DEVOTED TO AGKICULTUilE AND ITS KINDBED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. XI. 



BOSTON, JANUARY, 1859. 



NO. 1, 



JOEL NOURSE, Proprietor. 

 Office. ..13 Commerciai. St. 



SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



FRED'K nOLBROOK, ) Associate 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, Editors. 



CAT^ENDAK FOR JANUARY. 



"That our sons may be as plants 



Grown up in their youth ; 



That our daughters may be as corner-stones, 



Polislied after the similitude of a jjalace : 



That our garners may be full, 



Affording all manner of store : 



That our sheep may bring forth thousands 



And ten thousands in our streets : 



That our oxen may be strong to labor ; 



That there be no breaking in, nor going out ; 



That there be no complaining in our streets. 



Happy is that people that is in such a case." 



Psalms 144, 12, et seq. 



ANUARY, it may 

 be thought, has 

 little to do towards 

 producing that 

 ha])py state of 

 tilings so forcibly 

 expressed in the 

 inimitable Psalms. 

 But can it be so ? 

 Are not the snows 

 and winds as much 

 the messengers of 

 God's will as fer- 

 vent suns and re- 

 freshing rains ? — 

 Cannot June or 

 July be omitted 

 from the cluster of 

 -\ Months as well as Janu- 

 It must be so. Then, welcome 

 to thee, January, first-born of the 

 Months, and though cold and blustering thou 

 may be, warm hearts shall receive and cherish 

 thee, as being as important as though heralded 

 by soft showers, gentle airs, or the singing of 

 birds. That point being settled, let us talk a lit- 

 tle about what naturally presses upon the mind 

 at this season of the year. 



In wishing "A Happy New Year" to our read- 

 ers, we know not how better to improve the 

 occasion, than by a few natural reflections. 



Time and opportunities passed, cannot be re- 

 called. The only use we can now make of the 

 past year, is to hold it up to the mind's eye, as a 

 beacon, to warn us against its errors and its fol- 

 lies, and encourage us to imitate its bright exam- 

 ples. 



Dr. Kane, in the Journal of his Arctic Expedi- 

 tion, relates, that, on one occasion, the brig in. 

 which he sailed, being carried along irresistibly 

 by the floating ice, was borne near an immense- 

 iceberg, which seemed to be stationary, and!; 

 against which the seamen Avere afraid of being: 

 dashed. 



As they approached nearer, it occurred to 

 them, that by making fast the brig to this levi- 

 athan, they might obtain safe anchorage and se- 

 cure themselves against impending danger. They 

 soon found, however, that they were still mov- 

 ing forward, — that the iceberg itself was carried 

 along by the current. 



So it is with the great stream of time. It 

 sweeps everything before it, and is hurrying us 

 all, young and old, rich and poor, learned and 

 unlearnedj bond and free, all, onward to the 

 great ocean of eternity. We think to stay our- 

 selves by making fast, — one to his farm, another 

 to his merchandise, — one seeks anchorage in 

 listless ease, another in luxurious dissipation, — 

 a third thinks to rise above the current on the 

 popular breeze, and thus escape, — while a fourth 

 labors to erect a golden tower, to which his 

 barque may be made fast. But all in vain ! Ed- 

 itors, subscribers and readers, have all been hur- 

 ried along, through another revolution of time, 

 and now, willing or unwilling, they are ushered 

 into the vestibule of a New Year numbered 

 Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-Nine. 



We may as well now make a virtue of our ne- 

 cessity, and become reconciled to the idea of be- 

 ing carried irresistibly down the subtle stream of 

 life, by the ceaseless "floe," and improve the ex- 

 perience of the past, l)y making the best possible 



