THE PASTORAL BEES. 69 
odorless flower. A field of these berries in June 
sends forth a continuous murmur like that of an 
enormous hive. The honey is not so white as that 
obtained from clover, but it is easier gathered ; it is 
in shallow cups while that of the clover is in deep 
tubes. The bees are up and at it before sunrise, 
and it takes a brisk shower to.drive them in. But 
the clover blooms later and blooms everywhere, and 
is the staple source of supply of the finest quality of 
honey. The red clover yields up its stores only to 
the longer proboscis of the bumble-bee, else the bee 
pasturage of our agricultural districts would be un- 
equaled. Ido not know from what the famous honey 
of Chamouni in the Alps is made, but it can hardly 
surpass our best products. The snow-white honey 
of Anatolia in Asiatic Turkey, which is regularly 
sent to Constantinople for the use of the grand seig- 
nior and the ladies of his seraglio, is obtained from 
the cotton plant, which makes me think that the 
white clover does not flourish there. The white clover 
is Indigenous with us; its seeds seem latent in the 
ground, and the application of certain stimulants to 
the soil, like wood ashes, causes them to germinate 
and spring up. 
The rose, with all its beauty and perfume, yields 
no honey to the bee, unless the wild species be sought 
by the bumble-bee. 
Among the humbler plants, let me not forget the 
dandelion that so early dots the sunny slopes, and 
upon which the bee languidly grazes, wallowing to 
his knees in the golden but not over-succulent pas- 
turage. From the blooming rye and wheat the bee 
gathers pollen, also from the obscure blossoms of 
Indian corn. Among weeds, catnip is the great favor- 
