and dressed, and looking pleasant, tidy, and happy. Mrs. Jones isn't tired, because they have all helped her bear the burdens of the breakfast. You might think Mary is rather young to be up so early; but as she goes to bed about as soon as it is fairly dark, she has about as much sleep as she used to have the old way. The goods they keep for sale are already out on their stands each side of the door, and it would be nothing strange if they should have a customer before they get quite through with breakfast. In that case, neither the father nor mother would have to get up, for Mary or John would be on a strife to see which should wait on the customer first.

They take their seats at the table, and yet no one makes any movement to help himself to the food, nor even so much as move a dish, for that matter, for God's blessing must be asked over the morning meal first. In this little feature alone there was a wonderful difference over the old way. It is true, that ofttimes some one of them was unavoidably hindered; but if the hindrance was not to exceed a few minutes, all hands sat and waited. If breakfast was not quite ready, Mr. Jones had a way of reading in the Sunday-School Times about the lesson for the next Sabbath, and who shall say his time was wasted? Very often he struck some bright thought (did it ever occur to you how easily one catches bright thoughts after his face is washed, just before breakfast?) that made the theme of discussion for all at the morning meal. The words he usually used in asking a blessing were often homely ones; and many who have a better command of language than he had, might have smiled at such common-place words; but they were his own, and the best he had. As nearly as I can tell, it was usually something like this:

"Our Father who art in heaven, we thank thee for this happy little home thou hast given us, and for this our morning meal. May thy blessing rest upon the food before us, and may thy loving care be with us all, through all the duties and tasks of the day. Amen."

It was so short and simple that no one ever wearied of its length, and yet the words, so few and plain, were such that all could mentally assent, even if they did not outwardly say amen. The Jones family did not always feel pleasant about every thing early in the morning, any more than the folks do who live at our house or your house; but the thought of this simple little blessing was a check, even before it had been pronounced, and the memory of it was a check after it had been pronounced.

During the meal, the subject came up as to what should be planted on their little patch of ground this season. Perhaps nothing had brought them so much money as the crop of white beans, for the 5-cent dishes of baked beans had got to be an established article of trade with the men working on the new mill. It was decided that every foot of ground must be made to produce something; and then Mr. Jones remarked, that they | must make the ground rich, and to that end a compost heap was to be started, and every scrap of every thing that could be converted

into manure was to be put on it, even to the soapsuds and dish-water.

"O mother!" said Mary," Mr. Merrybanks has got a peach-tree right near the house, and they always pour soapsuds around it, and it bears a bushel of peaches every year, and it's only a little tree too."

"Oh, yes!" said John," and he carries all the ashes and puts around the rest of his peach-trees, for he says it keeps the worms away. Right close to the ground, he showed me where they ate into the bark, and made the gum run out; and he said if we kept ashes around the roots, there would never be any gum there; and, O father! don't you believe? he has some nice peach-tree honey."

"Yes," said the father, and we must have some peach-trees around our place, and some raspberries and strawberries; and, if mother is willing, we will go right about it this morning."

Inasmuch as they all declared they liked to raise berries, pick berries, and eat berries, it was decided their little plantation was to be devoted to fruits, bees, vegetables,And tinware!" suggested Mary.

By this time, as all had finished their meal the father took the little worn Bible and read a chapter, concluding with the little text at the head of our talk to-day; and as they all knelt, he asked God to bless their work, and help them to be diligent, not only with their bees, fruits, and vegetables, but also in following his law as laid down in the book they had just read. After this, all were ready for work, and it wasn't quite 7 o'clock either. Who shall say it was time wasted? They had simply been starting the day" decently and in order," as directed in our little text of last month.

TOBACCO COLUMN.

HAVEN'T forgotten my promise; my smoker is all right. I am going to hold my promise as long as I live. I hope you will not forget me. W. II. T. COLLINS.

Ayersville, Habersham Co., Ga., April 1, 1882.

I do not forget you, my friend, and I pray that God may remember and strengthen all those who have given us the promise in the Tobacco Column.

Charley, our Swede hand, is trying for your smoker

by leaving off chewing and smoking, but says be must "snuff a little while yet," which I think is

even worse than chewing. He is a very excellent

and humble Christian, I believe. Has a wife and three children in Sweden, and we will help him to send for them next month. He has been earning money to get them here. S. AXTELL.

Roseville, Warren Co, Ill.

Why, bless your heart, my good friend Charley, tobacco is tobacco, whether it goes into the mouth, lungs, or nose. The only advantage I can see with the snuff would be that you might take less of it; but if I am correct, it is a more disagreeable habit to those about you than smoking or chewing. Ask the Savior to help you, my friend, and then make a clean sweep of tobacco in every form, and save the money for the good wife and children.

