1877 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



198 



ur %€tmh 



Whatsoever thy hand flndeth to do, do it with thy 

 jTiigrht.— Ecclesiastos, 9 ; 10. 



now TO MAKE JMONEV. 



^(^ ^^JQ !" says some one, "As far as that is 

 ^^ coucernoci, we know how very well 



' already, if you mean simply that we 



are to work hard to get it." I do mean that 

 you shall work hard, not that you shall labor 

 with your hands alone, but that you shall use 

 all the powers God has given you ; that in- 

 stead of exhausting any one of them, you shall 

 give a healthy exercise to them all, and have 

 them grow and develop healthily. For many 

 years, I have been employing hands in a man- 

 ufacturing business, and while I made it a 

 study to sec how I could get good work done 

 <-heaply, I hope I have also studied the traits 

 and dispositions of those about me, with a 

 view to their own good. I have employed 

 mostly young people — boys and girls, and as 

 ours is not a manufacturing town, I have al- 

 ways had more applications for places than I 

 could by any means use. Under the circum- 

 i:*tances, it would have been many times, much 

 easier for me to have given places to only such 

 as were quick and skilful, than to have taken 

 much time and pains with some who seemed 

 in some respects unfortunately unfitted for the 

 work to be done. 



Shall we always purchase where we can 

 purchase cheapest, and employ such hands as 

 will give us the best labor for the money? 

 Some may say that the most profitable people 

 are not always pleasantest to have round, but 

 that is not the point either; shall we always 

 choose to deal with those who are pleasant 

 and profitable, or in other words shall we con- 

 sider our own comfort only ':" I do not know 

 but I am getting into rather deep water, for 

 very likely I shall before getting through, dis- 

 l)lay some of my ov'in selfishness, which al- 

 though it may be very plainly apparent to my 

 friends, perhaps I shall not see at all. 



Every one has his peculiarities and dis- 

 tinctive traits, and almost every one has a pe- 

 culiar adaptation for some one thing or anoth- 

 er ; almost every one has also faults or infirm- 

 ities th;:t render them unfit for certain duties. 

 There are people whose services are worth 

 four or five dollars a day in almost any kind 

 of business, while there are many more who 

 are scarcely worth fifty cents a day. Do those 

 work so much harder who get the largest 

 price? I do not think it is so much their 

 working harder, as it is their bringing into 

 play all their faculties, and applying their 

 whole mind to every little detail of the work 

 they are doing. Now who do you suppose en- 

 joys life, or rather enjoys his work most, the 

 person who works for fifty cents, or the one 

 who has several dollars a day? I think un- 

 questionably the latter, if we except those who 

 are injuring themselves by working too many 

 hours in a day, or are overstraining some par- 

 ticular faculty, or something of that nature. 

 It is a pleasure, to exercise healthfully, any of 

 the faculties or talents given us, and to feel 

 that some power we hardly knew we possessed 

 is growing and developing, is one of the keenest j 



pleasures I know of. I have at difi'erent times 

 in life worked for 12, 14, and sometimes even 

 16 hours a day, but after once losing my health 

 and afterwards regaining it, I feel pretty surc 

 that 10 hours a day is as much as any one 

 should devote to really hard labor. I do not 

 know but I had better say labor for some one 

 else, and especially indoor labor. It is well 

 known that those who are passionately devo- 

 ted to some of the open air industries such as 

 fruit raising, gardening, and even bee culttire, 

 can labor hard from sunrise until sunset, and 

 thrive on it; but it can scarcely be expect- 

 ed that one who hires out by the day or month, 

 to some one else, will have that enthusiasm 

 that seems in a measure to prevent fattgue, 

 and the consequences of working too many 

 hours. 



Is it possible for us all to earn four or five 

 dollars a day or something near it ? I think 

 it just as possible, as it is for you to have the 

 fastest horse in your community — you have 

 only to pay the price. "But we hav'n't 

 the money V" I have no doubt but that you 

 may earn the money any one of you, but some 

 of you would have to work much longer than 

 others. If yon are icilUng to pay the price you 

 can almost any one of you, command high 

 wages for whatever you may be doing. Nay, 

 farther, you can have work brought to you, 

 without your taking any trouble to search for 

 something to do. I moan this for women and 

 girls, as well as men and boys, for I have had 

 experience in employing them all, and I know 

 full well, how eagerly real worth is sought out 

 and bought at high prices. 



Very likely there will be many who are in- 

 clined to argue, and disagree with me on this 

 point, and who will insist that they have not 

 the natural talent, &c., &c., but I feel sure that 

 the great trouble is that you are unwilling to 

 pay the price, rather than that you are in any 

 way incapable, or not possessed of the wished 

 for abilities. If you have but one arm, you 

 certainly have dihiculties to work against, but 

 the loss of an arm is not to be compared with 

 objectionable habits that very many possess 

 whu have two good arms ; you can still have 

 the high wages, if you will pay the price. 



I will try to point out to you the way in 

 which the price is to be paid, judging princi- 

 pally from ray past experience. One very im- 

 portant thing in the commencement, is to be- 

 come impressed with your own need of 

 improvement, for one who thinks he is already 

 ahead of the rest of his fellow beings, that no 

 one appreciates him as he deserves, is in a very 

 bad frame of mind indeed, to get better wages. 

 If you, on the other hand, think you are get- 

 ting all you deserve, or perhaps a little more, 

 you are on very good ground. Should 

 you feel like asking your employers if they 

 could not advance your wages, there should 

 be no harm at all in your doing so, providing 

 you are willing to have them tell you just 

 where you are lacking, and need improvement. 

 I believe employers as a general thing will be 

 very glad to talk over your mutual relations, 

 when you come to them in that way. 



Perhaps it may be well to state here, that I 

 consider everybody employed by some one 

 else. You, my friend, are my employer and I 

 try to think you pay me all I deserve ; when 



