THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



extracted honey. It was nice and thick 

 and of good flavor but the best offer I 

 could get on it in a wholesale way was 

 4)^ cents delivered in 6o-pound tins at 

 Chicago. At that time, after paying for 

 the cans and the freight, it would have 

 netted nie only a little over three cents a 

 pound. My home-market appeared to be 

 glutted with honey; and numerous bee- 

 keepers were scouring the country; cut- 

 ting prices and trying to out-sell and 

 under-sell one another. Some of them 

 thought nothing of driving 25 or 30 miles. 

 I thought it doubtful if the amount that 

 I had could be sold in the home-market, 

 even by the most liberal advertising; !)ut 

 resolved to try the matter in a larger way 

 than I ever had before. I had never used 

 any local papers before, except those in 

 my nearest town; but I now had notices 

 inserted in a number of papers in near- 

 by towns; and took care to have them 

 put in a prominent place so they would 

 not be over - looked. As I remember 

 it, the wording was about as follows: 

 Honey. 



In order to meet all competition, I am 

 going to sell, while it lasts, 18 pounds of 

 extracted honey for one dollar. The 

 honey is a rich amber color, being gather- 

 ed from fall flowers, but it is very thick 

 and has a nice flavor. Remember, ex- 

 tracted honey is the clear honey thrown 

 from the combs b}- a machine; so there is 

 no wood or wax to pay for. 



Right l)elow this was the following, 

 signed by the leading banking firm of 

 the town. 



$100 Reward ! 



We will pay the above amount any 

 time within one mouth if an\- hone}' sold 

 by C. Davenport is adulterated in any way 

 or manner; or, in other words, if it is not 

 ])ure nectar gathered by bees from 

 flowers. 



This gave people perfect confidence in 

 the purity of the honey and cost me noth- 

 ing, aside from the advertisement, as I 

 had a few hundred dollars lying idle at 

 the time; and, by depositing the money 

 in their bank, the bankers allowed the 

 notice to be inserted. I gave them to 



understand that if any one asserted that 

 the honey was adulterated, I wanted 

 ample opportunity to prove that it was 

 twl. 



I not only sold what I had, but also 

 about 500 pounds more that I bought. 

 Many came twenty miles, or more; and, 

 in many instances, when people came 

 from a distance their friends and neigh- 

 bors would send by them. I remember 

 one lady who took nearly 400 pounds. 

 There is something about newspaper ad- 

 vertising that is more effective than 

 personal soliciting; for, besides covering 

 the ground more thoroughly, it gives 

 people a better chance to decide whether 

 to buy or not, as it allows all members of 

 the family to have their say in regard to 

 the matter; and, if they have not the 

 money just at the time, they may have 

 it a short time later; and many may come 

 for, or order, honey that one would not 

 have been a1)le to sell to if one was ped- 

 dling from house to house. If a bee- 

 keeper's time is worth anything at all, 

 newspaper advertising is cheaper than 

 peddling; as the rate charged by local 

 papers is ver}- low; and, in almost all 

 cases I have been able to pa}- these adver- 

 tising bills in honey. 



In the instance mentioned, what I se- 

 cured over five cents a pound, more than 

 paid for all the advertising and interest 

 on what money I had lying in the banks 

 as a guarantee that the honey was pure; 

 which left me about eighty dollars more 

 than I could have got for the honej' at 

 wholesale. Of course, the same results 

 could not be secured in all localities. 

 My part of the State is well settled with 

 a class of people who are mostly in such 

 circumstances that they can afford to eat 

 honev if they want it. I believe in charg- 

 ing all the "traffic will bear;" or, in 

 other words, getting all we can for our 

 product; but the lower the price the 

 more can be sold in any home-market; 

 and, before setting a retail price, and then 

 shipping what is not readily sold at this 

 price, to some city market, one should 

 figure the cost of cases, or cans, freight. 



