer direct? My plan is to go to 

 the bank and get the name of the 

 reliable dealers in good towns, from 

 Bradstreet, then write a postal and 

 state the quantity, quality, and 

 price delivered in good order, guar- 



