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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



storms through its orbit, the earth has scattered 

 away no treasures. The Hand that governs in 

 April governed in January. You have not lost 

 what God has only hidden. You lose nothing 

 in struggle, in trial, in bitter distress. If called 

 to shed thy joys as trees their leaves; if the af- 

 fection be driven back into the heart, as the life 

 of flowers to their roots, yet be patient. Thou 

 shalt lift up thy leaf- colored boughs again. Thou 

 shalt shoot forth from thy roots new flowers. So 

 be patient. Wait. When it is February, April 

 is not far off. Secretly the plants love each other." 



April is, in a great degree, the Month of prep- 

 aration. Plans not entered upon and started 

 now, will rarely come to maturity. All the work 

 of the planting season should be mapped out 

 and kept constantly in view, for working by a 

 plan is as important to the farmer as to the man 

 who is to build your house. The work may be 

 done without a plan, but the uncertainties, changes 

 and alterations incident to such a course, are 

 anything but comfortable and economical. As 

 a general rule the farmer has not been accus- 

 tomed to anything like a rigid plan, and it may 

 at first seem an irksome and unnecessary restraint 

 to have one ; but when he enters upon his field, 

 and finds at a glance just how much land he 

 wishes to plow, how deep, and there is no delay 

 as to whether he shall back furrow or go round 

 it ; or, if he is to underdrain a piece, and he 

 knows just where to strike when the workmen 

 enter the field, he will realize a satisfaction that 

 he could not without a plan, and his work will 

 go on more systematically and profitably. 



Give the Garden especial attention in April. 

 Some one has said that the garden is an index 

 of the mind, and we think has said correctly, 

 "that if you desire to judge of the character of 

 a man's mind, 5^0 into his garden. Solomon con 

 sidered a slovenly vineyard or garden good evi 

 dence of a slovenly mind, or a mind void of un 

 derstanding. Depend upon it, when you see a 

 man's fields and gardens laid out with good or 

 der, and taste, and notice the neatness of their 

 cultivation, that man's mind is like a well ar 

 ranged library. A man's plans will appear in his 

 operations. His theory may be judged by his 

 practice." 



But the farmer cannot afford to be without a 

 garden ; he should draw large supplies from such 

 a source for his table, especially during the sum 

 mer and autumnal months. Fresh vegetables, 

 seasoned with the corn-fed pork from his barrel, 

 and delicious fruits, of varied kinds, with sweet 

 cream from the dairy-room, are some of the com 

 pensations to the farmer for his isolated condi- 

 tion, — and then green fields, cerulean skies, bab 

 bling br-oks, singing birds, lowing herds and 

 flourishing gardens, surround him with more 



charms and real advantages than cities can pos- 

 sibly confer. 



But we cannot dwell longer on the attractions 

 of Spring. It calls to us from every side — from 

 soft airs, opening buds and expanding flowers — 

 from the springing vegetation, the new life of 

 animals, returning birds, and the new mental 

 charms which every returning spring unfolds. 



I come ! I come ! Ye have called me long, 

 I come o'er the mountains with light and song ! 

 Ye may trace my step o'er the wakening earth. 

 By the winds which tell of the violet's birth, 

 By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass, 

 By the green leaves opening as I pass. 



Mrs. Hemans. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR APBtL. 



Put Fences in order. 



Head in Peach trees. 



See that all your Drains are clear. 



Do not ruin your trees hy pruning them this 

 month. Wait till the middle of June. 



Put the Door- Yard in perfect order. 



Get the small grains in early — but do not plow 

 until the soil is ready for it; better that the grain 

 should be a little late. 



Transplant fruit trees as soon as the frost is 

 out and the ground is warm and mellow. One 

 dozen good trees, well set and well tended, will 

 yield more profit within twenty years, than one 

 hundred trees badly set and indiff'erently tended. 



Set an Asparagus bed by all means. 



Do not let the cattle run upon the mowing 

 lands in the spring. 



In some sheltered and convenient spot, have a 

 good Kitchen Garden, where you can go for all 

 sorts of vegetables, and some of the small fruits, 

 nothing will be more economical, and few things 

 will add more to the comfort and happiness of 

 the family. 



In a selected place in this garden sow a variety 

 of Floicer Seeds, and allow the children to pluck 

 the flowers to carry to school, or to look at as 

 they go to church Sunday morning. Set them 

 in a dish or glass filled with cold water, and see 

 how pleasant they will make the sitting-room in 

 a hot afternoon ! Or place them on a stand in 

 the sick chamber, to interest and refresh the suf- 

 ferer. 



Purchase a. ?7?or^^o^7(e(i rake to use in the gar- 

 den, and you will soon see how easy it is to pre- 

 pare a bed for the smallest seeds when you have 

 the right implement in your hands. 



Finally, whenever the soil is ready for you, be 

 ready to strike the blow that is needed, and have 

 every thing done decently and in order. 



H^* Informatiox by Letter. — We are con- 

 stantly receiving letters requesting us to give in- 

 formation upon business matters, by lette->'. If 



