580 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Septemier 15, 



tools of all kinds to the farmers, and waiting till after harvest 

 or husking for his money. In his case about all he cares for 

 is whether the customer is honest. Often his problem is a 

 hard one, for he must refuse credit if he follows his best judg- 

 ment, to a neighbor, one who will be his enemy if credit is 

 denied. 



Let it be clearly understood that only strict business must 

 govern. Your duty to your family requires that each case be 

 settled upon its merits regardless of friendship or nearness of 

 residence. It is always harder to draw the lines of business 

 strictly with neighbors and friends than with strangers. 



In the great business houses some require the credit man 

 to stand any losses that are caused by his act. Other houses 

 are more liberal, and only require losses made good where a 

 fault or negligence has been committed. Long service as a 

 credit man in a large, wealthy house oftentimes will cause the 

 ifirm to overlook losses that would be fatal, in a small business, 

 tooth to the firm and the credit man himself. 



A few rules can be gathered from the foregoing. You 

 must of necessity be your own credit man. You must stand 

 all the losses, both small and great, yourself. Your consola- 

 tion must be that no one can discharge you. Remember that 

 honey is a luxury, and that ordinarily any one who has not 

 one or two dollars to pay for a small purchase of hooey should 

 do without it. But there are many exceptions to this. Farm- 

 ers sell produce at certain periods. Men are paid by the 

 month. If you set your foot down, that you will not sell ex- 

 cept for spot 3ash, you will certainly suffer a reduction of 15 

 to 20 percent in your year's business. But use your brains in 

 every case, and where you are in doubt (?o?i't give credit. 



Every man, every business, bears certain ear-marks that 

 speak to the intelligent observer a clear language as to pros- 

 perity and permanence. A nice barn, comfortable house, 

 owns the place, sleek horses, fine flocks of poultry, neat wife, 

 clean children, etc., will tell you plainly If you ask whether 

 you will seek in vain for your two dollars on your next trip. 



Such cases as this will come to you : " I have been hard 

 up lately ; had a good deal of sickness ; would like some 

 honey, but haven't got the money." Don't put this case as a 

 business problem at all. Figure this as almost a certain loss. 

 Call it charity, and if your duty to your family and your own 

 obligations allow the donation, why, make it freely, if you 

 think it is a proper case. It is very often a proper case to re- 

 fuse. There is a great difference between asking credit for 

 honey and trying to buy a barrel of flour on time. In general, 

 any one who asks credit of a stranger for a plain luxury — 

 something he can get along without — should rightly be an 

 object of suspicion. An honorable man will be more ready to 

 ask favors of one who knows him and his reputation, than 

 from strangers. 



Look your ground over carefully. Note how other busi- 

 ness men give credit. If you know a good business man near 

 by, go to him and put certain questions to him that bear on 

 your case and trade. You will learn many valuable principles 

 by talking with one who has made business and credits a life 

 study. In case of doubt about any particular person, go to 

 his postmaster or to his grocer. Tell them in confidence that 

 you expect to have some business with Blank, and ask if he is 

 a safe man to trust. You will in many cases get an entirely 

 candid answer. Remember a bad debt means loss of your 

 honey, loss of the customer, loss of the time consumed in 

 making the sale and in trying to collect. 



Many of you will find that spot cash is the best rule for 

 the honey-trade, even where it might not be possible for the 

 hardware. 



After looking over the ground carefully and conscien- 

 tiously, make a set of rules by which to govern yourself. 

 Then when askt for credit say, "That is contrary to my rule 

 in this case. I should like to oblige you, but I will be unable 



to do so 710111." 



Such an answer will convince the customer you wish to 

 treat all alike, and may turn aside any feelings of resentment 

 that might arise on being refused a favor. Cook Co., 111. 



Great Willow-Herb— Its Home, Habits and 

 Honey. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



Years ago, when I lived at Rogersville, I for several years 

 made anmal trips to the home of two ladies living in North- 

 ern Michigan, near Farwell, and bought and brought home a 

 portion of their bees. I well remember that among other 

 dainty viands appearing upon their tea-table was a comb of 

 the whitest, sweetest honey I had ever tasted. The flavor 

 was not very pronounced, but contained a suggestion of splci- 



ness. Upon inquiry I was told that this honey was from the 

 great willow-herb. It is known under various names, such as 

 fire-weed, Indian pink, rose bay, etc. Its scientific name is 

 Angustifolium epilobium. Later, when collecting samples of 

 different kinds of honey to exhibit at fairs, I sent for a bottle 

 of this honey. When it came and I held it up to the light, I 

 could compare it with nothing else than a bottle of spring 

 water — it was so clear. It certainly has no more color than so 

 much water. 



