1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE. 



943 



iS 



M^c pFC lAb^NOTJ c ES 



BKKSWAX. 



We pay 2()c per lb. cash, or 28c in trade, for any 

 quantity of good, fair, average beeswax, delivered at 

 our R. R. station. The same vrill be .sold to those who 

 wish to purchase, at 32c for best selected zvax. Old 

 €onibs zvill not be accepted itiider any consideration. 



Unless you put your name on the box, and notify us 

 by mail of amount sent, we can not hold ourselves 

 responsible for mistakes. It will not pay as a general 

 thing to send wax by express. 



CATALOG FOR 1899. 



As usual at this season of the year, our press is un- 

 usually liusy, and running away into the night to do 

 the punting required. We are printing 120 thousand 

 24 page catalogs for A. T. Cook, Hvde Park, N. Y., 

 besides 25 thousand other little booklets ; 8 thousand 

 catalogs for J. M Jenkins, Wetunipka, Ala.; and 10 

 thousand catalogs for C. N. Flansburg, Leslie, Mich. 



Our own catalog is in preparation: but owing to the 

 fact that our attention has been for the past two or 

 three months confined to factory improvements 

 we shall not liave the catalog ready for distribution as 

 early as we hoped to have. It will be at least the 

 middle of January before we have any completed, and 

 Feb. 1st before we have a large number ready to mail. 

 We have the wrappers for almost our entire list all 

 acdressed, and ready to roll np the catalogs in as soon 

 as they are ready. Do not write for a catalog before 

 Feb. l.st, unless you want an old one. You will re- 

 ceive a copy just as .soon as they are ready to mail. 



FACTORY RUNNING AGAIN. 



It gives us no little satisfaction to say that, after five 

 weeks lo,t in general oveihauling in our factorj-, we 

 are running again on full time. All the machines 

 thvoughout our entire plant, including an elevator in 

 the warehouse and a pump some twenty rods distant, 

 are now run with one large engine, by means of elec- 

 tric transmission for the power required at distant 

 points. The cards from this engine .'■how about 240 

 horse-power being used, and we have still to hitch on 

 a (iO h rse-power motor for new machinery not yet 

 started, in the new addition. When we get our new 

 rooms fully occupied, and the machines running, we 

 shall be using close to 800 hor.se power. 



We have a goo ' supply of orders booked ; in fact, 

 the orders are alread}' coming in faster than we can 

 fill them, .so that the outlook for business the coming 

 season was never better at this time of year than it is 

 now. If the demand continues at the rate it has start- 

 ed in we shall have to put on double turn much earlier 

 than last year, in spite of our increased facilities and 

 large stock of goods already prepared for shipment. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



VERY .SMALL POTATOES. 



In picking up high-priced potatoes, .such as the 

 Bovee and Triumph, and several other kinds, we let 

 the boys pick up all the little ones, even down to the 

 size of a hickorynut. These we offer for .sale as thirds, 

 and thev are only half the price of the seconds. Tliese 

 little Dotatoes are all perfect, no scabliy nor cut ones ; 

 and if you will give them a chance they will furnish 

 large fine potatoes the next season ; but they require 

 better soil and a longer season to grow in. Where it 

 is a long distance to send for potatoes, and you want 

 only a few by mail to .start with, I would recommend 

 these thirds. At the present writing, Dec. 12, we have 

 sorted out onlj' three kinds — Triunfph, Freeman, and 

 Bovee. 



VALUABLF, CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR A VERY SMALL 

 SUM OF MONEY. 



Any one who will send us Sl.OO for (Ileanings, and 

 pay up all arrearages, may have for a Christmas pres- 

 ent any one of the three following books: 



1. Pilgrim's Progress — a large nice book of 38-1 pTges, 

 full of illu.strations. The book is well wor h a dollar. 



2. Domestic Economy, a dollar book written by a 

 doctor: in fact, it is quite a doctor book. We have a 

 large stock of them, and that is the reason we are giv- 

 ing them away. 



3. The ye-.c Agriculture; or, the il'aters Led Captive. 

 This is a ^\ .50 book. While there is much in it that is 

 good, I believe that father Cole's dreams of a " new 

 earth " through sub-irrigation were not fully realized. 