Our Homes.

The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.-GEN. 3: 12.

W

HEN Adam was placed in the beautiful garden of Eden, and told that it was all his own to care for and look after, he was probably very happy. If he was not a child in stature, he was at least a child of the childhood of humanity, and we can imagine him going about in the garden in almost childish glee, as he named the animals, and wandered here and there, eating of the fruits of the trees, and seeing new sights day by day. Without sin, with a clear conscience, and the innocence of childhood, his life was one long holiday; and with the great God, who made all, for his best friend, what more could he ask for? Perhaps he did not ask for any thing; but his kind Father above, who, out of his great love for this child of his was still working so as to best conduce to his needs and happiness, saw that he needed companionship. He lacked a playmate. As Adam had never had a playmate, he probably knew nothing of the new happiness that was in store for him until his eyes first rested on a beautiful little girl, or, if you choose, a beautiful little woman. In spite of what happened afterward, I am inclined to think Adam loved her at first sight. He was surely as capable as any of us of appreciating all that is good and pure and lovely; and I can imagine that Eve, on the day when she was first introduced to Adam as his companion in the garden, was as pleasing in his eyes as was ever woman in the eye of man since her time. No lovers' quarrels, no memory of unkind words, marred the feeling they had toward each other; and no doubt her smile was as pretty, that morning, as were those of the woman whom God gave you, my friend, when you first learned to know and love her. Oh how I should like to know that Adam, on bended knee that first day, thanked God for the great and priceless boon he had given him! If it would be strictly orthodox, I should like to suggest, that, had he done so, there would never have been any trouble.

Have you, dear reader, ever thanked God for the woman he has given you? If you haven't, and have any faith in my ability to guide, do so now. You can do so as you kneel by her side at night, before retiring to rest, if you choose; but besides putting it in words, let your actions say every day and every hour, that you thank God for the woman he has given you. If she has faults and failings, thank God all the more, not for her faults and failings, but because to you he has given the task to bear with them, and to win her to better things. You love her as no one else does; therefore you can bear it better than anybody else. If you don't love her as you once did, by God's help get back that love. You have no more business letting that love wane, or grow cold, than you have to lose your love for your right hand. You have no more business to neglect her than you have to neglect your right hand, and let it get burned or frozen. In fact, you

have not as much right; for it is your business to endure fire and frost, rather than to let her suffer pain or needless trial. God gave her to you, and he will hold you responsible. Neglect her, at your peril. Love and cherish her, and God will send you great happiness; neglect her, and you will be unhappy, dissatisfied with yourself and all the world, and possibly without knowing why either.

а

Never trust a man who speaks ill of his wife. Several years ago our pastor asked me to conduct the weekly prayer-meeting during his absence. I was young in the Lord's service, and felt it quite a privilege. Of course, I exhorted to repentance, just as I do now; but I was then a little more sure that everybody who gets up and speaks in meeting will hold out, than I now am. Toward the close of the meeting a man arose, and tried to say he wanted to be a Christian, but broke down, and, amid sobs, declared it was his purpose to serve the Lord. Of course, I at once concluded it was the effect of the earnest way I had been putting the matter, and inwardly thanked God that he had paid me the great honor of permitting me to lead a soul to the kingdom. It is true, the man did, in his confession, say that he had a very hard time of it at home (poor fellow!) because his wife was a hard, bitter skeptic, and he asked prayers for her. I talked with him about her after the meeting was over, and proposed to go and see her, for I had never yet met a woman who was not at least open to conviction on the subject. He objected, saying it would do no good, for she would not talk reasonably on the subject, nor even tolerate prayer in the house. He did not come to meeting any more; and as I met him occasionally, I exhorted him to come along and unite publicly with Christian people. One of the excuses he gave was that our pastor had never called on him, nor given him any encouragement, and, in fact, I was the only one who had paid any attention to him at all. You see, like Adam of old he first complained of the woman God gave him, next of the pastor of the church, indirectly of those who were present the day he spoke in meeting, and it bordered so closely on complaining of the Church and Christian people in general, that I was beginning to wonder if I were not the only real live Christian there was anywhere around. The Murphy meetings started up, and he went out with us as a speaker; but I noticed, and felt a little troubled about it, that he was more given to exhorting other people to repent of their sins, than to allude to the fact that he, too, was a sinner. I inquired a little about him, and asked why none of our Christian ladies had called on him or his wife. Something like this was repeated to me. I do not give it as gossip, but that you may know what to think of a man who gets up in meeting and complains that he isn't a Christian, because of the woman thou gayest me." It seems he had gone to a picnic, or something of that sort, down to the lake; and instead of taking his wife, as any man would be expected to love to do, he took some other woman. His wife heard of it, got a horse and buggy at the livery stable at

