^UGUST 1, 1916 



Salvation Army methods are needed for 

 reaching farmers who have not been reached 

 in any other way. 



As a further iUustration of how the men 

 on the market square may be used for help- 

 ing to carry forward the gospel of improv- 

 ed methods in the handling of produce, I 

 am sending out this week five thousand gov- 

 ernment bulletins on the care of butter and 

 eggs. These are being sent thru the large 

 number of country peddlers who come to 



this market each week from the far-back 

 mountain country, most of them coming 30 

 to 75 miles. Two bulletins are being put 

 in each package to be delivered at the homes 

 from which these peddlers buy their prod- 

 uce. They have entered enthusiastically 

 into the plans of this organization for se- 

 curing better marketing conditions. They 

 are our missionaries for helping to build up 

 tlie surrounding counti'y. 

 Roanoke, Va. 



ARE YOU A SALESMAN? 



Some Conditions of Honey-selling and Some Suggestions 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER 



So you have a fine crop of honey to sell. 

 Well, what is it and what are you asking 

 for it? You say it is a bright light amber, 

 of good flavor, and should be worth 9 cents ; 

 that Jones & Company offered 7^'2 cts., but 

 you are going to hold for more. 



In that paragraph is summed uj) about 

 all that the majority of producers know 

 about the selling of their crop. Some of 

 the things which they don't know are just 

 where their crop really does grade as to 

 color, flavor, and body; the amount of sim- 

 ilar honey within, say, five hundred miles; 

 the general crop of honey the country over ; 

 the amount of honey the local market will 

 consume ; the amount likely to be offered in 

 that market; the best distant market to 

 ship to, and the level of prices as compared 

 with previous years. Every one of those 

 items is complex, and the knowledge neces- 

 sary to form an intelligent answer to any 

 one is not to be acquired off hand. Rela- 

 tively few producers know where to look 

 for the desired information, or, after se- 

 curing it, know how to use it to advantage. 



But even if accurate knowledge is pos- 

 sessed of size of crop and of level of price, 

 the quality of one's own crop may not be 

 known. And on that quality will depend its 

 ready or slow sale, as the case may be. I 

 may think my honey is " fine ;" but if it 

 possesses some peculiar flavor, is a little 

 light in body, a trifle " off " in color, quick 

 to crystallize, or, for want of thoro cuiing, 

 lacks good body, it will not bring the price 

 I expect. Under such circumstances I shall 

 probably find fault with the buyer, over- 

 production, etc. If, on the other hand, 1 

 have educated myself as to honey flavors, 

 colors, and bodies from many places, and 

 have learned what types the different mar- 

 kets demand, then I can intelligently judge 

 of my own crop, and of its quality and 

 value. If you have not that knowledge, 



just send samples of your crop to half a 

 dozen of the handlers who are well posted, 

 and ask them to give you its " grade." The 

 " gi'ade " you must know before you seek 

 a market. 



Knowing the grade, where will you sell? 

 Bless me, how should I know ? To be sure, 

 I am writing this to try to tell you some- 

 thing about marketing; but, not knowing 

 your selling talent, I can only tell you to 

 study yourself. If you are a good salesman 

 you can create a market where the other 

 fellow says there is none. To illustrate: 

 The producers round about a New York 

 state city said the market was glutted, and 

 that they could not move their honey at any 

 price. Another producer from a hundred 

 odd miles away dropped into town for a 

 convention, and before sessions " kind of 

 sauntered around town " as he put it, and 

 took orders for a lot of honey to be shipped 

 in from his place. He was a salesman. If 

 you are not, then you can well afford to 

 pay a very liberal commission to such a man 

 to market your crop for you. Find out 

 what you are. 



Know your market. If you are a really 

 sure-enough salesman, you will learn it 

 before you have called on many people. If 

 not, you must keep at it until you find out 

 what sort of packages and kind of honey 

 the naarket wants. This for selling to re- 

 tailers. If selling to jobbers, they will 

 determine whether they can use your honey, 

 and they will bid as low as they dare. Then 

 if you know the amount of crop and price 

 level, you can jockey with them. If you 

 don't know those things you take their price 

 or keep your crop save in the rare years 

 when the supply is far below the demand. 

 And if the agricultural schools keep turning 

 out a fresh bunch of beekeepers every year, 

 those rare years will soon become as rare as 

 hens' teeth. And it depends on the point 



