1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



411 



MANUM AND THE COMMISSION MEN. 



HOW HE MANAGED TO SELL $4000 WORTH OF HON- 

 EY BEFORE BREAKFAST. 



I HAVE seen articles in GiiEANiNGS from time 

 to time on marketing honey. Several of your 

 readers have given their experience and advice on 

 this important subject, and it may not be out of 

 place that I should give my experience with com- 

 mission men. I have never been fully satisfied 

 with the practice of sending my honey to be sold on 

 commission. Though I have never, but once, been 

 able to sell it outright, I have tried very hard to in- 

 duce parties to get in the habit of buying honey as 

 they do other farm produce. But they seem to be 

 a little loth to do so, as they say honey is a luxury 

 and not a staple article. 



A few years ago I shipped my honey to a firm in 

 Boston, known as Favor & Dudley, who then han- 

 dled nearly all of our Vermont honey. While in 

 Boston one day, looking after the sale of my honey, 

 I chanced to pass a store, in front of which I saw 

 several cases of my honey piled up to attract at- 

 tention. I looked up to the sign over the door, 

 which read, B. F. Southwick & Co. ; and as I was 

 looking at the honey, a fine-looking gentleman 

 stepped out and smilingly saluted me with, " Good- 

 morning, sir." This proved to be Mr. Robinson, 

 one of the firm, who asked : 



" Do you wish to buy honey, sir? " said he. 



"No, sir; I was simply admiring it. Do you 

 handle very much honey, Mr. R.? " 



"Yes; we sold 50 cases of this brand last year, 

 and this year we have so far bought 50 more, and 

 hope to be able to sell 100 this season." 



" Do you consider this brand as good as any ? " 



" Yes, we prefer it to any on the market. As it is 

 put up in such nice, clean, and attractive packages, 

 we sell it as a fancy article." 



Here he opened a case, took out a section, and, 

 holding it up, salesman fashion, he remarked: 



" There, see how nice and clear it looks. Why, I 

 tell you this iB fancy, and it sells like hot cakes." 



" You buy this honey outright, I suppose, Mr. 

 R.?" 



"Yes, we buy it of commission men; but we 

 should be glad to handle all of this brand if we 

 could arrange to do so." 



" I see this is Vermont honey." 



" Yes, it is; and, like Vermont butter, it stands at 

 the head." 



At this point 1 handed him my card. 



" What 1 is this Mr. Manum? Are you the man 

 that produced this honey?" 



" Yes, sir, I suppose I am." 



" Well, you are the very man we want to see. 

 Please step into the office. Mr. Southwick, this is 

 Mr. Manum, who produces such nice honey." 



" Well, Mr. M, I am glad to meet you. We were 

 speaking of you this morning, and wishing we 

 might see you. Have you anymore honey to sell? 

 We should prefer to buy of the producer direct." 



" Yes, sir, I have about 200 cases more." 



"Oh! that is more than we wish to buy at onr 

 time; but we will take it on commission, and do the 

 best we can for you." 



" Well, gentlemen, I am here for the purpose of 

 selling my honey. I do not like the commission 

 business. I am sick of it, and surely I ought to bo 

 able to find some one in this great city who will buy 

 so little as 200 cases." 



" Mr. M., you had better consign it to us, and try 

 us. Wc will do our best to please you. We are 

 commission merchants, but we have never had a 

 consignment of honey, though we should like to 

 have you try us." 



" Very well; then I will ship you what I have, on 

 my return home." 



This I did, and I was satisfied with the returns. 1 

 shipped them my entire crop the next year, though 

 it was a light one— only four tons; but this seems to 

 have set them up in the honey business, so that to- 

 day B. F. Southwick & Co. are the leading honey 

 merchants in Boston. 



The following year I shipped them four tons 

 early; and before I got the rest of my crop ready to 

 ship, the old notion— of selling outright rather than 

 placing it on commission— returned; and, being so 

 strongly impressed that this was the true way for 

 bee-keepers to do, I went to Boston with the de- 

 termination to sell, if possible, to some party, and 

 try to get them in the habit of buying rather than 

 to take it on commission. So I called on my friends, 

 B. F. S. & Co., for that purpose, but they talked 

 very discouragingly. So I called on several other 

 merchants, and in two days 1 succeeded in finding 

 fonr parties who would buy six tons at a certain 

 price— which was less than my price— but closed no 

 trade with either of them. I returned to B. F. S. 

 & Co., and made another desperate effort to sell 

 them the remainder of my crop, which was now re- 

 duced to about 11 tons. I told them how I had 

 found four men who would take si-ic tons. 



"What! do you propose to sell a portion of your 

 honey, and then consign to us what you can't sell? " 



"That is just it, Mr. Robinson. I shall either 

 consign the rest to you or to some one else. But I 

 want to sell you the entire lot; and now I will make 

 you a proposition: That you come to Vermont 

 with me and see the honey; and if you do not buy 

 it I will pay your fare back, so that you will be out 

 only $(i.50. But if you buy the honey you shall pay 

 your own expenses up and back. Your expenses 

 while there will be nothing, if you can put up with 

 such fare as my wife can offer you. You see, I am 

 determined to induce you Boston fellows to buy 

 our Vermont honey outright." 



"Well, Mr. M., your offer is a fair one; but it is 

 too large a lot for us to buy at once." 



"Very well; then I will return home on the next 

 train, and I will decide in a few days what to do 

 with my honey." 



An hour later, as I had just taken a seat in the 

 car, and as the train was just moving out of the de- 

 pot, 1 felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. Looking 

 up, there stood Mr. R., so much out of breath that 

 he could hardly speak; but he managed to say: 



" Mr. M., 1 am going home with you to see that 

 honey. After you left our store, Mr. S. and myself 

 talked the matter over, and we decided that I 

 should go up and see the honey, if I could catch the 

 train, which you see I have just barely done. As I 

 was never in Vermont, I thought it a good time to 

 take a look at your Green Mountains. 



As we came via the C. V. R. R., we had a long 

 ride through New Hampshire; and when White 

 River Junction was reached I told Mr. Robinson 

 that wo were in Vermont; and I wish, Mr. Root, 

 that I had the ability to describe Mr. R.'s enthusi- 

 asm as we glided along up White River, with the 

 Green Mountains on either hand looming up sky- 

 ward, with a seeming desire to steal a kiss from the 



