Sept. 1, 1911 



tions of the season, the lateness or eailiness 

 of the spring, eoUl weather, and the (iiianti- 

 ty of rain (hiring the preeeihng fall and 

 winter. In this last respeel the ines(iiii1e is 

 peculiar in that, if rain has been i)lentiful 

 in the fall and winter, no matter how dry 

 the following spring or suninier may he. 

 there will be a |)r()fusion of l)loom and a 

 heavy How of nectar. This is due to the 

 charjicter of the plant, in that it stores up 

 sap, as it were, from which it is enal>led to 

 put forth its growth, and also that its roots 

 penetrate the soil to a great depth, spread- 

 ing out quite a distance in the soil. It is 

 remarkable how a very small shrub of the 

 mesquite is supplied with these large roots 

 in proportion to its size. It shows at once 

 that it is well adapted, therefore, to a dry 

 region. 



The (|uality of the 

 honey is good, and 

 (»f a light-amber col- 

 or. It has been said 

 many times that 

 m e s q u i t e honey 

 could be used better 

 for an every-day ta- 

 ble honey than any 

 other of the Texas 

 honeys, since one 

 never tires of it as 

 he is apt to do with 



honey that has a par- 

 ticular tiavor. 

 Fig. 1 shows some 



of the branches in 



full bloom, the long 



spikes of feathery 



blossoms measuring 



from three to five 



inches in length. 



When the second 



blooming time ar- 

 rives, the beans from 



the first blooming, 



which are from six 



to eight inches long, 



will be in all stages 



of rij)ening. These 



are greedily eaten by 



all kinds of stock 



and cattle, and are 



of consideraljle value 



in this way. Even 



human beings find 



that these beans 



have a good taste, 



and children partic- 

 ularly relish them 



each season as they 

 rii)en. They vary 



considerably, how- 

 ever, in taste, some 

 of them being so bit- 

 ter that they can not 

 be eaten, while oth- 

 ers [are \ery sweet 

 and agreeable. One 

 learns very readily 

 which are the best, 

 even by the looks. 



531 



The wood of the mes(piite is valuable for 

 furniture and cabinet work, as it takes on a 

 line jxilish, and mestpiite fence-posts are 

 used very extensively. A rosin exudes 

 from bruised places on the trunks and limbs 

 in considerable cpiantities. 'I'hus it will be 

 seen lluit the humble, brush>'. unimi)or- 

 tant-looking mes(piite-trees have ((uite an 

 econt)mic \alue. 



A serious aspect, however, is that the mes- 

 (piite prairies are for the most part well 

 adai)ted for agricultural i)uriK)ses, and the 

 result is that great areas of this land are i)ut 

 into cultivation as the country is being set- 

 tled up. Fortunately, howev(?r, the greater 

 l)art of the cultivated area is i)lanted in cot- 

 ton, and this is as valuable as the mesquite 

 as a honey-yielder; hence the bee-keeper 

 need not fear that his locality will be ruined 



Kig. 1.— Some branchesof the f.araous mesquite of Texas. 



