DEVOTED TO AGRICUIrTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. VI. 



BOSTON, MAY, 1854. 



NO. 5. 



RAV^'OI.DS & NOIIRSE, Proirietohj 

 Office. .. .CiiiNcv FIvll. 



SIMON RROWN, Editor. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK. » assocute 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, 5 Edijors. 



CALENDAR FOR MAY. 



" Then siiig, ye bird?, sin?, .sing a joyous f cms ! 



And let the young lambs bound 



As to the tabor's sound ! 

 We in tho leilit will join your throng, • 



Ye that pipe and ye tliat plaj', 



Ye that through your hearts to-day 



Feel the gladness of the .Mat." 



G.\iN', May has come, 

 bringing vrith it a new 

 'existence to all — a new 

 phase of animated Na- 

 ture. All vegetable life 

 springs into anew vigor, 

 luxving now succeeded in 

 shaking off the cold em- 

 Viraces of winter. The 

 minials h^ok, and act, 

 glad — the calves bleat, 

 the cows low, the laiubs bound in sportive gam- 

 bols over the hillocks by the side of their affection- 

 ate dame — the cocks sirg incessantly and the hens 

 cackle garrulously, big with importance, as they 

 are preparing for tlieir anticipated broods! The 

 .hamlet is vocal witli pleasant sounds, and the eye 

 is gladdened with pleasant sights. 



But M.\Y does not impart new animation to the 

 lower orders alone. The desponding find new hope 

 — the melancholy are more cheerful, and the sick 

 grow strong in tlic soft breezes, wafted from a 

 world of new flowers at tlie south. Even tlie lit- 

 tle childi-en have an instinct for the spring, and 

 feel it to the very tips of their fingers. 



"All the earth is gay ; 



Land and sea 



Give themselves up to jollity." 



May, too, is marked as the Month of Loves — 

 lovers stray in the old woods, linger mid the sol- 

 emn, deep-broathing pines, stoop by the murmur- 

 ing brook and pluck the gay cowslip, or dream of 

 happiness that never dies as they stand in the 

 grand cathedral of the primeval oaks. The loves 

 and lays of the poets are incited by the return of 



spring ; and when wo can spare a moment from 

 money-getting, or fame-getting, perhaps ive shall 

 establish some of the ceremonies which liave so long 

 prevailed in England in the merry month of May. 



"It would b» a pleasant sight, to see 



A little Tillage company 



Drawn out on the first of May 



To have their annual holiday : — 



The pole hung round with garlands gay ; 



The young ones footing it away ; 



Tlio aged cheering their old souls 



AVith recollections and their bowls ; 



Or, on the mirth and dancing failing, 



Tlieir oft-times-told old tales retaleing." 



Not only the country people there, but the 

 trades-people, mechanics, and chimney-sweepers, 

 have their "good-times," in May. The milk- 

 maids dress fantastically, and decorate themselves; 

 and their lovers with evergreens and flowers, and 

 dance on tlie villagt^green. The May-Pole is erect- 

 ed, and festooned with ribbons and flowers, and 

 with pipe, and fiddle and drum, they express their 

 joy at the return of May. 



"The hedges and trees, they are so green, 



As green as any leek — 

 Our Heavenly Father, He watered them 

 With His heavenly dew so sweet." 



But Seed-Timk has come, too, and we must 

 hasten away from the Mojj-Polc, and see if the 

 waiting soil does not demand our attention now. 



Plowing and Manuring. — Soils arc so diffei-- 

 ently constituted and located, and present so manj' 

 peculiarities of their own, that only a few rule* 

 are of general application. That a gradual deep- 

 ening of the soil is higlily beneficial to crops is a 

 well settled principle. But even this must be 

 varied according to the manner in which the ma- 

 nure is to be applied, — so that it seems neceseary 

 that each shall experiment for Iiimsclf on his own 

 land. Some most exemplary farmers spread green 

 dressing upon the sward, and turn it under from 

 six to ten inches, and say that they obtain fine 

 crops of corn from the process, while others de- 

 clare that they have tried it with an utter want of 



