?fp?^^l*^w- vTT^T .'■■T^.-'^^^^^ 



80 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT Of THE 



Mr. Ahlers — That is the poiiit Mr. 

 York has been trying to bring out. 



I advertise in German papers. The 

 Germans use more honey than Am- 

 ericans. It is just as natural for them 

 to use honey as butter. I have their 

 trade; they are very conservative; if 

 they buy a good article from some one 

 they don't want to change. 



I started in Milwaukee, and I use 

 pails to put the honey in. It is a 

 pretty hard thing for them, after they 

 begin to use those pails, to break 

 away from it; they are handy for the 

 children to carry water in; they are 

 handy for the boys to use to go fish- 

 ing — to get minnows; they have a flar- 

 ing top. When any one comes around 

 with a different pail they become sus- 

 picious. 



People cannot "run in" on my trade 

 very easily in Milwaukee, on account 

 of this flaring top pail; they can't ship 

 it from a distance; if they do it is so 

 costly they can't make anything. 



I think we have an advantage In 

 selling good honey; I sell as good 

 honey as I know how, and supply them 

 regularly. 



I don't produce all the honey I sell; 

 I buy a lot of it 



I sell direct to the consumers, and 

 also a few stores. The stores buy for 

 their own consumption; what they sell 

 they buy somewhere else. The pro- 

 prietors of the stores buy honey of me 

 for their own use. 



Dr. Miller — Probably Mr. Ahlers sells 

 honey in Dutch, Mr. Hatch. 



Mr. Hatch — Mr. Ahlers is a peddler. 



Mr. Ahlers — ^I object; I have not de- 

 livered a pound of honey in years. 



Mr. Hatch — But you have to have 

 some one to do it for you. 



Mr. Ahlers — Yes, I give him the 

 tickets; I don't run in houses to solicit 

 trade: we call on our customers; other 

 people come up to the wagon and call 

 for honey. 



Mr. Hatch — That is what I used to 

 call peddling on the fruit farm. 



Mr. Ahlers — I deliver in Milwaukee 

 by wagon. 



Mr. York — As I understand Mr. 

 Ahlers ships all over the country two- 

 thirds of it. 



Mr. Ahlers — Yes, two-thirds of it. 



Mr. Ahlers — ^I don't advertise much 

 now. 



I advertise in a Sunday German 



paper, $1.40 a month; I was paying $4 

 a month; they were going to raise that 

 ad to $12 because I used a heavy head 

 line; I told them to cancel my order, 

 and I inserted a little order at $1.20, 

 and have not advertised any more ex- 

 cept when I want to buy honey; I 

 sometimes put a little add in the bee 

 papers. 



Mr. Wilcox — I rather like this sub- 

 ject, and the manner in which Mr. 

 Hatch has presented it, although I 

 would not think It quite practical just 

 as it is presented there. In the first 

 place, we could not realize the prices 

 quite, mentioned there. There are 

 serious difficulties In the way; very 

 serious. 



The diflBculty seems to be, there are 

 many grades of honey as every bee- 

 keeper knows. Different flowers pro- 

 duce a different kind of honey, and 

 even the same flowers — clover, for in- 

 stance — does not always produce the 

 same grade of honey; one week, honey 

 extracted is entirely different from 

 that extracted the week before. 



In co-operation, the desigrn is to sell 

 through an organized body or agent, 

 and there must necessarily be some 

 means of grading that honey and ad- 

 vertising it so the buyer will know by 

 grade atfout what he is to get. 



There is a serious difllculty, if we 

 attempt to ship our honey from place 

 to place, where it is produced through 

 this agent to be graded — there are 

 transportation charges. 



If we adopt another plan and state 

 what we have to the agent, and he 

 advertises, from our representations, 

 and we receive orders direct from the 

 consumer and attempt to flll them, the 

 consumer will often be disappointed. 

 They will not be filled with just the 

 grade that was expected; and it is a 

 serious difficulty with me to know how 

 we can put it into practical operation. 



There was an organization in North- 

 ern Wisconsin to which all the honey 

 was shipped, and they sold it whole- 

 sale. The organization has gone out 

 of existence, I believe; the members 

 of it were dissatisfied with the results, 

 and I am not able to devise any plan, 

 and never have been, by which it can 

 be entirely satisfactory. I hope we 

 will be able, among us here, those that 

 have had more experience than I have, 

 to do so. 



