110 



NEW ENGLAND FARINIER. 



March 



Then, too, as the seasons change, as the 

 old earth rolls over and cants our part of it 

 more directly to the sun, changes take place 

 in our animals which make thera more depend- 

 ent upon man. The variations of the atmos- 

 phere into wet and dry, and of temperature 

 into cold and warm, or hot, affect them, so 

 that it becomes necessary to feed and tend 

 with unusual care. It is the usual season, too, 

 of the parturition of the domestic animals, the 

 cows, sheep, swine, and mares, when they 

 need protection from the extreme and sharp va- 

 riations which frequently occur in the "stormy 

 March." 



Nothing should be left undone this month 

 that will tend to facilitate the work of April. 

 All the heavy work of hauling wood or timber, 

 of removing large stones for walls or cellars, 

 of carting manure, of cutting and piling wood, 

 preparing stuff for fences, &c., should be com- 

 pleted before the month closes. 



The preparation of the soil and seeding of 

 crops will be essentially facilitated, also, by 

 deciding just what you will do in April, as 

 regards the crops you will put in ; what amount, 

 and precisely what land you will occupy for 

 each. This resolves farm work into something 

 of a system, and enables the person having 

 the responsibility to direct others easily and 

 clearly, — prevents mistakes and greatly pro- 

 motes the general prosperity. 



All the implements that are to be used in 

 getting in the crops should be examined and 

 put into perfect order, so that no delay shall 

 occur in sowing and planting when the soil is 

 ready for that work. The seeds to be used 

 should also be examined, such as barley, oats, 

 wheat, grass seeds, corn, and every other 

 kind ; going so far with some of the small seeds 

 as to test thera in boxes or pots, in the kitchen, 

 to ascertain whether they retain their vitality 

 or not. Such tests would save many disap- 

 pointments with regard to garden seeds espe- 

 cially, such as onion, beet, parsnip, carrot, egg 

 plant, tomato and other small seeds. 



Some trifling arrangements, at least, ouf^ht 

 to be made in relation to the vegetable and 

 flower garden, and adornments about the 

 dwelling, for "it is horticultural associations 

 that teach men the beauty and value of rural life, 

 where they may sit under their own vine and fig 

 tree, and amid their own blossoming, fruitful 

 orchards and gardens ; homes created by sim- 



ple pleasures, shared with their own families. 

 This is the good work which horticulture will 

 accomplish, and does accomplish, — that of 

 bringing men into daily contact with nature, — 

 of giving them pure, simple, rational pleas- 

 ures ; and most of all, of teaching them to find 

 happiness, not in the excitement of politics, 

 not in the busy tumults of life, but in their 

 country and cottage homes, — there to under- 

 stand and realize the truth of that 6ne sa)^ing 

 of Burns : — 



'To make a happy fire-side clime 



For weana and wife ; 

 That's thi' true pathos, and sublime, 



Of human life. " 



OUR YOUNGEST SUBSCRIBER. 



Some months since a manly little fellow en- 

 tered our office and said he wished to sub- 

 scribe for the New England FARjrER. On 

 handing him a receipt for a year's subscription, 

 we asked if the address was that of his father. 

 The reply, "No, sir, it is ray own," was made 

 in so decided yet modest a manner that we did 

 not feel at liberty to make the further inquiries 

 which our curiosity prompted, and putting his 

 receipt in his pocket he bade us good day in a 

 quiet, business-like manner. The entr}' on 

 our book is John C. Cobb, Brookline, Mass. 

 We have since ascertained that he was only 

 eight years of age, and that at the time of sub- 

 scribing for the Farmer he had just returned 

 from Amherst, where he had been spending 

 his summer vacation on the farm of his grand- 

 father, Henry Cobb, Esq. On this pleasant 

 farm the lad became so much interested in the 

 stock, and, in fact, in everythiiig connected 

 with the farm, that on being notified by his 

 parents that if he wished to accompany them 

 to the seashore, where the whole family usually 

 pass a few weeks during the heat of summer, 

 he must come home at once, he hesitated a 

 moment, and then pointing to the scenery 

 arouml, and looking up to his grandfather, 

 said, "Lef them go ; this is better than all the 

 seashores m the world." 



His vacation having expired he reluctantly 

 returned to his school in Brookline, Avith the 

 avowed purpose of qualifying himself for the 

 agricultural college and for the farmer's pro- 

 fession. 



With a generation of such subscribers, and 

 a succession of such students, the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, and the Massachusetts Agricul- 



