Feb. 12. 1903. 



I HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



103 



the aid of this the citrus- fruit growers of our section have 

 won a substantial success, and I doubt if any rural industry 

 in the country can make a better showing, despite the great 

 disadvantage of distant market and railroad transportation. 



A HONEY EXCH.VNGE POSSIBLE. 



For an exchange in any line to succeed demands a very 

 intelligent constituency. (>ur citrus growers of Southern 

 California are largely educated men. Thej' read, think, 

 and many had wide business experience before they com- 

 menced the woT\f of fruit-culture. Such cooperation as the 

 Exchange implies must be founded upon faith in each other, 

 absence of distrust and suspicion, and a willingness to pay 

 for (irst-class business talent, what other lines of business' 

 are willing to pay, and do pay. Our bee-keepers, to be suc- 

 cessful, must read and think. As a general thing the apia- 

 rists are a reading, thinking people. If I am right in this 

 conjecture then they will be more free from suspicion and 

 more -ready to act upon recognized business principles ; 

 freer from distrust and suspicion, and must agree to procure 

 the best business talent and ability, even though thej' do 

 have to pay what seems an exhorbitant price for it. 



THE PLAN ODTHNED. 



I feel certain that in time we shall have a national 

 honey exchange. Yet, as in our government relations, the 

 different States will act separately, and each will have its 

 own exchange which in many respects will be quite inde- 

 pendent of the others, though all will be organically united 

 and one man of signal ability who is manager of the great 

 national exchange will have general direction over all the 

 subordinate exchanges ; that is, the exchanges of the sepa- 

 rate States. This general manager would have his head- 

 quarters in some great central market, I should suppose 

 probably Chicago would be headquarters for the national 

 exchange. 



Of course, this general manager would have his advis- 

 ers. This might be a sort of executive committee appointed 

 from the various States, and would be composed of men of 

 marked business ability. It would very likely be better to 

 have this executive committee of these advisers of the great 

 business manager made up of the business managers of the 

 different States, in which case, of course, meetings could not 

 be held oftener than annually, and so the business would 

 have to be largely by correspondence. In these days of 

 typewriters and telephones this would be no serious handi- 

 cap. 



The work of this general manager would be chiefly dis- 

 tribution and marketing. He would have his ear constantly 

 to the ground, and would know exactly the status of all the 

 markets of the country, and thus he would direct from the 

 different States the sending of honey to market in a way 

 that 'the best distribution would be accomplished. This 

 %vould make glutting of the market an impossibility. He 

 would have charge of appointing salaried salesmen in all 

 the great cities, who would, under his charge, distribute the 

 honey as the needs of the various sections require. They 

 would also look out for the distribution among smaller 

 places in the near vicinity of the city or town. They would 

 also be constantly developing markets. 



These various salesmen would be in constant communi- 

 cation with the head manager, and thus he would know 

 through them the condition of the market in all sections of 

 the various States. Thus his office and duties would be 

 much the same as that of the general manager of the South- 

 ern California Fruit Exchange. The latter, however, meets 

 his advisers once a week during the busy season, while, as 

 stated above, the general manager of the honey exchange 

 could hardly meet his advisers oftener than once a year. 



This general manager ought to be a man of very supe- 

 rior business abilit.v. Such services could not be secured 

 except at a large salary. I should say thatSlO.OCO would be 

 none too much for the right man to fill this place. He should 

 have business instinct and capacity that would more than 

 pay his salary many times over during a single year. 



THE STATE HONEY EXCHANGE. 



Each State exchange likewise must needs have a busi- 

 mess manager, also of unusual business capacity. He would 

 take charge of the exchange for the State, and would, I be- 

 lieve, be the one from the State to advise with the general 

 national manager. He would have advisers also. These 

 should be honej'-producers, and should be men of business 

 tact and shrewd business management. The duty of the 

 State business manager would be to keep in close immediate 

 touch with all the county or local exchanges through the 

 State. He would also be in constant communication with 



the national manager. He would direct the various local 

 exchanges when, how, and where to ship honey, and would 

 arrange all the details. It is possible that it would be wise 

 1o give into his hands a portion of the marketing in his own 

 State, which of course would be done only after the closest 

 conference with the national manager. He and his advisers 

 would arrange all the details of packing, grading and ship- 

 ping, and in case it was found desirable to advance the 

 money to bee-keepers who were. unable to wait until the 

 sales were made, he would bo the one who would look after 

 the details of this arrangement. 



