los THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



there dues not seem to be any need for it since two of i ur 

 native sumachs — Rhus hirta and R. glabra — contain the same 

 constituents. According to the Department of Agriculture, 

 the diminishing supply of tanning materials has now made 

 these species of commercial importance, and children are said 

 to be able to make good wages collecting" and drying the 

 leaves for market. A bulletin is soon to be issued on the sub- 

 ject. There is certainly no lack of the sumach. It grows 

 extensively in the most sterile soils. All depends on the price. 

 If this is high enough, our waste lands may soon have a new 

 value. 



Honey Production. — The l/nited States Department of 

 Agriculture estimates that the honey crop for 1918 will approx- 

 imate two hundred and fifty million pounds. When it is re- 

 called that the nectar in flowers does not become honey until 

 it is worked over and partly evaporated by the bees, the mag- 

 nitude of the labor in which they engage is apparent. These 

 industrious insects must move fully 150,000 tons of material 

 during the season in making the honey crop, to sav nothing 

 of the honey consumed by the bees themselves. The labor 

 seems out of all proportion to the insect. The best all-round 

 honey plant is reported to be the white clover. About half 

 the honey produced is gathered from this plant. Next in 

 importance comes alfalfa, followed closely by sweet clover. 

 In some regions the latter is the chief honey-producer. A good 

 deal of honey is gathered from the general run of Mowers, but 

 the plants that produce a honey that can be identified are not 

 many. The principal species are cotton, basswood, tulip tree, 

 buckwheat, goldenrod and mountain sage. In the tropics 

 the logwood, one of the legumes, produces much honey. At 

 present, California produces about one-fifth of the honey crop. 

 Other honey-producing states, though far behind California, 

 are Xew York, Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, 

 Missouri and Pennsylvania. 



