of the state, they are frequently handicapped by the absence of a surplus-producing fall honey flow. However, that is made up to a certain extent by a better retail market than is found in the northern part of the state.

The central honey-plant region is a broad crescent-shaped band, sweeping round from the Michigan line through the center of Wisconsin to the northern part of Minnesota. The underlying rock is Potsdam sandstone. As the soils are sandy and relatively low in fertility, this is the poorest section of the state for beekeeping. The line bounding this region on the south is the same as the northern and western boundary line of the southern limestone region. Its north boundary line runs from the middle of Marinette County southwesterly to the middle of Portage and Wood counties, thence in a very irregular manner northwesterly to the southwest corner of Douglas County. The St. Croix Valley region in the west, where the underlying rocks are chiefly limestone, must be distinguished from this sandstone region. The soil of the central section is often thin, sterile, and, on account of its acidity, unsuitable for a good growth of the clovers. In Marquette and Adams counties the soils are mostly poor sands, and there are in both counties only a few bees. Along the bottom-lands of the Wisconsin River, extending clear to Prairie du Chien, where the soil is likewise sandy, considerable buckwheat is grown, yielding some honey. Many of the adjoining counties northeastward and northwestward have also sandy soils of low fertility. But in spots there are areas of white clover, as at Reedsburg in northern Sauk, Mauston in southern Juneau, and near Sparta in western Monroe. Of the 34,000 acres of buckwheat under cultivation in 1919 more than two-thirds are found in this region. Probably on account of climatic conditions buckwheat does not secrete nectar in Wisconsin as consistently as it does in the eastern states; but short crops of buckwheat honey are fairly common in the best buckwheat sections of the state.

In the counties in the northeastern arm of the central sandstone region beekeeping is only fairly successful. The counties of Marinette and Portage have comparatively few bees. In the northwestern arm, partly because of the great acreage of buckwheat and partly because of better soils, excellent results are obtained. Chippewa County, which has a large acreage of buckwheat and fertile silty soils in its southern portion, in 1919 produced a considerable amount of honey, as did Barron County also.

In the western part of the state, enclosed on the Wisconsin side by the sand-soil section, there is an excellent region for beekeeping, comprising the counties of St. Croix, Pierce, Buffalo, and portions of Dunn, Pepin, and Trempeleau counties. This is known as the Pierce County or St. Croix Valley region. The underlying rock is chiefly magnesian limestone, covered by fertile clay soils on which the clovers thrive. Along the Mississippi River there is a deposit of wind-blown loess from which have been formed brown silty soils; while easterly the productive soils extend over a portion of the adjoining counties. The main reliance for surplus honey is white clover and basswood, the more northern latitude being very favorable for the secretion of nectar by clover. In Buffalo County there are many small beekeepers near Mondovi and Alma, but the largest number of yards is in Pierce County.

The northern region is largely undeveloped, and in the ten most northern counties less than 15 per cent, of the land is in farms. There is a large area of swamps and lakes, and much land is covered by coniferous trees. The soils derived from the glacial drift are generally fertile, though there are several large tracts of sandy soils. The north-central portion of the state consists of a great mass of warped and twisted granite rocks, which belong to one of the oldest formations. In the northwest there is an immense area of igneous copper-bearing beds which have