Now, if you do not want anj^ of the three books 

 memioned above, we will allow j'on 50 cts. on any 

 other book in our H.^t for every dollar that you send 

 for Gle.\nings after paying up all back dues. Be- 

 si< es the books we have quite a lot of Waterbury 

 watches, and some of other kinds; also opera-glasses, 

 telescopes, microscopes, carpet-sweepers, coffee-mills, 

 and things we have usually advertised, and we will 

 allow you on any of these 50 cts. for every dollar .sent 

 us for Gleanings as above. We have also a lot of 

 Gospel Hymns, from 5 to 75 cts. each; 50 cts. worth of 

 these for every dollar you send for Gleanings as 

 above — see book-list page 9-W, this issue. 



THE HOME PAPERS OF LAST ISSUE. 



In response to my request to ! e notified in regard 

 to things not right, and that our company seemed dil- 

 atory about making right, I have received ju.st two 

 letters. This is rather con.soling to myself and to the 

 younger members of our firm. Things have been bad 

 during the past season, doubtless, but not so a-ufully 

 bad as I feared might be the case when I wrote that 

 Home Paper. Well, one of the two parties had been 

 asked to slate ju.st how much would make his loss 

 satisfactory ; but for some reason he has not sent in 

 any bill for damages, and our people were rather 

 waiting for him to do so. The other was one of the 

 kindest and most Christianlike letters I have ever 

 received in my life. The writer said he had never 

 sent in any bill for damages, nor even written a com- 

 plaint, because 1 e had neglected to examine his goods 

 till it was so late he thought he would let it drop. 

 Now friends, although you ma5' not have discovered 

 the defect immediately on receipt of the goods, I 

 should still like to hear irom you in regard to any 

 thing not as it should le. If a bill for damages is to 

 be .sent in, we very much prefer that it should come 

 inside often dajs after the receipt of the goods, ac- 

 cording to the usual custom ; but we do not propose 

 that any arbitrary or ironclad rules shall ever be held 

 by oui firm as an e.xcuse for injustice. 



As I have said, there have been received just tw-o 

 letters of complaint: and I should also say, in justice 

 to ourselves, that there have been great numbers who 

 felt moved by that article to tell how greatly pleasea 

 they were with our goods, especially the new and im- 

 proved appliances we have been getting out particu- 

 larly for honey-producers. 



Ju.st one point more: The words of complaint in one 

 of the two letters were from a customer who sent us 

 an order wherein nearly every item called for odd- 

 sized goods. This order came during the great rush 

 of business when every thing was pushing, night and 

 day. Now, to make these odd-sized goods we were 

 obliged to go to a man who did our regu'ar work, and 

 who understoood perfectly the requirements of the 

 regular work, but who h id not the skill or knowledge 

 to make .some ne~cv thing. His machine had to be 

 adjusted differently, and he had to be taught a new 

 trade, as it were. Some competent man had to read 

 the letter and get hold of the new thing that was 

 wanted, so there would be no mistake. I^ast sea.son, 

 during the rush, we ab.soIuteU- could not find compe- 

 tent men to take hold of orders for odd-sized fixtures.* 

 There were plenty who would go ahead on regular 

 goods that we make day after day. Of course, we are 

 responsible, because we should not have undertaken 

 that which v/e were unable to do properly. But with 

 the great rush it might have been a week or ten days 

 before the regular clerk would reach the odd-sized 

 order; and then to tell our customer that we should 

 have to decline it might do him much danage by the 

 delay. We were at fault, I admit. But let me suggest 

 that orders for odd-sized stuff be sent in at some other 

 time than during the great rush. I hope our regular 

 goods, such as we advertise, have been generally of 

 good workmanship, and satisfactory in every way. 



*Some years ago a manufacturer of apiarian sup- 

 plies stnted plainly in his catalog that he would not 

 undertake to make odd sized hives or fixtures, during 

 the rush of business, unless an actual sample of just 

 what was wanted was furnished for the workman to 

 work bv. 