new, and that you long to start out something original to do something that somebody else has not already done. My friend, you can find a place unoccupied in every community, and, I fear, in every household, by taking the blame of what goes wrong, instead of shifting it on to somebody else's shoulders. Don't censure; don't find fault, and don't criticise. Things go wrong, no doubt, and there is much that needs mending. Breathe in your heart a "God help us," and then quietly, but smilingly, start out. The world will brighten and broaden before you; you will have more love for your fellow-men, and more love and thankfulness toward God.

A NEW HONEY-KNIFE.

RIEND JONES has been so kind as to mail us a new honey-knife made under his supervision, with the following enthusiastic description of it:

I send you a honey-knife by mail to-day. My first lot is nearly all gone. Everybody wants one. They will beat the world, sure. They get thinner toward the point; they are beveled from one-third of the handle to the point. You should just see them working, to appreciate. The cappings do not fall, but stick, and you have to scrape them off. If well made, they are better worth five dollars than some as a gift free. D. A. JONES.

Beeton, Can., March 28, 1882.

D. A. JONES'S HONEY-KNIFE.

We present a cut of the knife, and have sent it to our honey-knife makers to see what they can be made for. We presume the price will be the same as Bingham's, about a dollar each. You will observe by the cut, that it differs from Bingham's, in having the bevel extend clear up to the middle of the blade, giving a thin, keen, razorlike edge.

GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.

A. I. ROOT,
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER,
MEDINA, O.

TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID.
FOR CLUBBING RATES, SEE FIRST PAGE
OF READING MATTER.

MEDINA, MAY 1, 1882.

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it.-ACTS 5:38.

BUSY work should be the order of the day with all. No sensible bee-keeper has now any time to quarrel or find fault.

Do all you advertise to do, and then do a little more, just for the fun of it.

NEARLY a hundred hands are now here working to please you.

WE are rejoicing to-day because we have 4513 subscribers, and lots of bees.

THE tin points advertised by W. C. Gillette will be furnished from here at his prices.

IF any of the manufacturers of one-piece 1-lb. sections can furnish more than they have orders for, will they please give us a sample of their work, and best prices on 100,000 lots.

J. H. MARTIN has sent us samples of his fan. lined

with very light strips of wood, all ready to put right into frames. Those who have trouble in getting the

fdn. to stay, may find this quite a convenience.

AT present, sweet clover (or melilot) seed is not to be had; but we can furnish Bokhara clover,

bought of D. A. Jones, at 50c per lb. Many pronounce it the same thing as sweet clover, but friend Jones thinks it is not exactly the same.

SUPPLY dealers should commence work now at 5 o'clock in the morning, and work until 10 at night, if they can stand it. It is no time now for picnics and pleasure parties. Stick to "biz," and do the visiting after the honey season is over.

THOSE Wanting help, or those wanting a situation, in the care of bees, can have their wants made known in the department for that purpose, for 20c. each insertion of their names, in accordance with the suggestion of friend Jones last month. Send in your names, and we will have the department started.

A GREAT many kind words have come for Mr. Merrybanks, and he tenders his kindest thanks for the same; but as by far the greater part of his

friends seem to belong to the younger portion of our

readers, we have decided to give him and his neighbor, together with the Temperance-hotel-tin-shop, a place in the Boys' and Girls' Journ! hereafter. The all-absorbing topic at Onionville, just as we go to

press, is the fact that John's mother has just been appointed Postmistress of the burgh.

It seems from the following, that friend Doolittle has also wintered all his bees this time:

Cold here most of the time all through this month; and as I write, the mercury stands at 18°, with the ground frozen so it fairly rings as I walk over it. Bees are clustered as closely as in winter, and some of my weaker swarms are beginning to suffer therefrom, although I still have my number (80) reported last fall all alive yet. No pollen so far, and, with the exception of winter wheat, vegetation has scarcely started to grow in the least. Hope it may warm up soon. A part of my bees are still in the cellar. G. M. DOOLITTLE.

Borodino, N. Y., April 25, 1882.

GREAT troubles still come from imperfect addresses, and often, too, when goods are ordered in great haste by express. Well, a few of the friends are bright enough to have shipping-tags with their own address printed on them in large plain letters, and when they make an order they just inclose one of these tags, saying, "Put up the following goods for me, and tie to them the inclosed tag." This ends the matter, and saves them the trouble of giving any directions at all. Now, to help you, we will print you 100 such tags for 30c., or 1000 for $2.50. By mail, 3c. per 100 additional. We will include, on the

per 1000 extra. Samples on application.

