DEVOTED TO AGRICULTUBE AND ITS KINDKED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. X. 



BOSTON, JUNE, 1858. 



NO. 6. 



JOEL NOURSE, Proprietor. 

 Office. ..13 Commercial St, 



SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK, ) Associate 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, \ Editors. 



CALENDAR FOR JUNE. 



"Tough thistles choked the fields and killed the corn, 



And an unthrifty crop of weeds was born. 



Then burs and brambles, an unbidden crew 



Of graceless guests, the unhappy fields subdue ; 



And oats unblest, and darnel domineers. 



And shoots its head above the shining ears, 



So that unless the land with daily care 



Is exercised, and with an iron war 



Of rakes and harrows the proud foes expelled, 



And birds with clamors frighted from the field ; 



Unless the boughs are lopped that shade the plain, 



And heaven invoked with vows for fruitful rain, 



On other crops you may with envy look, 



And shake for food the long abandoned oak.'' 



XJ N E is a busy 

 month. The sun 

 shines in our lati- 

 tude more hours, 

 ^^^^ this month, than 

 g^ 11/ ill any month in 

 " the year. His rays 



are sending tlieir 

 all-penetrating 

 force into the most 

 hidden recesses of 

 aiiimated nature, 

 and under his stim- 

 ulating influence, 

 sb.e is driving, in 

 full tide, the life- 

 lood through eve- 

 y artery and sap- 

 vessel of every liv- 

 ing thing. All 

 nature is glowing 

 with fervid life. The grain is green in the fields. 

 The leaves upon the trees are fast attaining their 

 fidl size, and every leaf, in all its vessels, is elab- 

 orating the sap from which the fruit and the 

 growing wood are being formed. The seeds 

 have germinated and are pushing up into the air 

 their delicate plumules, that they may imbibe the 

 breath of heaven, and also throwing their radi- 

 cles into the soil. The blades of corn are shoot- 



ing up green and succulent, and soon will come 

 the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. The 

 plants in the garden are expanding their leaves 

 and filling the soil with their rootlets, and each 

 is struggling to secure possession of as much 

 space as possible, for its further development. 

 They all need watching and cherishing, and a 

 large portion of them must be sacrificed, to make 

 room for the remainder. It requires no small 

 share of resolution t6 pull up fine, thrifty plants, 

 to give space for those that are to remain till 

 autumn, but it must be done, or we shall fail to 

 find well-grown and fully-developed vegetables, 

 in the time of harvest. Through the growing 

 season, the soil must be kept mellow and light. 

 The hoe and the rake must be busily plied 

 through this month in the garden. The weeds, 

 must be kept down, or they will steal away the 

 food of the plants. They are most unscrupulous 

 robbers, and must be treated without mercy. It 

 has been settled by experience extending from 

 the time when Adam cultivated the garden of 

 Eden, down to this time, that we cannot raise a 

 good crop of vegetables, and a large crop of 

 weeds, upon the same spot, at the same time. If 

 we have fine, thrifty vegetables, we have few and 

 meagre weeds, — or, if we get a vigorous growth 

 of weeds, we cannot have thrifty vegetables, too. 



It is the wisest course to decide early in the 

 season which we will have, and not waste our 

 labor in attempting to have both. This is as un- 

 wise as to try to serve God and mammon at the 

 same time. 



The cultivator and the hoe must be busy in the 

 corn field and potato field. You will need to go 

 over these crops twice, at least, this month. If 

 you can sprinkle a handful of ashes, or a little 

 plaster, or air-slaked lime on each hill before 

 hoeing, you will find it a paying ojjeration ; and: 

 if you will have a cask or two of lime ready, and 

 sprinkle it freely over your potatoes, about the 

 middle of July, early in the morning, when the 



