^62 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Deo. 



it out higber, then there is " music;" or, worse stili, 

 our customer gets mad, and just lets the matter 

 stand until he gets a statement, which he considers 

 a dun. Then he accuses us of being frauds and 

 cheats, and of " going bac c on our word," etc. Some- 

 times he writes ho has got both our letters, and can 

 prove we are cheats, by placing them side by side. 

 From his standpoint of view, it does look bad, I know; 

 but from our standpoint it looks like this: With 

 hundreds of letters daily, how are we to remember 

 who has had an estimate, unless our friends put in 

 something like this simple little sentence at the end 

 of their orders: " As per your agreement of — 

 date"? Do you see the point, friends? 



My attentioB has been called to some remarks 

 made by friend Kingsley on page 668 of our Nov. 

 No. It seems that some of friend K.'s words wound- 

 ed the feelings of a good friend who uses tobacco, 

 and who writes us an excellent article in defense of 

 it. The writer of said article I judge to be a Cbris- 

 tian, a gentleman, and a scholar; and after reading 

 his communication, which is by far too lengthy for 

 our columns, I regretted that I bad let friend K.'s 

 strictures pass. Every one has a right to his opin- 

 ions, it is true, on tobacco as well as other matters; 

 and we who think that the use of tobacco is a sin 

 have no right to wound the feelings of those who 

 may think otherwise. ]<'riend K. said that tobacco is, 

 as a rule, contined to the lower classes. Perhaps he 

 should not have said this; and I am sure it was really 

 not the thing to say, that a man who uses tobacco 

 has the juice of Satan in him. I fear we too often 

 lose sight of the fact that we who profess to be fol- 

 lowers of Christ should bear in mind that Cbrist's 

 kingdom is to prevail, not by strength nor by might 

 nor by sarcasm, but by a Christian spirit, and a 

 spirit becoming one who professes to be a follower 

 of Christ. 



There are two men, whose names are pretty well 

 known through the bee-journals, who have been 

 buying honey in considerable quantities, and can 

 not pay for it, nor return the honey. One of these I 

 have been laboring with for nearly a year; and al- 

 though I have been requested to publish him, to pre- 

 vent him from wronging any other innocent honey- 

 producer, I have delayed doing so, hoping he would 

 pay up, and because I very much dislike to do such 

 a thing. Within a few weeks I have been told this 

 same man has purchased another considerable lot of 

 honey, which he is also unable to pay for. 1 fear I 

 have erred in listening to his promises to do better; 

 and unless he does fix up the matter some way sat- 

 isfactorily by the first of January, I shall certainly 

 publish him, to prevent his wronging any more of 

 the friends. The other party I have mentioned will 

 take notice, that I shall do the same by him. I dis- 

 like wrangles ; but when I am obliged to go into it, 

 and the public good demands it, wrangles it must 

 be. If there are others who are guilty of the same 

 offense, they can take this note as a warning. I know 

 it is a little bad to create suspicion in this way; but 

 the names of both parties will be given very soon, 

 unless the matter is straightened up in some way; 

 and as soon as it is straightened up I will give you 

 notice. 



Dear friends, I am in trouble. When I decided 

 to make Gleaninos a semi-monthly, I thouarht we 

 might get in pretty much all the matter that ought 

 to be published, and not crowd the juveniles very 



much either; but since the honey season closed' 

 and you seem to have a little more leisure, the 

 amount of matter piled in upon us is wonderful. 

 Important letters that ought by no means to be 

 overlooked have been covered up by the heaps — 

 manuscripts overlooked and crowded out. I have 

 been so full of business cares that I fear a good 

 many times I have published what ought to have 

 been left out, and left out what I ought to have 

 published. To tell the real truth, there are heaps 

 of letters that I have not even read; for when I saw 

 that they I'an up to 15 and 18 pages, I was c >rapellefl 

 to lay them aside until 1 got a little more leisure. 

 But with the sudden start-up of business we have 

 had, the leisure has not come, and the letters are 

 even now piled in the neat drawers of my new desk 

 in the otHcje, waiting for me to consider them. Old 

 Gleanings and young Gleanings together won't 

 begin to hold the amount of good matter sent in. I 

 know some of you feel hurt, and I don't blame you; 

 but, what shall I do? I really do believe it would 

 be better to try to make your articles a little shorter, 

 if you can, and thus let us hear from a good many 

 each month. I know [ might run them over and 

 cross out a portion of each: but this is a very 

 laborious undertaking, friends, and it is something 

 I would not dare to intrust to any one. I really can 

 not afford to mike Gleanings any larger for a dol- 

 dar, and I do not believe it is best to charge you 

 more than a dollar. Do you? 



answering letters promptly. 

 This is an excellent thing to talk about, you will 

 all admit; yet I fear there are very few people in 

 this world who give a prompt answer to every letter, 

 of whatever nature, they receive. I have some- 

 times thought that it was a kind of disease we fall 

 into, of putting off and putting off; for the oftener 

 we put off a thing, the more liable we shall be to 

 continue putting it off. If you give way to the 

 temptation a little, you will soon give way to it 

 more, and by and by you will get hardened and cal- 

 loused, as it were, and get so you have a don't-care 

 spirit, like all other Kinds of sinners. Just now 

 quite a number of the bee-friends, and some of 

 them prominent business men, write saying they 

 have not answered their letters for a week or two 

 wecKs, or something of that sort, on account of 

 some calamity or sickness, etc., but promising to 

 see to it soon. Now, there are times when this is in- 

 evitable, or pretty nearly so; but, let me make a 

 suggestion: A great many of you are paying out 

 considerable money for advertising. Very likely 

 some of it goes into my own pocket. But for all 

 that, I want to tell you that the best advertisement 

 a business man ever had was the repu'ation of 

 answering right back promptly. Almost any kind 

 of an answer is better than no answer, and I am 

 sure it will pay you, my friends, to have S'^me mem- 

 ber of the family, if you can not have a hired clerk, 

 to answer every letter the minute it comes from 

 the postotHce. Almost any of you can pick a bright 

 little girl who can say, " Pa is sick," or " gone away," 

 or "fell from the hog-pen, and when he is better he 

 will attend to your business." And after a little 

 you will get so you can dictate to this bright apt lit- 

 tle school girl in a way that will enable her to do a 

 vast amount of important business in a way that 

 will help you greatly, and develop her growing and 

 grasping little mind fully as much as the algebra 

 and grammar she studies at school. 



