

DEVOTED TO AGRtCULTUKE, HORTICUIiTTJBE, AND KENDKED AKTS. 



Ts^EW SERIES. 



Boston, June, 1869. 



VOL. III.— NO. 6. 



R. P. EATON & CO., Publishers, 

 Office, 34 Merchants' How. 



MONTHLY. 



SmON BROWN, 

 S. FLETCHER, 



A SHOKT TALK ABOUT JUNE. 



"And after hrr, cnme jolly Jumi, arrayed 

 All in g)een leaves, as le a player were; 



Yet in his t me he wieught as we!l as play'd, 

 Thut by his plow irons mote right well appear." 



K I G H T plough- 

 shares are taken 

 by the poet as evi- 

 dence that the 

 work of June was 

 well done, and 

 that due prepara- 

 tion was made for 

 such succeeding 

 'duties aslhegrow- 

 j\;n3 ing crops might 

 demand. 



But what does 

 this common word 

 June mean ? A 

 word that always 

 suggests pleasant 

 memories, and re- 

 vives the recollec- 

 tion of birds and (lowers, of walks and talks 

 in the garden, and of the fragrance of roses. 



RrciiAiiD Verstegan wrote a book nearly 

 three hundred years ago upon ''TJie Bcstltution 

 of Decayed Intelligence,'''' and among other 

 things he says that the old Saxons gave the 

 name of Weyd-monat to the sixth month, "be- 

 cause their beasts did then weyd in the mead- 

 dowes, that is to say, goe to feed there ; and 

 hereof a meadow is also in the Teutonicke 

 called a weyed, and of '■'weyd'''' we yet retain 



/Tf ^-^ 



our word toade, which we understand of going 

 through watery places, such as meadows are 

 wont to be." 



It is interesting to observe how closely the 

 New England people have adhered to the old 

 Saxon meaning of the word meadow. In 

 some parts of our cruntryall the upland mow- 

 ing fields are called meadows, wcile with us 

 they are the low grounds, bearing an inferior 

 quality of grass, and many of them subject to 

 an annual overflow of water. 



Some other writers say that the word 

 "weyd" is probably derived from the German 

 word "weyden," which means "to go about as 

 if to pasture." Others still find its derivation 

 in a different source. Mr. Leigh Hunt says 

 that the name of June gave rise to various 

 etymologies ; but the most probable one de- 

 rives its name from Juno, in honor of whoi ; r. 

 festival was celebrated at the beginning of 

 th J month. Juno was the Queen of the gods, 

 who rode in a superb chariot, drawn by pea- 

 cocks, lithe was her attendant. Homer 

 gives the following vivid picture : — 



"At her command ruph forth t^'e eteeds divine; 

 Rich V ith immortal gold t.'tir trEppines fchiae. 

 Uritht IhBe waits: Liy Hebe, ever ionng, 

 Tee whiiliiig wheels are lo the chanot bung. 

 On the bright axle tuns the bidden \\;heel 

 Of scundiiig brass; ih3 p,.lieh'd axle, steel; 

 Eight bruzen tpotes in radiant order flime; 

 Buch as trie heavens produce; and round the gold 

 Two brazen rings of wors divine weie roil'U. 

 Ttie bossy naves, of solid tilver shoTie; 

 Braces of g dd suspend the moving throne; 

 I'he car, behind, an archir g figure bore; 

 The bendirg concave formed an arch before; 

 Silver the beam, tb' extei.di d yoke was ^old, 

 And golden reins th' immortal coureers hold." 



