THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



363 



yet can "ill afford to dispense with 

 the commission man." Mr. Town- 

 send admits the commission man con- 

 sumes SO per cent, in freight, cartage, 

 graftage, breakage and commission, 

 yet is not willing the spot-cash buyer 

 buyer shall have even Y2 cent per 

 pound profit for his trouble and hard 

 work in drumming up trade in compe- 

 tition with commissioned goods. lie 

 usually must put forth 20 timjs the 

 effort the commission mnn does. He 

 must, in a way, educate th.^ people as 

 regards the purity uf his iioney, etc. 

 I have k'-own a c )minission man to 

 tell p cusromer that such a lot of comb 

 hiney (i.ainii g an extra fane..' lot). 

 was no doubt manufactured, fvjr, said 

 he, the bees do not make it as nice, 

 smooth and clean, yet it sells because 

 it "looks nice." The->e are tlie men 

 that are here to stay, and "tiil a 

 niche." If they knew anything about 

 the im[:ossibility of mm making comb 

 houej', th:'y would not waste their time 

 eiUicating people about the purity of 

 honey; they don't need to, they have 

 tb.e goods to sell, and if they do not 

 bring ■ ne jirice, they must go at an- 

 otlur, and w<je to the bee-keeper, or 

 casli buyer, who comes in competition 

 wi;h them. But the strangest thing to 

 me is, that bee-keepers encourage this 

 method of doing business, and seem to 

 do their utmost to choke off the cash 

 buj'ers. Do you wish to know the 

 remedj' ? First, let every bee-keeper 

 sell his own honey, which he can do 

 for spot cash. The commission men 

 will bu_v if thej' can't get it on commis- 

 sion; but are not the fools to buy when 

 they can get it without. Second, do 

 all j'ou can to encourage the cash 

 bu3'er. Do not begrudge him the Yi 

 cent per pound he must make to live. 

 Don't charge him \2% cents per pound 

 for extracted honey, and 16' cents per 

 pound for comb, at your depot (as has 

 been done in some instances this year), 

 but sell to him as cheap as you can 

 afford to. In other words, do all you can 



conatstently to encourage him, and do 

 all you can to discourage the co-i.n:s- 

 sion man, or turn him in*: 3 a cash 

 buyer. If you encoura:;-e thicjmnis- 

 sion men by makin ,■■ t le.n s'lip.nents, 

 you surely a-e kiiiiiig off the cash 

 buyers. I nj'e tait sjui co n nission 

 men h iv-e -e ,'un '^uvi 1^ this year — it's a 

 gj.T 1 sl^n Boys, stirv? thetn out, or 

 turn llie n int>cash buyers. No one 

 ue;d be a''raid oi !e,s;ltiinatc competi- 

 tioi, but noci>sh buyer can compete 

 with commissioned goods. Do not 

 think I wish to intimate that; commis- 

 sion m -n are not honest. I believe 

 there are honest ones. I also believe 

 there are five-leaved clovers, but I have 

 lived 6i years, and have yet to see my 

 first five-leaved clover. There is a 

 g lod book that says "we will buy and 

 sell and make gain, " but I have not 

 seen where it says we will get honey 

 on commission and ride in our automo- 

 bile. It seems to me that with the 

 supply trust at one end, and the com- 

 mission men at tlie other, the poor bee- 

 keeper, after passing between these 

 two rolls, has not much left but the ex- 

 pense. Now, brother bee-keepers, you 

 h ive given the commission method a 

 fair trial, why not try the "spot-cash" 

 plan V Then you either have your 

 honey or your money ? But if your 

 year's work is in someone else's hands, 

 what have you ? I firmly believe if all 

 commission men were forced to become 

 cash buyers bee-keeping would be on a 

 more solid foundation, and "spot- 

 cash" buyers, would soon be plentiful, 

 and the more the better for all con- 

 cerned But do not think cash buyers 

 will rush to the country to pay good 

 uKjney for your honey that they may 

 bring it to cities to sell in competition 

 with those who have not risked a 

 penny, but are sure of good pay in any 

 event. Their number is legion. One 

 poor countryman wondered how they 

 all lived. Why, said one, "we live off 

 the country half the year — and off each 

 other the other half. ' ' Don't think cash 



