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GLL:ANiXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



221 



from house to house, to peddle lettuce, like 

 some old market-woman V" My friend, I do 

 expect you are going to do just that ; that is, 

 if you get help from these pages. See the 

 text at the head of this chapter. If you are 

 already in business, and have got started, 

 and have a horse and wagon, all right ; but 

 I am considering now those who have noth- 

 ing to do. You want a nice clean basket, 

 and you want your bunches of lettuce tied 

 up with some neat-looking string, ('hoose 

 some color that does not soil easily. Wash 

 your face and comb your hair; and may be 

 you had better put on some clean shoes and 

 clean clothes every time you go out to sell 

 goods. A gardener is often necessarily 

 pretty Avell covered with mud and dirt. 

 When he sells stuft' he must go into people's 

 houses, therefore he wants to look reasona- 

 bly becoming. Be civil and courteous, kind 

 and neighborly, but don't waste time in use- 

 less gossip. Let your friends see by your 

 movements that you have lots of business ; 

 and in this case I don't think it will be amiss 

 in God's sight if you move about as if you 

 /(adlots of business, even though you haven't. 

 If you get into the habit of moving around 

 spry, it won't be very long before there will 

 be abundant need of economizing the min- 

 utes. Let your stuff do the talking as much 

 as can be. Let everybody see what you have 

 on hand, and tell them it is only a nickel. 

 If it is muddy weather, be careful how you 

 track mud on the clean steps or porches, or 

 into the house. Work hard for the good of 

 the people whom you meet, and let your face 

 show by its expression, love to God and love 

 to your fellow-men. Some radishes, white 

 and red, tied up in bunches and put with 

 the lettuce, will help to make your basket 

 very attractive. Get out in the morning be- 

 fore breakfast with these things, if you can. 

 If you can not get clear around, the next 

 best time is before dinner. When the weath- 

 er prevents your making your regular trip 

 before noon, get around in the afternoon as 

 quickly as possible. While you have a prop- 

 er regard for your health, don't be too ready 

 to give up on account of the weather. '• lie 

 that observeth the wind shall not sow, and 

 he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." 

 If you are going to be a successful gardener, 

 you will soon learn to love to work out in 

 the rain, if it does not rain too hard. Don't 

 be troubled if sales are slow and small to 

 start with. Do your duty, and trust (iod 

 for the result. Many of our most wealthy 

 men learned the secret of success in business 

 in humbler callings than selling garden 



stuff. As soon ai you can get some nice on- 

 ions in bunches, they will sell among a cer- 

 tain class of people. 



Don't make a mistake, and sell your stuff too 

 cheap. Last fall, when our first yellow ruta- 

 baga turnips began to be fit to use, we start- 

 ed them at liS cts. a peck, which, you know, 

 is $L0() a bushel. Well, the people got so 

 much in the habit of paying that price for 

 them, that we sold almost our whole product 

 at a dollar a bushel. They were real nice, 

 however, and that was the secret of it. Just 

 as we Avere selling the last of them, farmers 

 began to bring them to town, and sold them 

 at 25 or 30 cts. a bushel. Now, had we com- 

 menced to olfer them at 10 cts., instead of 

 25 cts. per peck, they would not have sold 

 much faster, nor would people have been 

 much better satisfied, probably. When you 

 have secured a crop in advance of the sea- 

 son, don't be afraid to ask what it is worth, 

 or what it will bring. Friend Cole speaks 

 of 10 cts. per lb. for early tomatoes. If you 

 can sell all you have raised, at 10 cts. per lb., 

 that is positive proof that they are worth 10 

 cts. per lb. The products of the soil are al- 

 ways worth what they will bring. Straw- 

 berries are now quoted at $6.00 a quart in 

 New York ; and if there are people in that 

 city who are willing to pay that price, it is 

 right for the man who raised them to get it. 

 If it is too high, let somebody else compete 

 with him, and bring the price down. The 

 world is full of people who are watching for 

 a good margin on any thing. If somebody 

 else is selling garden stuff besides yourself, 

 by all means have your relations with him 

 of a friendly nature. Divide the town, if 

 you choose; but whatever you do, don't cut 

 against each other, and thus cut down pric- 

 es. If there is not room enough for two, 

 talk it over, and let one buy the other out ; 

 or let one take one line of goods, and the 

 other one, another. Don't quarrel ; and 

 don't, under any circumstances, hurt each 

 other's trade. When your trade increases 

 sufficiently, have two baskets made so as to 

 hold as much as possible, and so j'ou can 

 take one in each hand. If something like 

 the old-fashioned neckyoke, with which our 

 fathers used to carry water or maple sap will 

 be a convenience, don't be ashamed to make 

 use of it. It is honest and respectable to 

 bear burdens. By no means cultivate oddity 

 or eccentricity, but choose such things as 

 are real helps to you in your business ; and if 

 people do smile when you commence work, 

 they will soon get used to it when they find 

 you are bent on a regular, steady business, 



