1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



747 



and tear of purchasing in little dribs. Suppose 

 you wait till the sugar is clear out; then you 

 send to town for a couple of pounds. If there 

 are several other little items, the sugar is often 

 forgotten. So with butter; so with tea and 

 coffee, soap, etc. Now, contrast this way of 

 doing with friend Terry's plan. When I con- 

 gratulated his wife on the beautiful bread we 

 had to go with the strawberries, he replied that 

 they always had beautiful bread because they 

 purchased flour only once a year. The quality 

 was guaranteed; and when Mrs. Terry learned 

 just how to make nice bread of that particular 

 brand, she could do it every time. By the way, 

 friend Tei'ry has been recently writing some 

 grand articles on this subject for our agricul- 

 tural papers. Ask your wife what she thinks 

 about it. 



Now comes the great obstacle. 1 presume, 

 friend C, you will say that it is all very well 

 for Mr. Terry and other people who have mon- 

 ey in the bank: but how in the world are poor 

 people going to buy supplies by the quantity? 

 My friend, it costs you very much more to buy 

 in little dribs, aside from the higher price you 

 are obliged to pay. Why, I have known farm- 

 ers to say they had to go to town right in hay- 

 ing or harvesting, to get some sugar, tea. or 

 molasses, or something of that sort. A little 

 reflection should have convinced them that 

 their time spent on the errand was worth more 

 than the goods they brought home — yes. a good 

 deal more. I have known a man to go on some 

 foolish errand like this when he lost ./ice dollars 

 that might have been saved had he stayed at 

 home and got in his hay and attended to his 

 other crops. 



Now. very likely many can not commence at 

 once buying supplies .to last a year; but, my 

 friends, if you strain every nerve you can work 

 toward it, and you will save money by so doing 

 until you have a little surplus with which to 

 buy in ([uantities. It takes time and brains 

 and aire to buy closely and to be sure that you 

 are getting only a first-class article. Now, 

 when you buy by the quantity, the time, bi'ains, 

 and care ai'e needed only once, to be sure you 

 get a low price and a tirst-class article. Then 

 Hseitwith economy and care, and make it go 

 as far as possible. Do not, I beg of you, let an 

 ounce of your nice flour or best grade of sugar 

 or nice butter go into the swill-pail. Please 

 pardon the expression, but I have felt con- 

 sti'ained to use it because I have seen people 

 who were poor, and who bought from hand to 

 mouth, as the saying is, let more rich food go 

 into the abovesaid pail than do people who 

 have large property, and money in the bank. 

 A great many people excuse themselves for 

 buying in little dribs, by saying they make 

 their purchases evenings, when their time is 

 not worth any thing. It is a mistak(>. Every- 

 body's time sliould be worth something even- 

 ings. He can educate and inform himself in a 



thousand ways during his evenings to far bet- 

 ter advantage than he can by loafing in the 

 corner groceries. 



Another thing comes in right here: The peo- 

 ple who buy in little dribs almost always do 

 the buying with a pipe in their mouths. They 

 buy their tobacco and pipes in little dribs, just 

 as they do their flour and sugar. Our shorthand 

 writer says that tobacco is the second item of 

 expense to our nation — far more than either 

 sugar or flour. Now, I would stop buying piece- 

 meal, even if it cost me such a sacrifice as going 

 on short rations for a while. I would wear old 

 clotlies. and eat very cheap plain food until I 

 could get money enough ahead to buy by the 

 quantity. In regard to this matter of plain 

 cheap food, I have a little story to tell you; but 

 I think we will make it another article. 



I have so far said nothing in regard to our 

 catalogue prices. You notice we give the price 

 on a single article, then on ten, and then on a 

 hundred. Some time ago a young man came 

 into our store and wanted some things to start 

 a store himself. We agreed to let him have 

 single articles at lO's rates. Well, I kept ac- 

 count of the time it cost to put these things u]) 

 and ship them to him. It took a ])retty smart 

 clerk the best part of a day, and it amounted to 

 only ^lO.OO. Our profit could not have been 

 moi'e than .50 or 7.5 cts., so we really lost money. 

 Now, if he had taken S^IO.OO worth of things in 

 the regular way, half an hour would have been 

 ample time for the whole transaction. And 

 this is no exaggeration. 



Many families waste valuable time and 

 strength year after year in buying soap a bar at 

 a time. Why, it is fearful. Dear reader, if you 

 have been in the habit of doing that, stop it this 

 minute. Ask your grocer how much lower he 

 can sell you if you take it in lots of ten or a 

 dozen, according to the way it is put up: or, 

 better still, get his best figures on a whole box 

 of just the right kind your wife likes best. Of 

 course, she must keep a careful watch of the box 

 of soap, and see that it is not wasted. If she is 

 in the right sort of partnership with you in sav- 

 ing the pennies, she will do her part, I assure 

 you. Have the right sort of soap-dish, and see 

 that the children learn how to use this soap 

 so as to make it go as far as possible, and yet 

 give you all the benefit that soap can give. I 

 am sure you can do it if you set rigiit earnestly 

 about it: and if you want to know just what 

 Uncle Amos would recommend, it would be 

 this: Just before you go to bed at night, you 

 two, husband and wife, kneel down by the bed- 

 side and ask God's blessing on the i)roject. Ask 

 him to brighten and sliarix'U your intellects- 

 give you wisdom and understanding in this 

 matter of economy in the household: and you 

 might also read that beautiful little text, "Who- 

 soever hath, to him shall be given; and whoso- 

 ever hath not, shall be taken even that which 

 he soemeth to have." 



