

The Honeyed Clover — The 

 " Bk(;(;ar's Tick " 



The red clover owes its exist- 

 ence to the ''epicurean of June," 

 if I may so speak of the bumble- 

 bee. This fastidious plant, it is 

 well known, would become ex- 

 tinct, perish in celibacy, without 

 the sanction of this busy little 

 marriage-priest. 

 Like many other members of the Pulse fam- 

 ily, it has what would seem to us a rude welcome 

 for its guests. A shot-gun lies in wait for them 

 loaded to the muzzle with pollen powder, and with 

 the trigger carefully set, so that they cannot fail to 

 press it while searching for sweets. 



In an endeavor to establish a clover crop in 

 Australia, it was discovered that while the first 

 sowed growth from imported seed thrived luxuri- 

 antly, it ripened no seed, and thus defeated its self- 

 perpetuance ; and all because Bombus was not 



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