UIAKr OF HONEY TLANTS. 173 



best to sow it in drill3 one foot apart, though it is often sown in bads. 

 In rich soil the stalks are from three to five feet high, and are covered 

 with blossoms. This is not alone useful for honey. The tops make a 

 good salad in early spring, and manufacturers of mustard for table use 

 pay a good price for it. The black mustard yields honey most 

 abundantly. ' I 



The turnip blossoms at the proper time to furnish good pasturage 

 during the drought, just after the fruit trees yield is over. In the 

 Southern States, when turnips are not winterkilled, the small ones laft 

 in the ground in the fall, will produce an abundance of flowers, rich in 

 honey, at this season. 



From the Northwest various annuals rich in honey, -are reported 

 such as Chickweed, Srnartweed, Spanish Needle, Silk Poppy, the Minne- 

 sota bee plant, and the Rocky Mountain bee plant. Besides these a 

 variety are found in almost every section, differing according to climate, 

 which yield honey to a greater or less extent. Among these are the 

 blossoms of melons, pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers, peas of dif- 

 ferent kinds, the snap dragon, the wild parsnip, which in some regions 

 is very valuable, heaths, holly hocks, sunflowers, and many others. 



Among all these there are none which we would recommend to be 

 cultivated for honey save fruit trees, and raspberries, with basswood, 

 and other superior trees from the list for shade trees, and groves; and 

 as crops, buckwheat, mustard, turnips, and mignonette, as recom- 

 mended before. 



We must always remember that any given honey producing plant or 

 tree does not uniformly secrete the same quantity of nectar one year 



