24 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



to do this for the Association. It 

 would advertise them and at the 

 same time give them a considerable 

 amount of money The feature of 

 the bank, then, is an important one. 

 The process would be that the 

 Association would buy stamps and de- 

 posit them with the bank. The bank 

 then would be able constantly to 

 furnish a statement of sales 

 (which would represent funds avail- 

 able for advertising purposes) and 

 the balance of stamps on !iand. A 

 little experience from month to 

 month or from year to year, would 

 enable those in charge to forecast 

 their funds and plan their campaign 

 accordingly. 



Source of Revenue 



The source of revenue by the pro- 

 cess outlined would be relatively in 

 proportion to the amount of busi- 

 ness done by the individuals who 

 purchase stamps, or to their interest 

 in apicultural affairs and advance- 

 ment of honey sales. It is, more- 

 over, a business transaction and 

 differs from the usual process of 

 soliciting funds. People do not like 

 to be solicited. This occurs all along 

 the line in every day life and has 

 come to have bad flavor, which 

 should not be a contamination cf 

 even the sale of so wholesome a 

 product as honey. A business tran- 

 saction, therefore is far more pre- 

 ferable especially so as the policy 

 outlined equalizes the taxation and 

 does not bring a particular burden 

 upon any few individuals. It also 

 inspires or stimulates successive 

 contributions in the way of buying 

 more and more stamps. It is too, 

 perpetuating from year to year con- 

 sequently the revenue derived might 

 be expected to be accumulative. 

 The Policy of Advertising 



Heretofore the beekeepers have 

 merely concluded that the National 

 Association should advertise honey. 

 I gravely fear that they have net 

 considered the financial responsi- 

 bility in doing this. Neither have 

 ti^ey considered advertising in the 

 light of a trade or profession. It 

 would therefore be the writer's 

 idea provided this policy should 

 be inaugurated, to definitely plan an 

 advertising campaign in proportion 

 to the prospective funds available. 

 It should be further suggested that 

 the most competent, professional 

 advertising available should be had. 



It is a difficult problem and should 

 not be handled by a layman or one 

 irj experienced in advertising of wide 

 scope. 



You readily see. therefore, that 

 the exact machinery of the adver- 

 tising policy is not worked out. and 

 at this time is not pertinent. The 

 general policy of the securing of 

 funds is what is concerned. 



It should not be forgotten, how- 

 ever, that before the first step is 

 taken towards collecting any funds, 

 the public must be assured of ef- 

 ficiency, otherwise this method 

 would be merely a repetition of 

 what has gone before, namely a 

 partial or whole disappointment to 

 the beekeepers. DEFINITE SATIS- 

 FACTION TO THE PURCHASERS 

 OP STAMPS MUST BE ASSURED. 

 The Scope of the Countiy 



A very important feature in the 

 administration of such a project by 

 .the National Association is the 

 scope of the country. Few except 

 those who are in such work realize 

 the difficulty which a vast country 

 like the United States offers. The 

 markets differ; localities differ in 

 their demands. The advertising 

 manager would. therefore, neces- 

 sarily need the pulse of the honey 

 market. For a moment, imagine the 

 vastness of this necessity and the 

 seeming handicap which it would 

 place upon attempting the adver- 

 tising problem of nation wide scope. 



It would, therefore, seem perti- 

 nent that the advertising manager 

 should have had previous experience 

 of nation wide advertising problems. 

 Summarily 



In conclusion. I hope that this 

 m?y be an humble suggestion to 

 you, whereby the vexing problem, 

 confronting the National Beekeepers' 

 Association may. with your assist- 

 ance, be solved. The writer, there- 

 fore, solicits your suggestions in 

 concrete, brief form. If sufficient 

 interest is shown in this policy, the 

 Directors of the Association will 

 be presented a statement for action, 

 which the writer hopes may be ob- 

 tained perhaps prior to the National 

 Convention at Denver, in this way. 

 material progress and perhaps a 

 significant boom of the National As- 

 soc-ation for 1915 may be forecast. 

 BURTON N. GATES. 



President. 



