306 



GLEANINGS IN IJEE CULTURE. 



May 



way and another man another way, with 

 precisely the same macliine. We get along 

 faster lind better, we think, with the (iray 

 machine: but maybe our dhections would 

 be inodihed now if they were written over 

 again. ^ 



SOMETHING GOOD FROM A RETAIL 

 DEALER IN HONEY. 



SHAM, WK ITT OUR NAME AND ADDUE.'SS ON THE 

 HONEY WE PUT IN THE MARKET? 



T KECEIVED Gi.EANixGS for April 1, and read 

 $ll with interest .Mr. Hutcliinson's article, and I 

 ^li would indoise it all with this exception: I think 

 '*• that, when a person has produced comb honey 

 of No. 1 quality, he should put his name and 

 place on each package, in a neat plain type, also 

 the name of the honey— clover, basswood, or what- 

 ever it may be, and require his commission mei'- 

 chant to sell it with that brand upon it; and if he 

 should discover that his commission merchant had 

 scratched his name off, at once close his account 

 with that firm, and secure another that would prom- 

 ise not to steal his good name. F'uither, never put 

 your name or brand on any package, the contents 

 of which is not first class in flavor, and pure as puri- 

 ty itself, and then ship it to the same market each 

 year. A good name is of more value than appear- 

 ance, as it will wear longer. 



I have been a retailer of fruit, nuts, and comb 

 honey for 15 years, and know that, in fruit, the good 

 name of a shipper is valuable. The trade soon finds 

 out shippers that are reliable. There are several 

 shippers of berries and peaches in Delaware whose 

 name will sell their goods in the Boston market 

 quick, at full prices, when others have to wait to be 

 inspected. Why? Because they have never tried 

 to make their goods look better than they were, and 

 the buyers have found it out. Their seconds are 

 sent to market without their name, and sold on the 

 merits of the article. I have seen wagonloads of 

 crates of strawberries and blackberries sold, when 

 the market was quick, without being opened, the 

 buyers engaging simply by the name of their favor- 

 ite shipper. Why can't it be so with honey? 



There is a lady in Vermont who makes maple su- 

 gar, and has sent it to one firm in Boston for the 

 past five years. Every box is engaged before it 

 gets to Boston, and we have to pay from 3 to 5 cents 

 a pound more than common maple sugar sells for, 

 and are glad to get it. 



Friend Root, you, on page 239, hit the nail on the 

 head where you say, "When you want to buy hon- 

 ey, or any thing else, be sure that a good man's 

 name is on the label." And here I want to say a 

 word for K. Wilkin, of San Buenaventura, Cal.; for 

 on page 173 he seems to be feeling badly. Tell him 

 to cheer up, and continue to send California ex- 

 tracted honey like this last lot in (|uality, to the 

 Boston market, and he will surely reap his reward, 

 for there was never any other nearly as good here 

 before. I bought one can of 60 lbs. to try, and am 

 now on the tenth can. Every one whom I have in- 

 duced to trj' it has liked it very much, and a consum- 

 er always remembers where he got a nice article, 

 and comes again. 



One more for Brother Hutchinson. On i)age 226 

 he closes his article thus: " But, says some one, we 

 can not get so nujch honey per colony when it is 

 Stored in sections us we can in frames. Beg i)ar- 



don, my friend; that is simply because you don't 

 know how." Brotherly love requires the educated 

 to instruct the ignoi-ant. Please tell us how to do 

 it. 1 am willing and an.\'ious to learn; don't be 

 afraid that you will overstock the mai-ket; lower the 

 price five cents per poundrand four times the quan- 

 tity can be sold. I have retailed 2500 lbs. of honey 

 this season. Calvin W. Smith. 



Wellesley Hills, Mass., Apr. 13. 1885. 



Friend S., I did not understand friend IL 

 to say that the producer's name should not 

 be on evei'y package. I thought he objected 

 to a large-sized pJucdnJ. 1 entirely agree 

 with you, that the pioducer's name ought to 

 be on' every thing he sells, as far as practica- 

 ble ; and even were I going to buy eggs I 

 should like to know where they came from. 

 Stoddard, in his little book called " An Egg- 

 Farm,'' says that a wagon should be run to 

 the towns adjoining, delivering fresh eggs 

 the day they are laid. or. at least, the day 

 after ; and I think he is right in saying that 

 eggs so delivered would bring a cent or two 

 more a dozen than those bought at the gro- 

 ceries. Only a few weeks ago, before our 

 hens began to lay, one of the children was 

 sent up street for some eggs. A part of 

 them were bad. The one who took them to 

 market doubtless knew they were bad ; at 

 any rate, he did not }:noir they were good ; 

 and in either case I should like to know who 

 did it. "VVe are in the habit of paying a cent 

 or two more for butter when we are sure 

 that a certain individual made it. I do not 

 know why this should not be the case with 

 comb honey. With extracted honey it would 

 certainly be of the greatest importance to 

 know whom it came from. We have the 

 same state of affairs in maple sugar and ma- 

 ple molasses. Sometimes a clerk will come 

 up, saying, " There is a man here who wants 

 to sell you some maple molasses.'' 



" What is the name V " 



" Why, it is Mr. .'' 



" Tell him we do not care to buy any to- 

 day." 



Now, friends, had the clerk mentioned 

 some other names that I know well, I would 

 have goiH^ down to see the molasses at once. 

 Yes, we have those whose name would be 

 such a guarantee that 1 should be safe in 

 telling the clerk, " Tell him we will take all 

 he has got." Now, my friend, are you one 

 of that sort of people V Our new potato- 

 book has some grand thoughts on this very 

 subject. 



"WINTERING. 



SO.ME SE.NSIULE SUOGESTIONS IN REGARD TO OUR 

 RECENT LOSSES. 



ELL. we can now look over the wreck of the 



#l'flLr jiast winter and count our losses. We are 



so used to the remark, " My bees all dead; 



how are yours?" that we scarcely expect 



any thing else. The fact is, there are but 



few left in this locality, except with those who 



use a chaff hive, and in these the loss is from 25 to 



50 ijer cent. 



I had 55 colonies last fall in excellent condition; 

 now have but 40, which is not so bad, being the low- 

 est ix'rcentHge of loss in this neighborhood, so far 



