022 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Lupins cover the brook bank. The blossoms are purplish red. 



tridge pea. " The glands would appear 

 likely to distract the attention of insects 

 aAvay from the flowers." That is, the pres- 

 ence of these nectar-secreting, bracts, else- 

 where than in the blossoms, would probably 

 lessen the chances of insect-pollination 

 rather than assist in the nuptials of these 

 plants. 



Who can fathom altogether the workings 

 of even the simplest rule in nature? Who 

 can explain to us the woi'kings, the cause, 

 and occasion for these apparent slips in the 

 operations of the rule of insect-visitation 



and plant-fertilization? Are they like the 

 appendix in the human system, or the pres- 

 ence of nipples on all male animals — mere 

 souvenirs of a principle inoperative in spe- 

 cial cases? 



Truly Tennyson was as much naturalist 

 as poet when he sang: 



Flower in the crannied wall, 



I pluck you out of the crannies; 



Hold you here, root and all, in my hand. 



Little flower, but if I could understand 



What you are, root and all, and all in all, 



I should know what God and man is. 



Deland, Fla. 



WHITEWOOD 



BV W. C. MOLLET. 



The whitewood is one of the most ma- 

 jestic and noble-appearing of the native 

 American trees, often reaching a height of 

 1.50 and even 200 feet. In the South it is 

 generally called " poplar," altliough not a 

 true poplar, but related to the magnolia, its 

 specific name being Liriodendron tuUpifcra; 

 hence it is often also called tulip-tree. It 

 is found in most of the South and East, but 

 reaches its perfection in about the latitude 

 of Kentucky and Virginia. 



The wood is very useful in a great many 

 ways, as it is easily worked and capable of 

 receiving a tine polish. It is also very 

 strong and durable. On this accoimt the 

 groves of whitewood have been cut down 

 to a considerable extent, so that the trees 



are not as plentiful as they were some years 

 ago. 



It is also a very ornamental tree, as its 

 manner of growth, its leaves, and flowers 

 are very pretty, and it is one of the best 

 nni longest-lived shade-trees known. 



It is not so hardy as the basswood in the 

 North, and is also somewhat difficult to 

 transplant, like all the magnolia family. 

 The young trees will often bloom in ten 

 years from the seed, althougli the blossoms 

 are not very plentiful till it reaches (lie age 

 of 1.5 or 20 years. It will succeed in any 

 common soil, either moist or dry, and also 

 on the hills as well as in the lower ground. 



Whitewood is one of the best if not tlie 

 verv best honev-vielder with which 1 am 



