494 



XEW ENGLAM) FARMER. 



Nov. 



knowledge, and God demands it of us just as 

 much as He does the, exercise of mercy and 

 charity in our moral life. We have no right 

 to allow {he "talent*' entrusted to us to lie 

 idle, but should increase it by all proper means 

 within our power, and j ield it up at last to the 

 Giver, increased, some 6fcy and some an hun- 

 dred fold. Hojv ^hall we do it. Let us see. 



All Nature around us is full of the most 

 gratifying instruction, but it will not unlock 

 itself, unasked, and allow us to look into its 

 hidden mysteries, without thought, attention, 

 investigation, work. 



Here, for instance, before you, is the grape 

 vine, from which you have been plucking and 

 eating delicious fruit. It has labored all sum- 

 mer to produce it, and to afford you shade 

 when conversing with friends. Now it is leaf- 

 less, and its bare branches are swajing in the 

 northwest wind. What does it propose to do ? 

 To mourn over its loss of fragrant blossoms, 

 purple fruit and green leaves, or to use its 

 powers to revive again, and be as useful and 

 beautiful as ever? Look, now, into the axils 

 of the leaves, and see what lies hidden there, 

 close up to the parent stem. How full, plump, 

 even ! So smooth, shining, and perfect in 

 form ! What can they be ? And here they are, 

 everywhere, all up and down the vines ! What 

 are they but the promise of another year's 

 blossom and fruit and shade, all compacted 

 within a space no larger than half a pea ! Ah, 

 doubting man, take a November lesson from 

 this. 



And so with the fruit trees. They have al- 

 ready gathered their energies to be productive 

 another year; have not procrastinated and 

 doubted whether they could do anything or 

 not, but have commenced in season and es- 

 tablit^hed the germs for another crop. How 

 wonderful ! And this has been going on 

 while fruition was written on every branch, 

 in clustering grapes or other fruits, all 

 over the tree. Then commenced signs of 

 decay; the fruit fell, with falling leaves, 

 but the precious germ of future crops still 

 grew and clothed itself with a case which is 

 proof against all the assaults of weather, rain, 

 hail, frost or snow ! How wonderful ! 



Then the reproduction of plants would be- 

 come a topic of the most gratifying interest to 

 one who would earnestly seek a compensation 

 for the glooms of November. And this is go- 



ing on all the time. It is quite probable that 

 trees are always active unless when frozen 

 through. They lose no time, but work, work, 

 whenever the power of frost does not bind 

 them in its icy chains. 



All have observed the red snow which some- 

 times covers the winter drifts for miles to- 

 gether, so that the view has been red instead 

 of the usual white appearance. This is a mi- 

 nute vegetable, and perhaps the lowest exam- 

 ple of vegetable life. It grows in substance, 

 and has been supposed from its very rapid in- 

 crease to have fallen from the sky. But it is 

 not so. Each single cell of this red snow pro- 

 duces within itself a number of little particles, 

 which are set free by the bursting of the pa- 

 rent cell which encloses them. These gradu- 

 ally enlarge, derive their nourishment from 

 the air and moisture around, and in time ac- 

 quire full size, and then produce a new family. 

 So the white snow far and near is covered with 

 what we call red snow, or more accurately, 

 with a large crop of vegetables growing on 

 the snow in mid-winter ! How wonderful are 

 the works of Nature ! Who can be gloomy 

 while the faculty exists to explore them ! 



So the lichen, which forms the winter food 

 of the reindeer, grows entirely buried under 

 the snow, and in the greatest abundance, too, 

 as it is their sole support during a large por- 

 tion of the year. 



Finally, the man who has no resources within 

 himself may murmur at these changes ; but 

 the philosophic mind contemplates them with 

 satisfaction. The cold, and frost, and snows, 

 bring blessings in di.-^guise. "Whilst the earth 

 has lost its beauty and external charms, it has 

 commenced its labors anew, and is busily em- 

 ployed in secret working for the future good 

 of the creation." 



NOVEMBER "WOBK. 

 Among some farmers, November is a trying 

 month for the farm stock, and especially so 

 when the late summer feed has been short, 

 and the hay crop is short. In order to save 

 the hay, cattle are kept in the pastures and 

 fields until the grass — if there is any — is dead, 

 frozen in some portions of the day, and nearly 

 destitute of nutrition. The cattle wander over 

 the fields, nibbling the herbage, working hard 

 all day, and come in at night hollow and hun- 

 gry. In this condition they are not able to 



wW 



