320 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



hotels in several cities. Look! we 

 get 35 cents a pound. There's an- 

 other from the superintendent of the 

 dining car service on the H. O. N. & 

 E. Y. Railroad. They ought to use 

 a ton at least. And here's a lot of 

 smaller hotels and restaurants — they 

 don't use so much, but they all help. 

 I'll never rest till all the dining rooms 

 in this part of the country serve 

 Jones' honey. Did the serving dishes 

 for Jones' honey come?" 



"And that's where you've been?" 

 asked Ma. "Well, for the land sakes! 

 You do beat all, you town girls!" 



Jim came in. "I heard you coming 

 up the hill, cut-out wide open." He 

 grinned. "Do these come up to speci- 

 fications?" 



He set a little glass individual 

 honey dish out before them. It was 

 made in the shape of a. double bodied 

 hive, with a glass top shaped like an 

 excelsior hive cover. On one side, in 

 raised letters was the inscription: 

 "JONES HONEY, FROM JONES' 

 APIARIES, BEE CITY, IOWA." On 

 the opposide side were the words: 



"JONES' HONEY EVERY DAY, 

 ALWAYS DRIVES THE BLUES 

 AWAY." 



"That's exactly like the model, 

 isn't it, Jim?" Helen asked. "Folks 

 can't help but ask 'What's that?' and 

 then they'll order it after they find 

 out. On the menu cards these buyers 

 are going to feature Jones' Honey 

 from Jones' Apiaries. And there's a 

 good profit in it for them, too. A 

 pound makes a dozen or more orders, 

 and, at 10 cents or 15 cents each, fig- 

 ure it out for yourself. We furnish 

 the serving dishes, which they use 

 over and over again. I sold it to 

 every place I tried except one, and 

 I'll sell it to him after he see's how 

 it goes. And they all promised not 

 to charge over 15 cents. That will 

 create sales. We furnish it to them 

 in 120 pound case lots." 



Jim was proud of Helen. He had 

 a right to be. 



Ma Jones called them to dinner and 

 they all sat down. After thanks were 

 returned and the meal well under 

 way, Pa Jones reached over for the 

 honey with which he proceeded to 

 float one of Ma's fritters. 



"Better go easy on that," Jim 

 chided. "That's not 10-cent honey, 

 Dad!" 



Pa Jones grinned. 



So you see everything turned out 

 happily in the end, anyway, didn t it? 



Iowa. 



THE PRODUCERS' LEAGUE 



By A. F. Bonney 



The following, from Printers' Ink, 

 a well-known advertising publication, 

 contains much of interest to honey 

 producers and members of the 

 League: 



"Why advertising is needed all the 

 time. 



"If people did not move away, and 

 some time die; if new generations did 

 not grow up, if competitors did not 

 compete, if people were not receptive 

 to new ideas, then — and only then — 

 would there be no need for advertis- 

 ing." This was the assertion of Milo 



C. Richter, of the Harley-Davidson 

 Motor Company, Milwaukee, address- 

 ing a convention of Harley-Davidson 

 dealers recently." 



I firmly believe that one of the 

 principal duties of the League will be 

 to conduct a campaign of advertising, 

 to promote the sale of honey. 



Of course the individual producer 

 may advertise, and does, but as his 

 supply is not constant, his advertising 

 is spasmodic. He uses printers' ink 

 when he has honey, but, his supply ex- 

 hausted, he is unable to fill the de- 

 mand already created. This works to 

 his detriment, for after a while peo- 

 ple will cease responding to his ads, 

 and he fails to sell when he is sup- 

 plied. 



Most beekeepers who produce fair 

 crops seem to be imbued with an 

 insane desire to get rid of their 

 crop as soon as possible, which is, 

 probably a reflex of the comb-honey 

 days, when we were advised to sell 

 early, for reasons which do not apply 

 now, for extracted honey will keep in- 

 definitely, whether granulated or ster- 

 ilized to prevent it. I recently saw a 

 reminder of this in a card from a firm 

 that handles large amounts of honey, 

 in which honey producers were urged 

 to sell, in view of the prospective low 

 prices, and hopes of a good ci-op in 

 1921. This, I think, was ill advised 

 and uncalled for. 



