278 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



rived at its destination, the sections were actually lying 

 on their sides ! I suppose the railroad hands who packed 

 it in the car at the last change, thought the glass was 

 safest from breaking if the case was put glass side down. 

 The strangest part about it was that I lost nothing by 

 the breakage. The dogged persistence of a German 

 consignee obliged the railroad company to pay all dam- 

 age; for the consignee was that staunch German and 

 genial friend of bee-keepers — the late C. F. Muth. It is 

 the only case in which I have known a railroad company 

 to pay for breakage of honey. 



There is less danger of breakage by freight than by 

 express. Besides danger of breakage, there is risk of 

 losing in various ways. You may not be able to collect 

 pay for your honey. If sent on commission, the price 

 obtained may be less than the published market report. 

 You have no means generally to know how correct the 

 claims for breakage may be. In fact, unless you know 

 your consignee to be a thoroughly honest man, you arc 

 almost entirely at his mercy. A quarter or half a pound 

 may be taken off each case by the claim that it is custom 

 to reject fractions. 



PRICES IN HOME AND DISTANT MARKET. 



Taking all these things into consideration, together 

 with the cost of freight and shipping-cases, it must be 

 a good price that will justify a man to ship off honey to 

 the neglect of his home market. If shipped to be sold 

 on commission, providing he ships to a near market, the 

 price should be at least 2^ cents per pound more than he 

 can get in his home market, to justify his shipping. If 

 he ships to a distant market the difference should be still 

 more, as the additional freight may make a difference 

 of I cent per pound or more, and the risk of breakage 

 becomes greater. 



