praised as a honey plant. In Sweden, on a trial plot of 500 square meters one kilogram of Phacelia seed was broadcasted and harrowed into the soil. The plants came up in 8 or 10 days, and by the middle of August had reached maturity, averaging a half meter in height. Eight weeks after planting they began to bloom, and the blooming period lasted for about four weeks. Throughout the entire time the field was constantly visited by bees from 3 o’clock in the morning to 9 :30 at night. The field is estimated to have yielded 50 to 60 kilos of honey, and if the summer had not been dry the crop would undoubtedly have been larger. The honey was clear and thin, and excellent in quality.

The racemes of the caterpillar Phacelia (Phacelia hispida) are coiled and covered with slender white hairs, whence the common name. Its range is from Santa Barbara County to San Diego County. It was formerly very abundant in Ventura County, but it has been largely destroyed by mountain fires. It grows luxuriantly if there have been abundant winter and spring rains, and attains a height of 2 to 4 feet. One season M. H. Mendleson, of Ventura, secured from this plant a large surplus. The honey was extracted into a seven-ton tank, and before the tank was full it granulated at the bottom. A few feet of liquid honey were drawn off and about three feet of solid candied honey was then shoveled out. “The honey,” writes Mendleson, “is water-white and has a fine flavor; in the candied condition it is like a fine flour paste. I have never had a surplus before nor since that season from this source.” Of the 50 other species of Phacelia which occur in the United States few appear to be of much value. (Fig. 99.)

At Terra Bella in order to raise farm crops they practice summer fallowing every alternate year, and the land remains unsown for that season. On an area about two by eight miles in extent caterpillar Phacelia springs up and grows four to five feet tall. The honey flow lasts not far from ten days. The honey candies very quickly into a pastelike solid. It is sometimes discolored by honey from other plants.

PIGEON CHERRY (Prunus pennsylvanica). — Wild red cherry. Bird cherry. Pin cherry. Common in open woods, clearings, and thickets, from Labrador to Pennsylvania and southward along the mountains. Blooms early, at a time when there are few flowers. Pollen and nectar.

PIN CLOVER. — See Alfilerilla.

PINK-VINE (Antigonon leptopus). — Mexican vine. Also called Spanish vine. A vigorous vine with large leaves and showy clusters of pink flowers, which is planted extensively in Florida for ornament. It grows quickly and is used for covering arbors, fences, and trellises. It is found wild in the counties of Pasco, Sumter, and Hernando. The blooming-period lasts from early summer until late fall. Around Tampa it is so common that it adds materially to the stores of the apiary, and a small surplus may be obtained. In the vicinity of Dade City the bees gather quantities of pollen and nectar from the flowers, and forty per cent, of the flow is secured from it. The honey is white with a flavor resembling that of aster honey. Also called coral vine and rosa de montana.

PLUM (Prunus). — The plums bloom profusely, and in small orchards the air is filled with wild solitary bees hovering about the trees. Honeybees are frequent vistors, gathering both nectar and pollen. From cultivated plums a surplus has been reported in California. About one-third of the acreage of plums and prunes in the United States is in California, centering in the Santa Clara Valley, which has over 3,000,000 trees. There is a large area also in Oregon and Washington. In the Pacific States there are more prunes than plums.

There are many native plums, widely distributed over eastern North America, which are of value to the beekeeper, as the Canada plum (Prunus nigra), which is a mass of flowers before the leaves expand; the wild goose plum (P. hortulana); the chickasaw plum; the sand plum and the beach plum. In river swamps and hammocks from South Carolina to Florida and Louisiana the hog plum (P. umbellata) is common, and stimulates early brood-rearing. The cultivated plums may