TENNESSEE AGRICULTURE 287 



In Tennessee there is great variation in soil and in altitude, the 

 latter ranging from about 300 feet in the Mississippi Valley to over 

 6,000 feet in the mountains of East Tennessee; hence it will be im- 

 possible to give the exact dates of bloom of the plants in this list. 

 It would seem, from a casual reading of the list, that we had a con- 

 tinual flow from early in the spring until frost, but such is not the 

 case for any given locality. This will be better understood from the 

 following general summary of conditions : 



The Tennessee River crosses the State twice, and the Cumberland 

 makes a long curve through the central section, and in these valleys 

 white and alsike clovers, and, in many places, black locust, form the 

 principal source of surplus honey. On the ridges and tablelands of 

 the central and eastern sections, the honey is from poplar, sourwood, 

 and wild flowers of many species. On the plains of the western part 

 of the State, and in the Mississippi Valley cotton gives the greatest 

 surplus. 



The following list is by no means complete, although it gives 

 the most important honey and pollen-bearing plants of the State, with 

 their approximate date of blooming. 



Soft maple, Acer rubrum, February, March. Pollen and nectar. First 

 help to brood-rearing. Valleys. 



Elm, Ulmus americana, March. Pollen. 



Sugar maple, Acer saccharinum, March, April. Sweet sap; nectar, pollen. 



Dandelion, Taraxacum officinalis, February to June. Nectar. 



Peach, Amigdalus persica, March, April. Nectar, pollen. 



Plum, Prunus domesticus, April. Some nectar and pollen. 



Turnip, Brassica rapa, April. Sometimes gives surplus where grown 

 for seed. 



Redbud, Cercis canadensis, March, April. Nectar, pollen. 



Apple, iMalus. Nectar, pollen. Valuable for brood-rearing. 



Black locust, Bobinia pseudacacia, April, May. Good yielder of fine 

 honey; slow to granulate. 



Yellow-wood, Virgilia lutea, May. Some surplus where abundant. 



Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, May. Heavy yielder. Honey amber, 

 but good flavor. 



Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum, May to July. Almost equal to white 

 clover. Central and east. 



White clover, Trifolium repens, May, June. Principal source in central 

 and eastern valleys. Honey white. 



Persimmon, Diospiros virginiana, May. Honey dark. Uplands. 



Linden, Tilia americana, July. Honey white, good yielder. Central and 

 eastern valleys. 



Sourwood, Oxydendron arboreum, July. Uplands. Good honey, almost 

 entirely free from granulation. 



