WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



IX 



COURTING FICKLE MAY 



AY in our Northern States is 

 the neutral ground between win- 

 ter and summer, the scene of 

 their airy battles, to be followed 

 by the flowery peace of June. 

 In its practical aspect, in its re- 

 lation to agriculture and work, 

 it is a season of uncertainties, 

 hopes, and disappointments, and 

 of ups-and-downs not only in 

 the thermometer, but in rural 

 minds. The thrasher comes 

 and bids the farmer plant, but 

 straightway clouds lower, the 

 wind goes wrong, and he hesi- 

 tates. Then the finest of weather 

 follows, and he regrets his inde- 



157 



