Weekend Cooking: Artificial Honey

Where honey is high priced, make the following: Five pounds white sugar, two pounds water, gradually bring to a boil, and skim well. When cool, add one pound bees’ honey and four drops of peppermint. There is a large profit in this where the customer is not particular about the quality; but if a better article is desired add less water and more real honey.

You can add a number of other tea-dishes as you learn what will sell. A thing that is salable in one{41} community is often not so in another. You must be guided by the taste of the locality, and when a dish does not sell well try another.

(Ch. 5, Section 2, no. 61)

From One Thousand Ways to Make Money by Page Fox (1900, New York)

It's interesting to me how this advice  was given so openly, as nowadays honey mixed with sugar should be labelled as "blend", according to FDA guidelines.