The third wheel in this great system would be the local 

 exchange. Each would have its general manager or super- 

 intendent, who might be, and I think should be, the adviser 

 of the State manager. He would be the go-between con- 

 necting the State manager with the individual honey-pro- 

 ducers. He would also look after the details of the local ex- 

 change, such as storing of honey, packing, shipping, label- 

 ing, etc. 



ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM. 



The great advantage from such a system of distribution 

 and marketing would be that of all such combinations — the 

 producers would have something to say as to the price which 

 should be received for their product, and thus would not be 

 called upon, or at least would not be compelled, to take less 

 for their product than the actual cost of producing it. At 

 present the bee-keepers, like all other agriculturists, have 

 nothing to say regarding what their wares shall bring in 

 the market, no more than they have regarding the price of 

 such articles as they may wish to purchase. This seems a 

 great wrong, and by such combination as this exchange 

 would secure, the agriculturist can win a right which in all 

 the world's history thus far he has been deprived of. 



Again, this system of marketing would enable the pro- 

 ducer to arrange an intelligent and wise distribution, so 

 that while no section was crowded by a surplus of his pro- 

 duct, all sections would at all times be supplied with a suf- 

 ficient amount for the needs of all the people. Heretofore 

 there has been no system at all in this matter of distribu- 

 tion of products. Who can doubt but that a wise reform in 

 this matter would be fraught with the greatest results to 

 any industry that should secure it ? 



A third advantage would be the fact that the honey 

 would be all put up and graded in a uniform and excellent 

 style, so that buyers would be attracted as they cannot be 

 where much of the product is sold in a form that is neither 

 attractive nor economical. The packing could also be done 

 very much cheaper. The grading also would be perfect, 

 and thus every man's product would be sold on its own 

 merits. This improvement in style of packing and this 

 thorough grading would of necessity increase the demand 

 for the product everywhere, and would result in greatly in- 

 creased sales. The reduction in cost of packing has been 

 about one-third in the fruit exchange. That it would be 

 less in the honey exchange I see no reason to believe. 



Still another advantage from this system of doing busi- 

 ness would be a combination in the purchase of supplies, 

 and thus all supplies would be bought at Uniform rates, 

 would be uniform in style, and all would be of the very best 

 style, pattern and finish. Here again the citrus fruit ex- 

 change has made a great advance over the experience of 

 the orange and lemon growers before the association was 

 founded. 



In the case of the Citrus Fruit Exchange the cost of 

 marketing, including telegrams, all clerk hire, everything, 

 is a little less than three percent, and is done much better 

 than it ever could have been through commission men. I 

 see no reason why the same large gains may not accrue to 

 the bee-keepers if they can only consent to form such an 

 organization as is outlined above. 



Again, the losses during the nine years of the history 

 of the California Citrus Fruit Exchange where about thirty 

 million dollars worth of fruit has been sold, has been less 

 than one-fortieth of one percent. We sometimes hear it 

 said that farmers can not do their own busines. I would 

 like to know of a business firm or any organization or asso- 

 ciation, the country over, that has done business of such 

 magnitude with such an infinitesimal loss as the Citrus Ex- 

 change. 



If our bee-keepers will only consent to act together, and 

 will secure men of that large business capacity which will 

 enable them to run successfully the large undertaking, I 

 see no reason why an abundant success may not be secured. 

 The scheme is a grand one, and must develop slowly. Cali- 

 fornia. Colorado, and Arizona, ought soon to be ready to 

 carry it out, and with them as examples we may hopi that 

 the other States will soon wheel into line. 



