154 



XEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



April 



ever direction we turn our studies, and one be- 

 comes appalled, almost, as he advances in life and 

 sees how perfectly every detail of the vast machin- 

 ery of the globe is constructed, and with what 

 exactness their various offices are fulfilled. 



And so we shall find it with the phenomena of 

 the seasons : the snows of winter we are taught 

 to regard as fleecy garments actually mantling 

 the earth and keeping it warm, and the pinching 

 droughts of summer are none the less valuable, 

 drawing up by evaporation to the surface vhere 

 it ^^ill be available, the mineral wealth that lies 

 too deep for the roots to reach. So this change 

 from Winter to Summer, from Winter to Spring, 

 indeed, is not by a leap but gradual. The old 

 earth must yawn, and stretch, and get his eyes 

 open, before he springs into full strength and 

 vigor for the work he has to do. Let us be pa- 

 tient, then, and remember what has been done. 



Though all the little channels and pores may 

 be shut close enough by the frost now — for they 

 often are on the first of April — presently the rain 

 soaks in a little way and the winds take up the 

 superfluous water ; the sun begins to be felt, the 

 moisture from below seeks the light and is car- 

 ried off by the wind again ; the watery particles 

 are presently distilled and return to the earth in 

 warm rains. And thus these busy elements, air 

 and water, keep at their round of Avork till the 

 frost is driven out of the ground, the earth is in 

 a fit state to go under the hand of the husband- 

 man, and a subtle chemistry, whose mysteries we 

 are beginning to find out, has prepared the soil 

 for another season of plenty. 



The popular mind long ago acknowledged the 

 utility of these labors, and "the Avisdom of many 

 men" became crystalizcd, "by the wit of one" in 

 the familiar proverb, 



"llarcli winds and April showers 

 Bring forth May flowers" — 



which has doubtless consoled many a little girl- 

 philosopher for a stormy, disagreeable half-holi- 

 day in the spring. [The boys are intentionally 

 omitted ; indeed, we fear they are more apt to 

 believe that "it always storms of a Wednesday 

 afternoon," while the promised flowers are not 

 half compensation enough for them.] 



It is difilcult to repress the feelings which the 

 season naturally calls up in the least sentimental 

 of us. After the grass has fairly clothed the 

 meadows in their beautiful verdure again, when 

 the sun rises clear and warm, the blue-birds are 

 flying from post to tree-top with their clear, li- 

 quid melody, the sparrows chirping and looking 

 about the hedges for new quarters, then does not 

 every one feel that the season gives him a new 

 lease of life, that new health and strength are ris- 

 ing in his frame, that he has returned to a land- 

 scape that is familiar and welcomes him ? 



Poetry, appropriate to the season rises readily 

 to one's lips at such a time, as the song pours 

 from the swelling throats of the warbling birds, 

 and it is nearly Avith the same exaltation of spir- 

 it that we begin a new agricultural year. 



The viyifying spell has been felt beneath the wave, 



By the dormouse in its cell, and the mo'e within its cave ; 



And the summer tribes that creep, or in air expand their wings, 



Have started from their sleep at the summons of the Spring. 



The cattle lift their voices from the \'alleys and the hills. 

 And the feather'd race rejoices with a gush of tuneful bills; 

 And if this cloudless arch fills the poet's song with glee, 

 Thou sunny first of April, be it dedicate to thee. 



Horace Smith. 



FARM WORK FOR APRIL. 



The month of April is the beginning of the 

 agricultural year : that is, the farmer then enters 

 resolutely upon those field labors which must 

 continuously occupy his attention through the 

 growing season, and until the ripened crops are 

 gathered in, and winter again assumes the sway. 



The labors of April to the farmer are some- 

 thing like those of furnishing a ship for a long 

 voyage by the merchant. If he furnishes her 

 well, puts in a liberal supply of provision and 

 water, sees that every thing in the craft herself 

 is "staunch and trim," and that an intelligent 

 and resolute captain stands at the helm, it is rea- 

 sonable to indulge the hope that she should re- 

 turn in good time, freighted with such a harvest 

 as shall yield a fair profit on investments and 

 risks. 



And so it is with the farmer. If he is astir 

 early in April, lays his plans with an intelligent 

 foresight, and makes every thing "staunch and 

 trim" for the summer voyage, he, too, may rea- 

 sonably hope for such harvests as shall reward 

 his intelligence, his skill, and his manual labor. 

 Some of the things which his experience or his 

 wisdom Avill suggest, will be to look early after the 



Fences of tlie Farm. — As soon as the frost is 

 out, and before the winds and sun have dissipated 

 the moisture so as to permit plowing to be done, 

 let the brush, rail, or stone fences be put in good 

 order ; not leaving "weak places," to invite a 

 hungry animal to try his skill in getting over ; 

 because once over, and gaining a taste of your 

 spring wheat or your clover, he will be strongly 

 tempted to try it again and again. Make fences 

 strong and sure in the spring, if you would avoid 

 invasions of your fields while making hay or cul- 

 tivating green crops. 



Poached. — This is a term often used by farm- 

 ers, and means, to be ^'trodden with deep foot- 

 steps." What do you think, reader, of the prac- 

 tice of alloAving cattle to roam at will over moAV- 

 ing lands in April ? Do they receive any benefit, 

 or the land any injury? 



Mowing Fields. — Delays in haying-time are ex- 



