384 PASTUKAGE AND OVEKSTOCKING. 



by the name of Alsike, or Swedish clover (Fig. 126). 



The objection made to this clover is that its stem is so 

 light that it falls to the ground. This is remedied by sowing 

 it with timothy. The latter helps it to stand. It is as good 

 for honey as white clover. 



704. The raspberry furnishes a most delicious honey. 

 In flavor it is superior to that from the white clover. The 

 sides of the roads, the borders of the fields, and the past- 

 ures of much of the " hill- country " of New England, 

 abound with the wild red raspberry, and, in such favored 

 locations, numerous colonies of bees may be kept. When 

 it is in blossom, bees hold even the white clover in light es- 

 teem. Its drooping blossoms protect the honey from moist- 

 ure, and they can work upon it when the weather is so wet 

 that they can obtain nothing from the upright blossoms of 

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

 weeks, it yields a supply almost as lasting as the white 

 clover. The precipitous and rocky lands, where it most 

 abounds, might be made almost as valuable as some of the 

 vine-clad terraces of the mountain districts of Europe. 



The borage {Borago officinalis), (Fig. 143), blossoms 

 continually from June until severe frost, and, like the rasp- 

 berry, is frequented by bees even in moist weather. The 

 honey from it is of a superior quality. 



The Canada thistle, the viper bugloss yield good honey 

 after white clover has begun to fail. But these plants are 

 troublesome, for they cannot easily be gotten rid of. 



706. Melilot, or sweet clover (flgs. 127 and 136), which 

 grows on any barren or rocky soil without cultivation, is 

 one of the most valuable honey-plants. It will not thrive, 

 however, where cattle can graze on it, as they soon destroy 

 it. If cut early to be used as forage, it blooms later than 

 white clover and till frost. It is a biennial. 



The different varieties of smart-weeds (Persicaria), golden 

 rod, buckwheat, asters, iron-weed, Spanish-needles in low 



