374 Journal of Agriculture. [8 June, 1908. 



sugars, and for shops to sell in i and 2 lb. jars for house consumption. There are 

 also a few other ourfets such as for medicine. In order to cater for all require- 

 ments it will be wise to have the honey sorted on the other side, so that we can right 

 away offer into correct channels without having to get the goods graded at this end 



For eating, that is to say shop purposes, we only can recommend you to bring 

 along white and water white honey. \\ e have before us your samples J.B., and the 

 honey packed by C. B. .Sumsion, both of which qualities are very nice in color 

 and would do e.xcellently for putting up in jars. Anything as good in color as 

 the J.B. can be classified as water white and anything about equal to C.B.S. could 

 be classified as white honey, and we certainly think they would pass the standard. 

 Darker honey would not do for shops but would come in for manufacturing pur- 

 poses. These very high grade honeys we suggest you jiut up in standard oil tins 

 which have been thoroughly well cleansed, packed two tins in a case, which would 

 then represent about I5 cwt. of honey, and we should say we would find a ready 

 market at this end where it will come mainly into competition with Californian 

 honey. It is preferable that this honey should arrive in London in a liquid state 

 because it is then easier to handle, but should it arrive in a set state it will not 

 materially interfere with the sale, because all importers are aware that honey will 

 set at one time or another. 



The idea of bringing the honey over packed in glass jars will be found imprac- 

 ticable for the following reasons : — 



Firstly, we presume the glass jars and the labor of putting honey into them 

 will be fairly expensive over there. 



Secondly, the honey would have to be packed in cases containing 24 or 28 jars 

 which would make a pretty heavy package and increase the freight. 



Thirdly, whilst we can insure barrels against leakage and rough use during the 

 journey, it would be impossible for us to insure glass bottles against breakage as 

 no insurance company would accept such a risk. Should any bottles get broken, a 

 thing which seems quite feasible to us, the honey would run all over the other 

 bottles and for all intents and purposes that case would be lost because with one 

 bottle missing the others would soon shake about and smash each other. The outside 

 Kud inside of the case would show stains and the case would have to be made 

 merchantable at the wharf before we could do anything with it. 



Fourthly, the large shops and stores here are in the habit of purchasing their 

 white and water white honey in barrels or tins and they fill their own bottles, which 

 method shows them an advantage which they would not be willing to sacrifice on 

 .•^^ny account, the more so as thev stick on their own labels and would not care to 

 sell brands which are no advertisement to them at the same time. 



Finally, the introduction of such honey in bottles would be terrible work for 

 anybody who wished to push the line and as far as we- are concerned we would not 

 undertake such a job, as we know we should not be able to sell any quantities and 

 the results would not be satisfactory either to ourselves or the shipper on the other 

 side. 



Honey for manufacturing purposes would have to come along in barrels con- 

 taining 2 cwt. or more but it will not be wise to make the barrels too heavy because 

 they become unmanageable, and good strong barrels must be used. It does not 

 matter if the barrels are second hand as long as there is no trace of the previous 

 liquid to affect either the color or flavor of the honey. This honey also ought to 

 be well graded and if there are deviations of color in a ])arcel it will be well for 

 the shippers to mark different numbers on the end of the barrels, so that when the 

 goods arrive they can be piled according to the numbers at the wharf. This will 

 also save expense because it would save us having each cask sampled at the wharf 

 if we could draw a representative sample from three or four barrels. 



As regards quantity we should say we would be able to place all you can offer 

 us, both of the fancy and manufacturing honey, provided naturally that prices are 

 right to compete with honey which comes into this market from all parts of the 

 globe. Your two sam])le bottles show really lii"h class honey, and we should say 

 this fancy article will find a ready sale in the shops. 



The strongest competition with which you will have to contend is from California 

 and Jamaica, and in order to introduce your honey it will be necessary to ouote 

 a bit below Californian prices. This, however, should be comparatively easv 

 because California has a large outlet for honey in the United States and they prac- 

 tically get the same prices for their surplus as they do in the home country. They 

 have also high freights to reckon with, because they must either ship the goods over- 

 land from California to New York and thence by steamer to London or by steamer 

 all the way, so we think you almost could save something on this itern. Prices 

 naturally fluctuate according to supply and demand. We have known Californian 



