PASTURAQR. 389 



rapidly and maturing so soon, so productive in favorable 

 seasons, and so well adapted to cleanse the land, certainly 

 deserves more attention from farmers than it receives ; and 

 its more frequent and general culture would greatly enhance 

 the profits of bee-keeping. Its long continued and frequently 

 renewed blossoms, yield honey so abundantly, that a popu- 

 lous colony may easily collect fifty pounds in two weeks if 

 the weather is favorable." 



I am almost afraid to state that the Canada thistle yields 

 copious supplies of very pure honey, lest some slothful bee- 

 keeper should regard such a pest with too lenient an eye. 

 If, however, the farmers will tolerate its growth, it is inter- 

 esting to know that it can be turned to so good an account. 

 It affords its pasturage after the white clover has begun to 

 fail. 



The raspberry is a great favorite with the bees, and fur- 

 nishes a very delicious honey. In color and flavor it is de- 

 cidedly superior to that from the white clover, while the 

 comb is so delicate that it almost melts in the mouth. The 

 sides of the roads, the borders of the fields, and the pastures 

 of many of the hill-towns in New England, often abound 

 with the wild red-raspberry ; and in all such favored loca- 

 tions, numerous colonies of bees may be kept. I have oflen 

 noticed that when it is in blossom, bees pay but little regard 

 tn any other flower, holding even the the white clover in 

 light esteem. Its drooping blossoms protect the honey from 

 moisture, and the bees are able to gather from it, in weather 

 too wet for them to obtain anything from the upright blossoms 

 of the clover. As it furnishes a succession of flowers for 

 some weeks, it yields a supply, almost if not quite, as lasting 

 as the white clover. I regard it as the very best pasturage 

 for bees with which I am acquainted, and as it is oAen su- 

 perabundant in lands so precipitous and rocky, as to be 

 33* 



