1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



641 



at first, but finally he g-ave me a pleasant 

 smile, and said, " Oh, 3'esl this is Mr. 

 Root, the man who g^ave us some potatoes to 

 ship." 



Then I told him I had only twelve min- 

 utes to spare, and that if he could spare 

 about three minutes he could help me catch 

 the train. I had my letter in my hand, 

 where thej' declined rebating- the $20 be- 

 cause the potatoes were not taken on at 

 Traverse City. His reply was something 

 like this : 



" Why, this is ridiculous. I told you the 

 potatoes would be taken from the Bing-ham 

 dock at the same price. I told the clerk on 

 the boat what the agreement was, and I 

 g-ave j'ou a note to hand to him to that ef- 

 fect." 



Oh what a weig^ht was lifted at once from 

 m}' heart I — a weight that had rested there 

 long weeks, because I feared — do you know 

 what I feared ? I feared to have another 

 evidence of the weakness and frailty and 

 corruption of humanity. May be you know 

 something about how it hurts to have some- 

 bod j' you have relied on — somebody you 

 have felt glad to know— turn traitor. My 

 convictions of the previous j'ear in regard 

 to Mr. Pope were right. He maj^ not be a 

 Christian, although I hope he is; but he is 

 a true man— one of God's noblemen. I told 

 him my anxiety to catch that train, and he 

 replied that, if I would leave the letters 

 with him, he would make the matter all 

 straight. He said he could not believe the 

 matter had ever been presented to his com- 

 pany at all; that the agent of the Cleveland 

 and Detroit Transportation Co. had simply 

 got far enough to discover the potatoes were 

 taken on at Bingham dock, and had refused 

 the claim without any further investigation. 

 He furthermore said if I had any more po- 

 tatoes to ship they would take them at the 

 price given last year, and he would stand 

 by me, and see that they did not get in any 

 overcharge. 



Some of you maj' suggest that I have not 

 j-et got my monej', and that may be I shall 

 not get it after all. But I think I shall. I 

 believe if this whole matter could be pre- 

 sented to the heads of our great transporta- 

 tion companies they would say at once that 

 the3' employ agents at good salaries to be 

 fair and just to every customer of theirs, 

 whether he be high or low, rich or poor, 

 black or white; and that the insinuation 

 that they employ men to "wiggle out " of a 

 just claim is untrue. God grant that it 

 may be so. There are men in public office 

 who have no conscience and no scruple; but 

 such men will not only steal for their em- 

 ployers, but they will very soon, if they do 

 not already, steal from them. They will 

 be found out and dismissed, just as our 

 great nation now while I write is ferreting 

 out and dismissing and sending to prison 

 those who make a bad use of the positions 

 that have been given to them. God forbid 

 that corruption, especially in high places, 

 should be the rule; and may God grant that 

 we as individuals may eacii and everj' one 



of us try not only to be honest and fair to- 

 ward all, but that we may be cultivating 

 that little virtue embodied in our text, that 

 bids us not only have faith in God but faith 

 in our fellow-men, and be striving to hold 

 constantly before us that grand virtue that 

 "thinketh no evil." 



THE NEWER STRAWBERRIES. 



On p. 555, June 15th issue, I spoke of the 

 newer strawberries we are testing. When 

 Mrs. Root and I reached our "cabin," 

 June 18th, they were just beginning to rip- 

 en. As there had been no rain for fully 

 three weeks, the plants with their great 

 loads of fruit were suffering, and some of 

 them were considerably wilted, both ber- 

 ries and foliage. Mrs. R. thought it was 

 too bad; but I said: 



"No! it is just right. I can now tell 

 which of the twelve kinds will stand up 

 best under drouth." 



Among the twelve there is one for which 

 great claims are made in regard to stand- 

 ing dry weather. See the following from 

 the originator: 



We are having the hottest and driest weather here 

 ever known. No rain yet, and the thermometer regis- 

 tering from 110 10 in for the past week. All varieties 

 of strawberries on my place have to be watered and 

 shaded except Challenge. It is the most wonderful 

 drouth-resister I have ever seen. 



We were hardly out of the buggy when I 

 asked Mrs. R. to take a look at the twelve 

 kinds, and tell me which one was standing 

 the drouth best. Without knowing their 

 names she pointed out the Challenge at 

 once. The leaves, as well as the fruit, 

 were immense in size — not a spot of rust, 

 and not a wilted leaf. It may be, however, 

 that this is partly becatise it does not make 

 many plants, hence each plant has more 

 room than in many of the other rows; be- 

 sides, the fruit does not lie in heaps as it 

 often does with such varieties as Warfield 

 and Haverland, and those of that t3'pe. 



The next to it, as a drouth-resister, is 

 "Uncle Jim," introduced by Flansburg & 

 Peirson, Leslie, Michigan. This, too, is a 

 strong vigorous grower, and bears immense 

 berries; but while the shape and color are 

 not as good as Challenge, the berries are 

 as sweet as the Sharpless. Even when 

 they are mottled with white they are sweet 

 enough for me without any sugar. Like 

 the Gandy, however, while some of the 

 plants have great loads of berries others 

 have few or none. Uncle Jim, like Chal- 

 lenge, makes only a few plants; and if one 

 wants extra large berries, even if there are 

 not so many, this may be a good fault. 



August Luther is much like Michel's 

 Early — sends out lots of runners, makes 

 lots of plants, and gives a great lot of ber- 



