560 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Unite on lines and prices, and go 

 ahead. Divide your territory into 

 equal routes, by wards or streets. 

 Thus you will cover the ground by 

 running two days in each week. 

 Make a chart of 3'our routes, in the 

 back of your book, showing the days 

 of the month when you will visit each 

 ward. The chart would be something 

 like this: 



Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. 

 ist ward 5 2-30 28 25 23 20 Friday 



B.C.& D.sts 96 4 1-29 27 24 Tues 



4th ward 12 9 7 4 2-20 27 Friday 



5th ward 16 13 II 8 6 31 Tues. 



Tuesdays and Fridays are the two 

 best days. Monday is wash-daj', and, 

 Saturday, they take to the wash-tub 

 themselves, and dress for the street. 



You cannot lay out a route for each 

 day on the start, for it will take up two 

 days to work up the territori^ of each 

 of your one-day routes. Then, if, from 

 lack of time, sickness or storms, you 

 fail to get over a route as per charted 

 day, you can finish on the next daj'. 

 Be as punctual as possible. Get into 

 the habit of seeing every customer 

 every four weeks to a day. 



KEEPING TRACK OF CUSTOMERS AND 

 THEIR ACCOUNTS. 



I have tried many ways of keeping 

 track of my honey customers and their 

 little debts, but consider the method I 

 have been using the past year the only 

 one worth mentioning. My day book 

 is 314:^8)4 inches, should be as wide as 

 will go in the upper, outside, coat 

 pocket, and not cost over 10 cents. 

 When you get well established in busi- 

 ness, you will need one book for each 

 route; until then you can make one 

 book answer by dividing it into eight 

 equal parts. These books are ruled, 

 but I put the date at the top of the 

 page, together with the name of the 

 route I am working in, thus: "1st 

 ward, August 5." The first entry is 

 the amount of change (cash) on hand, 

 which is put in the money column at 

 the right, and a line drawn under it. 



All cash sales are entered, underneath 

 with the name or house number of 

 customer on the middle line. All un- 

 paid items are placed at the left iti 

 what was intended for the date column. 

 Many pay up for one or two pails, and 

 go in debt for another, in which case 

 their line will have a cash entry at 

 each end. Few ask for credit, but I 

 usually urge them to buy on a month's 

 credit, for the sake of making a sale 

 or two to introduce some fine honey, 

 but I give all to understand that I do 

 not wish to run accounts, and that my 

 system of book-leeping will not admit 

 of it. 



The business of this one-day route 

 will cover two or three pages of the 

 book. The next time over the route I 

 begin in the book just where I left off, 

 going over the route in the same rota- 

 tion, using the record of the previous 

 month for a guide. If from any cause, 

 a person does not pay the last month's 

 bill, I trmisfer the name and 

 the amount forward into today's 

 business at the time I pass the 

 house; thus all dues are in a nutshell, 

 and I never have to turn back 

 to look them up. When they are 

 paid I draw a mark across the amount, 

 and bring it down into the money 

 column of the day in which it is paid. 

 The sum of the amounts of the right 

 hand column, except the cash on hand 

 item at the top, will be the cash re- 

 ceived during the day, and will be the 

 cash debtor entry on the cash account 

 at home. This amount with the cash 

 on hand item at the top, minus the 

 amount I have paid out during the day 

 (which should be kept track of in the 

 memorandum book, and credit to the 

 cash account at night), will correspond 

 with the amount of cash in my pocket, 

 provided I have made no mistakes dur- 

 ing the day nor lost any money. In 

 many wajs the satisfaction afforded 

 by this method is very great. 



If you sell honey only, you need no 

 other book on the road; but if you 



