erULNQ AT TIIK NoirrU AND AT THE tiUlTH. 



The liist of this month and the enrly part of April, according as the season "opens," 

 fnrniors are occupied in making maple sugar. As the snow disappears jin<l warm rains 

 fall tho wheat liolds rwive, and take on a lively green. Fences are now repaired, and 

 fields favorably t.iluated are plowed. Frogs are heard, occasionally, at night-fall. By 

 tlio middle of April, a few seeds are often sown, such as peas, beets and onions ; and 

 earlv potatoes are jilanted. (Jrass begins to look green by the road-side, and along 

 •\vater-coui"ses, and in orchards. On the north and west sides of fences, and of hills 

 with a northern aspect, snow banks still lie, little aflected by the sun or frequent rains. 

 During the last half of tliis month, whoever rambles in the woods, will find the lion 

 leaf and trailing arbutus in blossom, and will notice that the elms and maples are be- 

 ginning to bloom. The low willows by the side of streams, and the alders are showing 

 signs of life. Upon a sunny day, butterflies occasionally appear, and soon the little 

 white breasted swallow* is seen sailing about in the air, the pioneer of the martin and 

 barn swallow. At intervals during this mouth, frequent and heavy rains fall, drench- 

 ing the ground with water, and soaking out the last particle of frost. Often, too, at 

 the close of a dreary day, the storm abates, a thousand birds break forth in song, and 

 the sun, shining through the parted clouds, floods the eailli with light, and spans the 

 eastern heavens with a rainbow. In the latter part of this month, young leaves push 

 out on honeysuckles, lilacs, gooseberry and currant bushes. 



By the fii-st week in May, if the season is favorable, some early planted seeds ap- 

 pear above ground. Gardeners are busy is dressing their walks and shrubbery, and 

 preparing to take hold of their spring work in earnest, as soon as the ground is fit for 

 the spade. The golden \\-illow and the tamarack are now sending out leaves. Chim- 

 ney swallows arrive about the middle of this month. The huge buds of the rhubarb 

 plant now thrust themselves up to the light, and asparagus is nearly ready for cutting. 

 Early lettuce and radishes appear on the table. Violets abound in the meadows, and 

 the strawberry blossoms give token of delicious fruit not many weeks distant. The 

 sugar maple and soft maple are now decked with green and scarlet pendulous flowers. 

 Soon the forests begin to revive. At firet, a few trees on the outskirts display a soft, 

 warm tint, which changes from day to day, until at length the entire forest is clothed in 

 the verdure of summer. The last half of this month is marked by a rapid growth of all 

 vegetation. In the course of a single day, and often during one warm rain, surprising 

 changes appear. Buds expand into leaves and flowei"s, and fields of grain and grass 

 are robed, as if by magic, in the deepest green. The beech, oak, chesnut and locust, 

 the last to come out, now respond to the call of spring. Soon, bob-o'-links are here, 

 pouring forth their liquid, gurgling melody. Apple trees now open their beautiful 

 and fragrant blossoms. About the 20th of this month corn fields are planted. Ever- 

 greens now shoot out fresh tufts, which enwt a pleasant odor. The forests are in fiill 

 leaf. Yellow butterflies flit about, flowei-s spring up on every side, and the hum of 

 bees and insects fills the air with a quiet music. This is, indeed, the most delightful 



* Of this bird, Sir Humphrey Davy says : " lie is one of ray favorites, and a rival to the nightingale ; for be glad- 

 dens my sense of seeing, .is the other does my sense of hearing. He is the joyous prophet of the year, the harbinger 

 of the best season." Might he not have said this with greati-r propriety of the robin ? 



