1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



181 



prominent manufacturer pleads his 

 failure to advance price in 1920 as a 

 reason for maintaining practically the 

 same schedule of prices for 1921. In 

 my humble judgment this argument 

 is a little short on logic, for it would 

 have only reflected good business 

 judgment to advance prices when the 

 market and wage scale were both in- 

 dulging in a "balloon ascension." On 

 the other hand, I very seriously ques- 

 tion the advisability or justice of at- 

 tempting to maintain a high selling 

 price in the face of declining com- 

 modity prices and an inevitable ad- 

 justment of the wage scale. This 

 same manufacturer states that lum- 

 ber prices are no cheaper than July 

 or August, 1920. 



I am working under a little handi- 

 cap, as I do not know just what kinds 

 and grades of lumber supply manu- 

 facturers use. This matter interested 

 me greatly, even though I am not ac- 

 tively in the market for supplies, and 

 I have accordingly assembled some 

 data on prices which I believe will 

 prove to be of interest to all of my 

 fellow beekeepers. I will not burden 

 the reader with a recital of percent- 

 ages and will only state that these 

 figures bear out my contention that 

 the present trend of the market is 

 steadily downward. It is true, of 

 course, that this may stop at any 

 time, but up to the present time a 

 steady decline has been in evidence, 

 in fact most of the prices presented 

 in the appended table have been 

 shaded since January 1. California 

 sugar pine and Northern white pine 

 prices have not suffered so much of 

 a cut as the other woods in common 

 use, but reduction in price has also 

 hit these two woods, and there has 

 been some recession in prices since 

 the high point of 1920. 



Cypress — Cincinnati, Ohio. Base 



July 1,1920 Jan. 1,1921 



4-4 5-4 . 4-4 5:4 



Fas $135.00 $140.00 $117.00 $127 00 



Selecis 125.00 130.00 103.00 112.00 



Shop 90.00 liO.OO 67.00 87.00 



No. 1 Com 65.00 68 00 47.00 50.00 



No. 2 Com 55.00 60.00 37.00 42.00 



Basswood. F. O. B. Mill.. 



Michigan Points 



July 1, 1920 



4-4 5-4 



F«s -- $135.00 lo $140.00 $145.00 to $150.00 



Selects 120.00 10 125.00 130.00 to 135.00 



No. 1 Com 110.00 to 115.00 115 00 to 170.00 



No. 2 Com 70.00 to 75.00 75.00 to 80.00 



January 1. 1921 



4-4 5-4 



Fas $115.00 to $120.00 $120.00 to $125.00 



Selects 95.00 to 100.00 100.00 to 105.00 



No. ICom. -. 75.00 to 80.00 80.00 lo 85.00 



No. 2 Com. .. 45.00 to 50.00 50.00 to 55.00 



Western White Pine, F. O. B. Chicago 



Selects 

 July 1.1920 B&BTR "C" "D" 



1x4, 6x8 in.. 10 fl. and longer $ 98.50 $ 93.50 $ 87.50 



IxlO 102.50 97.50 91.50 



1x13 and wider 113.50 108.50 101.50 



1x12 108.50 103.50 %.50 



January 1, 1921 

 Selects 



B&BTR "C" "D" 



1x4, 6x8 in.. 10 ft. and longer $ 87.00 $82.00 $76.00 



1»10 91.00 86.00 80.00 



1x13 and wider 102.00 97.00 90.00 



1x12 97.00 92.00 85.00 



The other manufacturer bases his 

 appeal for sympathy on the state- 



Calyx and leaf of wild marjoram. Origanu» 

 vulgare. 



ment that hives and supplies for 1921 

 are to be made out of higher priced 

 lumber than the previous year's 

 stock. If the figures quoted in cir- 

 culars sent out by distributors are 

 correct, we cannot help but wonder 

 what price was paid for stock in 

 1917, 1918 and 1919, and what re\::- 

 tion they bear to prices asked in 

 those years for equipment. The cii- 

 culars referred to above also convey 

 the information that Lheir lumber 

 supply iiiust be purchased at least a 

 year in mlvanie in order to be prop- 

 erly seasoned at time of manufacture. 

 The writer has been in the employ of 

 a nationally known sash, door and 

 millwork house for upwards of 15 

 years, who purchases annually sev- 

 eral million feet of lumber for manu- 

 facture into millwork, and do not 

 usually find it necessary to keep lum- 

 ber in piles for a greater period than 

 four to six months. 



The prices quoted by these two 

 manufacturers have always been 

 pretty close together, but compari- 

 son of their arguments at the pres- 

 ent time shows one of them basing 

 costs on 1920 market and the other 

 anticipating 1921 prices on lumber as 

 justification for equipment quotations 

 for 1921. 



The writer is familiar with manu- 

 facturing problems to a sufficient ex- 

 tent to realize that there are many 

 things that the consumer cannot com- 

 prehend, but that does not alter the 

 fact that we are now in a buyer's 

 market, and if prices are unreason- 

 able a declining volume of sales will 

 automatically force a lower price. 



Business men generally admit that 

 turnover of capital invested plays a 

 very important part in earnings. 

 Some of our local retailers seem to be 

 keenly alive to this fact and have put 

 on "discount sales," thus disposing of 



their higher priced stocks, making 

 ready cash available for purchase of 

 materials on a lower price level, 

 which in turn can be disposed of to 

 the consumer at a price level below 

 last year's figures. 



If manufacturers of equipment 

 have the advancement of the industry 

 at heart, now is the time to do a little 

 missionary work; in other words, sac- 

 rifice a little ; do not ask the bee- 

 keeper to stand more than his share 

 of the loss during the period of re- 

 adjustment. Co-operation now be- 

 tween manufacturers, jobbers and 

 producer will put our business where 

 it should be; yes, where it must be, 

 to succeed. 



Since the organization of our 

 County Association, the writer has 

 consistently advocated co-operation 

 among our members, both as to the 

 purchase of equipment and supplies 

 and also in the sale of our crops. 

 Some opposition has arisen each year 

 to the suggestion of co-operativj pur- 

 chase of supplies that has its origin 

 in the preference of individual bee- 

 keepers for some one particular 

 brand of equipment. Our State Api- 

 arist has, I believe, been making a 

 very systematic canvass of the State 

 in the interest of co-operation, which 

 will undoubtedly result in placing this 

 very important matter before the 

 rank and file for thoughtful consid- 

 eration. 



Manufacturers will no doubt prefer 

 to deal with Associations rather than 

 individuals, because of the fact that 

 large orders on a cash or sound credit 

 basis can be handled more econom- 

 ically and with a minimum amount of 

 trouble as compared with smaller or- 

 ders from individuals of unknown 

 credit. The saving thus effected will 

 inevitably find its way back through 

 the Association to the individual pur- 

 chaser. Let the good work go on, 

 but until we are thoroughly organ- 

 ized, the individual purchaser should 

 not be unduly penalized while he is 

 being taught the value of co-opera- 

 tion. 



Iowa. 



Leaves and calyx of Thyme. Thynius Scr/>yl- 

 lum. A varietal form. 



