710 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



" Did they allow you to do this? " 



" Some of them said no, and some said I 

 had better put my name on the sections, if 

 I did any thing- of the kind, but advised 

 leaving^ my name off entirel}'. " 



" What course did you pursue? " 



"I purchased a rubber stamp with the 

 words " From G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. 

 Y.," on it. I could now, in a moment, put 

 my name and address on any thing^ I wish- 

 ed, from a postal card to a bee-hive. Out- 

 side of the object intended, I have found 

 this stamp of great benefit to me in many 

 ways, and I would advise you to procure 

 such a stamp anb see how much in time, 

 mone5', and temper it will save you." 



" Where can they be purchased? " 



" I believe the A. I. Root Co. can furnish 

 such stamps." 



" Did you use it on your honey? " 



" Yes, on the very best, the same as did 

 the honey- merchant who died, leaving- it off 

 all second quality and poorer g-rades. " 



" Did you put it on the crates or sec- 

 tions? " 



" On the sections." 



" Was there not a g-reat amount of work 

 to this?" 



"Not as much as would appear at first 

 thoug-ht; for after the sections were all in 

 the shipping--case, and before the cover was 

 put on, it took only a moment or two of time 

 to stamp all the sections in that case, tnus 

 letting- the consumer know by whom such 

 honey was produced, while the commission 

 merchant received all the credit with the 

 retailer." 



" What was the result?" 



" Letters inquiring- if I could send small 

 lots of the same kind of honey to consumers, 

 for the honey bearing- my address was the 

 finest of any section honey ever purchased. ' ' 



" Of course this made a market for all of 

 your best g-rade of honey." 



" Well, not exactly." 



" What was to hinder? " 



"Two things — yes, three." 



"What were they? I can not think of 

 any." 



" First and foremost, these parties main- 

 ly wished me to ship them honey to be paid 

 for on receipt of the same; and after being- 

 beaten out of two or three lots T refused to 

 send any more in that way, for this loss 

 brought the price of the whole down to lit- 

 tle if any more than I obtained through the 

 commission merchant. Second, the deal 

 was generally for only a case or two, some 

 even wanting me to ship in half-cases; and 

 these little shipments proved far more liable 

 to breakage than large shipments; and un- 

 less paid for in advance a reduction from 

 the contract price was requested, and from 

 this some dissatisfaction arose to both par- 

 ties, so that there was little pleasure in 

 such a transaction. Third, with the de- 

 mand for payment for the honey f. o. b. 

 cars, came a large amount of what usually 

 proves useless correspondence, for most of 

 the parties did not feel disposed to purchase 

 honey in that waj', so that, owing to these 



three things, I soon settled to the conclusion 

 that it was more profitable in the long run 

 to keep my name and address off all honey 

 shipped on commission; and for the last five 

 pears I have sent all that I could not read- 

 ily dispose of in my home market to com- 

 mission merchants in Boston, New York, 

 and Philadelphia, without letting anybody 

 but the commission merchant know where 

 the honey came from." 



" But did you not admit at the start that 

 there might be an advantage in putting my 

 name and address on the shipping-cases?" 



" Yes; but I qualified the matter by using 

 the word possibly. There is a possibility 

 that, in your locality, and with more time 

 at your command, you could do better than 

 I have done. Then, again, if you can get 

 your commission merchant to allow you to 

 put your name and address on the cases 

 instead of on the sections you could deal di- 

 rectly with the retailer, and in this way 

 receive larger orders than that from con- 

 sumers." 



As will be noticed elsewhere in this is- 

 sue, I took a flying trip up through Wis- 

 consin and Michigan to look up the bass- 

 wood situation for sections; and owing to 

 my absence from home I could not prepare 

 my usual answers to Straws in last issue. 

 I make this explanation as some may won- 

 der why the usual footnotes were omitted. 



A. I. ROOT AND HUBER JUST AS THEY "WERE 



STARTING ON THEIR THOUSAND-MILE 



TRIP. 



Elsewhere in this issue will be seen a 

 snap-shot of the oldest and youngest of the 

 Root Co. in their brand-new automobile, 

 just as they were starting out on their long 

 trip among bee-keepers through Ohio and 

 Michigan. Huber, as will be seen, is the 

 chauffeur, and A. I. R. — well, he is going 

 to have a good time. He is just as happy 

 as the small boy with a new pair of boots. 

 At first the senior Root was expecting to go 

 with Mrs. Root; but we younger Roots and 

 Rootlets, as you know, insisted that that 

 should not be, as it would not be wise — 

 might run into a ditch or over an embank- 

 ment. So it was arranged that Huber was 

 to post himself up and become a profession- 

 al chauffeur, and this he has done to such 

 an extent that the trip, barring one or two 

 breakdowns, has been a success. On my 

 trip through Michigan I met the pair after 

 they had been over hundreds and perhaps a 

 thousand miles of journey. Both of them 