This plant grows from two to six feet in height, and, as a 

 rule, inclines to a single stalk. The blossoms are a dark pink 

 and arranged in a cluster around the central stalk. In fact, 

 they remind me of the phlox of the flower-garden. One pecu- 

 liarity of tho bloom is that it continues from July until frost. 

 So long as it is in bloom there seems to be a cluster of buds 

 pushing themselves up from the center of the bloom. As 

 these buds unfold, others take their place, and so the stalk 

 pushes up and up, always tipt with a sprig of buds, below 

 which is a cluster of bloom that in time gives way to seed- 

 pods. Thus we have, on the same stalk, buds, blossoms and 

 seed-pods, and, in many instances, the oldest pods have burst, 

 and winds are scattering the downy seeds far and near. I 

 think such seeds might be carried in great numbers — well, 

 possibly hundreds of miles. Perhaps this explains why it 

 springs up, apparently in a spontaneous manner, after the 

 ground has been burned over by fires; whereas the fire simply 

 burns the turf and furnishes a seed-bed for the wandering 

 seed. It grows most profusely among the stumps and burned 

 forest districts of Wisconsin, Northern Michigan and Canada. 



Two or three years ago, in the month of June, while on 

 my way to visit my father and brother in an adjoining county 

 (Tuscola), I noticed a few stalks of what I took to be this 

 plant growing by the roadside. I had never seen any of it be- 

 fore, but I had read descriptions of it. In August my brother 

 wrote me that the highways and byways, hedges and swamps, 

 old clearings and "slashings" were fairly purple with the 

 bloom of the willow-herb, and the hives were filling up with 

 honey to beat all. I packt up my camera and took another 

 trip expressly to get a characteristic view of this plant on its 

 native heath. The result is the picture which shows the 

 willow-herb right in its glory. The splashes of white are seed- 

 pods that have burst and are scattering their contents to the 

 four winds. 



As a rule, willow-herb yields honey every year. In my 

 knowledge of the matter it has failed once in a dozen years. 

 For two years in succession our Michigan bee-keepers have 

 met at Mt. Pleasant, which is the region of country where the 

 willow-herb fiourishes at its best; and it really makes us out- 

 siders feel just a bit envious to hear those folks talk about 

 their 100 and 125 pounds of surplus honey, per colony, each 

 year. 



There are thousands and thousands and thousands of 

 acres of this plant in Northern Michigan that actually waste 

 their sweetness on the desert air. If I were going Into the 

 business of honey-production as a specialty, I should go to 

 Northern Michigan where I could have the benefit of wild 

 raspberries, clover, basswood, and willow-herb. There are 

 locations in that part of the State that are veritable bee-keep- 

 ers' paradises ; and ihey can be found by patient search. — 

 Bee-Keepers" Review. Genesee Co., Mich. 



Facing Comb Honey — Price of Honey. 



BV PROF. A. -J. COOK. 



A few weeks since I was visiting Lemon Grove, San 

 Diego Co., arranging for a Farmers' Institute. Lemon Grove 

 is one of the famous strawberry regions. I was invited to 

 tea, and as my host was in the midst of the strawberry har- 

 vest, and much driven to fill his orders, I volunteered to be- 

 come for the nonce one of the army of pickers. I take nat- 

 urally to work in a fine strawberry-field. I showed very soon 

 that I was a novice, for I removed all the stems, whereas the 

 market wisht stems and all. But my chiefest blunder was in 

 filling the box evenly, so that one, as he delved to the bottom 

 of my boxes, would find all alike from top to bottom. I was 

 shown that I must place smaller berries below, and reserve a 

 goodly number to face the box at the top with large, even 

 highly-colored berries. I said, "Is that quite honest?" 



The answer was, "Yes; everybody does that, so it is ex- 

 pected." 



I said, " Is it wisdom? Would not an even, honest pack 

 beget a reputation, sell more berries, and secure a better 

 price ?" Of course the berry-grower thought not, else his 

 practice would change. 



Forty tons of berries were shipt from Lemon Grove into 

 San Diego the past season. I presume my friend was correct. 