We are now importing our tin direct from England, and hope to be able to give prices second to

none.

WILL our friends observe that we sell all goods by tens and hundreds, instead of the old hard-to-reckon style, of dozens?

WE have a fine lot of nice healt by one-year-old Simpson roots now, that we can sell for 3c. each; 25c. for 10, or $1.00 per hundred. If wanted by mail, send 2c. each extra.

PARENTS, if you want a magazine that your children will surely read, and one that will not teach skepticism, either directly or by pointedly ignoring God, subscribe for Arthur's Home Magazine. Its teachings are helpfu', and based on the solid Rock.

We do not wish to purchase any queens, except dollar queens, and we will, until further notice, pay a dollar apiece for them, and sell them for a dollar and a half. You can doubtless buy them cheaper elsewhere: but at the above price we are going to try to send them by return mail.

SEVERAL of the friends have remonstrated because we have not replied to the unkind things that have been said in regard to dollar queens, and those who make a business raising them. It is because I have a sort of feeling that the best reply we can make is to keep on raising and sending out extra

nice queens, and they will do the talking, just as they

have done all along.

OUR friend "M.," assisted by George and myself, has just gotten up a little book to enable everybody to tell what all kinds of printing will cost, from a 25c label up to the finest catalogue or price list. So far as I know, it is the first time prices on job printing have been reduced to a fixed rule, so every customer will be charged a uniform price every time, and any one can tell what that price should be. The lit'tle circular will be mailed on application.

OUR prices for bees by the pound in April were high, and I think all will agree they should be, after they have taken a pound or two from a colony and seen how it works. In just a few days there will be a decline; and with our 300 colonies we expect to be able to fill every order as soon as received. We may run short of dollar queens, but I think we shall be able to supply any demand for any thing else. A large lot of imported queens are expected this month. WE would be glad of facts in regard to the Dzierzon Theory, but for the present I can not think it worth while to argue the case over again. Those interested would do well to go over the first few volumes of the American Bee Journal. After you see how much has been said and written already, perhaps you will agree that it is not best to take the whole matter up again, unless we can have something that has not been gone over several times be fore.

SEVERAL of our advertisers are scolding because their advertisements were taken out, when they wanted them continued; and one or two have talked unkindly about it. Dear friends, it pains me greatly to find I have not conformed to your wishes; but still more to have you intimate that I have been uncourteous purposely, for I do not know of a single one who advertises with us whom I am afraid to trust. The whole trouble is, that you do not tell us you wish it continued, and you certainly would not wish us to do so without orders. When you send it in, say "until forbid," and I will assure you the clerk will never take it out until you so direct.

BEAR in mind, friends, it is everybody's privilege to go into the Square List or not, as they choose, and in either case nothing unkind should be said because you differ in opinion. Let us look at it this way: During the past year quite a number of you have said in your communications, in substance," If anybody has been displeased with any business transactions with me, will he please give me notice?" You know people sometimes feel hard, but keep it to themselves. Well, to give space to let a great many say this same thing over again, would take too much room, and yet it would be almost uncourteous to refuse. The department brings all such friends together, and a single line tells it all. I

would gladly put it all in free of charge, were it not that it would fill the paper with matter of not very great general interest. If it be thought advisable, we may soon have it in a little book that will be sent free to any one who wants it. It will then be virtually a reporter of the standing of the bee-men of the world. We know the standing and habits already of almost every one who advertises 'bec-fixins'." Sball bee-men be graded, as merchants and grocers are?

DECLINE IN PRICE OF FDN. MILLS. By far the greater part of the fdn. now used for brood-apartment is for L. frames, and the most of this, of late, of the size for wiring. Now, to fill frames in the way I have directed, and do a nice job, we want the sheets at least 8 x 17%, as given in the price list, or, if any thing, 1-16 larger each way. Well, a 9-inch mill is hardly wide enough to work easily with so little margin, and we have therefore had a lot of mills made with the new cell described on another page, with 10-inch rolls, that we can sell for an even $25.00. They roll thin strips for starters, as well as fdn. for the brood-chamber, and give such a good wall, with so thin a base, for a sum of money so little in advance of the cost of the rubber plates, that we shall, for the present, drop the latter. If you want my advice, it is to use the L. frame, and have one of these $25.00 mills-nothing larger, nothing smaller. One of them is worth more in our wax. room to-day, than the old back-geared mills that have cost toward a hundred dollars. It is the im provement in the cell that has made it possible for so small and light a mill to do the work.

SPECTACLES.