The Tulif Tree, 



361 



I have several times purchased what purported to be Chi- 

 nese mustard, dwarf and tall, but Prof, Beal, than whom 

 there is no better authority, tells me they are only the white 

 and black, and certainly they are no wliit better as bee 

 plants. These plants, with buckwheat, the mints, borage, 

 and mignonette, are specially interesting, as they cover, or 

 may be made to cover, the honey dearth from about July 

 20th to August 20th. 



The mustards and rape may be planted in drills about 

 eight inches apart, any time from May 1st to July 15th. 

 Four quarts will sow an acre. 



In this month blooms the tulip tree, Liriodendron tulip- 

 ifera (Fig. 165) — often called poplar in the South, which 



Fig. 166. 



Teasel. 



is not only an excellent honey producer, but is one of our 

 most stately and admirable shade trees. Dr. Brown, of 

 Georgia, says this is the great dependence— the basswood 

 of the South. He says that along rivers especially the 

 bloom is so prolonged, being earlier on the uplands, that 

 the harvest is long as bountiful. Now bloom the sumacs, 

 though one species blooms in May, the wild plum, the 

 raspberries, whose nectar is unsurpassed in color and flavor, 

 and the blackberry. The blackberry comes quite late. 