But continuous advertising calls for 

 continuous supply, and as the pro- 

 ducer, that is, the average producer, 

 cannot keep up his supply without 

 buying, and is seldom in position to 

 do this profitably, he is soon idle. 



While the farmer always gets a 

 quotation on his goods, grain, cream, 

 eggs, and so on, the honey producer 

 is asked: "What will you take?" and 

 having no information as to values, 

 may sell at ruinous prices to see 

 his honey, later on, sold at twice to 

 three times what he got for it. 



Now here, I think, is where the 

 League will function. First, by ad- 

 vertising continuously; second, by 

 seeing that there is a steady supply; 

 third, by keeping its members, and 

 through them other honey producers, 

 informed of the price of honey, to 

 buyers in carload lots, to wholesalers 

 and to retailers. When this is done, 

 buyers, bottlers, will cease asking for 



samples and "lowest price, f. o. b. 

 destination," and quote prices. 



If the honey producers of the coun- 

 try were entering a new field, an un- 

 tried field of co-operation, the prob- 

 lems confronting it were formidable, 

 but honey producers in Texas and 

 Colorado have ventured, and suc- 

 ceeded. The fruit growers in Cali- 

 fornia have done wonders. The de- 

 mand for raising has been boosted 

 several hundred per cent, and all the 

 dried grapes so far produced have not 

 gone into the home brew. 



We delegate our town, county, 

 State and national afl'airs to our rep- 

 resentatives, and we can as well trust 

 our business affairs in the hands of 

 men as much interested in honey as 

 we are. There is more work than 

 glory in what thev do, and less finan- 

 cial returns than either. 



Iowa. 



REDUCING LOSSES IN SHIPMENT 



The Freight Claim Agent of the Bur- 

 lington Railroad Tells How 



.Serious loss is likely to result when thin lum- 

 ber is used for boxing heavy packages. 



By J. D. Shields 



The economic waste represented 

 by the $109,000,000 paid during the 

 year by the railroads of this country, 

 in the settlement of loss and damage 

 claims, is attracting the serious at- 

 tention of producers and consumers 

 all over the country and is a matter 

 worthy of the most thoughtful and 

 constructive consideration of our 

 best citizens. 



These losses are divided into three 

 general classes: First, due to in- 

 herent vice. Second, due to unavoid- 

 able accidents. Third, due to pre- 

 ventable causes. We may guard 

 against the effects of inherent vice 

 and we may minimize the accidents, 

 but our efforts along these lines are 

 necessarily limited, as the contest is 

 with the fox'ces and laws oi nature, 

 which we often find beyond our con- 

 trol. Science and invention are grad- 

 ually and constantly suggesting new 

 methods for the conservation of food 

 stuffs and our Government officials 

 are actively engaged along these 

 lines with ever increasing good re- 

 sults. 



We don't know exactly how these 

 losses ai-e divided as between the 

 leading causes. We know, in a gen- 

 eral way, that large quantities of 

 products are lost or desti-oyed at the 

 source, due to insufficient or im- 

 proper cai-e and preparation. We do 

 know with reasonable accuracy the 

 extent and nature of losses due to 

 preventable causes, especially those 

 incident to railroad transportation, 

 every instance of which represents a 

 destruction of material that has had 

 some kind of labor expended upon it, 

 and without negligence of one kind 

 or other would have reached its des- 

 tination, brought its price, served its 

 purpose and thus have enriched the 

 community in general. 



The railroad employees realize 

 their own weakness in handling 

 freight and are engaged in a claim 

 prevention campaign aimed at the 

 various claim producing causes, in- 



