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(Enterod at the PostOfflce at Chicago as Becond-Clasa Mail-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn Street. 



GEOKGK W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 4, 1907 



VoLXLVII— No, 14 



editorial Jioies 

 and Commenfs 



• iTT' I Vl I — „T«ii ..■.r.j 



Quoting the Honey Market 



We have received the following criticism 

 of the honey-market quotations that appear 

 in the bee-papers : 



Editor York:— Most of the large honey- 

 dealers in this country sell again the greater 

 portion of their stock to wholesale houses, 

 and when making such sales, must, of neces- 

 sity, quote other prices to the wholesaler so 

 that there is a fair margin of profit (usually 

 10 percent) to such party, and so that the lat- 

 ter can sell to the retail dealers at the same 

 price as the jobber would sell to that class of 

 trade. 



Looking over the market quotations in the 

 bee-papers, it appears that some firms quote 

 their prices to the jobbing trade and others 

 quote the prices they make to the retail 

 dealer. Now this should not be. It is neces- 

 sary, in order to make the quotations of any 

 value, that they should be based either on 

 jobbing prices or on the prices to retail mer- 

 chants. We should prefer the latter, because 

 then these prices would be a guide to the pro- 

 ducers as to what figures they should sell to 

 their local merchants. 



A standing explanation should be given at 

 the head of the market column so that every- 

 body would know what the quotations sig- 

 nify, and so that the shippers would not expect 

 that all of their honey would be sold at those 

 figures. 



Another suggestion that could stand a little 

 airing, is the manner in which commission 

 merchants render account sales to their con- 

 signors of honey. In all my experience I have 

 found only one instance where the statement 

 gave the information that the consignor is 

 entitled to have, according to my way of 

 thinking. Therefore, when we organized our 

 institution, wo decided to adopt a plan of 

 keeping consignment accounts with our mem- 

 bers and others, that would give all the details 

 of each transaction that any reasonable per- 

 son would want. We use two sheets for each 

 consignor, the original remaining in the 

 ledger; the carbon copy, when complete, 

 going to the consignor and taking the place 

 of statement. Invoices are numbered, being 

 made in triplicate on an automatic register, 

 the original invoice going with the goods, the 

 first carbon copy being filed away numerically. 



and the second carbon copy alphabetically 

 Our check numbers are also posted in the 

 ledger, so that it is an easy matter to verify 

 the correctness of each entry. 



For the purpose of saving space, we start 

 posting consignment sales at the bottom of the 

 page, and go up. When the page is filled the 

 number of cases of honey should tally with 

 the number of cases sold and on hand. The 

 unsold portion taken with the debits and 

 credits is then transferred to a new sheet in 

 the ledger. Each consignor's sheets have 

 their own numbers. 



We are of the opinion that every merchant 

 handling goods on consignment should be 

 obliged to furnish a satisfactory account of 

 sales. Business Manager. 



We thought best to submit the foregoing to 

 those who quote the honey market for the 

 American Bee Journal, and the following are 

 their replies: 



George W. York & Co. :— In compliance 

 with yours of the 26th, we will say that this 

 is a good idea. We quote the price we sell to 

 jobbers ; that is, what we get in a jobbing 

 way, and I think this is the best. 



C. H. W. Weber. 



Cincinnati, Ohio, March 5. 



George W. York & Co.: — Your favor of 

 the 26th received, with criticism on the honey 

 quotations, which we have carefully noted. 



In reply we will say we deal with the job- 

 bing trade exclusively, consequently our quo- 

 tations are just what we get from the jobbers. 

 We sell nothing to the retail trade here. 



C. C. Clemons & Co. 



Kansas City, Mo., March 5. 



George W. Y'okk & Co. : — In reply to 

 yours of the 26th ult., we wish to say that we 

 are entirely in harmony with the sentiments 

 expressed in the article referred to, and as for 

 our own market quotations we will say that 

 we always state the price at which we sell to 

 the retail dealers, with the exception of bees- 

 wax, on which we quote the price that we 

 pay delivered here. 

 The Colorado Honey-Producers' Ass'n. 



Denver, Colo. E. Rauchfuss, Jfgr. 



George W. York & Co. : — Complying with 

 your request under date of the 26th, relating 



to the market quotations as published in the 

 various bee-papers, we wish to say that the 

 prices quoted by us are what we receive when 

 selling. Naturally the prices for which we 

 buy are lower than those quoted in the bee- 

 papers. 



We are aware that the market reports as 

 published today are confusing to the honey- 

 producers, and you can not make these quo- 

 tations too plain for them. 



The Fred W. Muth Co., 



Fred W. Muth, Fres^ 



Cincinnati, Ohio, March 5. 



George W. York cV Co. :— With an expe- 

 rience in the honey-business extending over 

 a period of a quarter of a century, and fol- 

 lowing the quotations in the markets very 

 closely for the last decade, I can see where 

 quotations might be very misleading to the 

 honey-producer and bee-keepers in the East- 

 ern market. The prices among commission 

 men for honey shipped in, as a rule, are very 

 unsteady, and Philadelphia is an exception to 

 other Eastern cities in the fact that we do 

 not have any large commission men who 

 make a specialty of dealing in honey. So 

 various commission men who deal in other 

 lines occasionally get shipments of honey 

 from different parties, and in order to make 

 quotations that would be satisfactory to the 

 producer, I have always tried to average up 

 these sales with a steady market that our 

 dealers are having from the grocery trade. I 

 believe it would be advisable, however, to 

 quote prices that, if the producer were to 

 ship on commission in this market, he could 

 expect to realize after deducting commission, 

 freight, carting and expenses. I would advise 

 all producers who have any quantity of honey 

 on hand always to write the commission men, 

 giving them a clear statement of the quantity 

 and quality, before making the shipment. 



Wm. a. Selser. 



Philadelphia, Pa., March 11. 



George W. York & Co. :— Replying to 

 yours of recent date concerning the method 

 of making quotations in the American Bee 

 Journal, we would say that in a general way 

 the market report is made up from actual 

 sales, but a commission house is considered 

 to be a jobbing house. There are houses who 

 do both a jobbing and a small wholesale busi- 

 ness, /. c, they receive consignments from 

 different parts of the country and sell it to 

 smaller dealers in the same line of business, 

 who sell it by the individual package to small 

 retailers, all of the large retailers buying the 

 goods at the same price that the small jobber 

 does, or the man who buys it and peddles the 

 same out of a wagon to a retailer. The per- 

 centage of profit begins when the commissios 

 merchant sells the consignment, as his mar- 

 gin is the commission. Charge on car-lot con- 

 signments is usually 5 percent, but on small 

 lots 10 percent, and the 5 percent pays the 

 commission merchant a better net profit than 

 the 10 percent (strange as it may seem), for 

 in the case of the car-lot, where the goods run 



