DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. VI. 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER, 1854. 



NO. 9, 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, Proprietors. 

 Office Quincy Hall. 



SIMON BROWN, Editor. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK, 1 AssociATB 

 HENRY F. FRENCH \ Editors. 



CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 



"But brawn comes the autumn, and sere grows the corn, 



And the woods like a rainbow are dressed ; 

 And but for the cock, and the noontide hour, 



Old Time would be tempted to rest. 

 The humming-bee fans off a shower of gold. 



From the mullein's long rod as it sways. 

 And dry grow the leaves which protecting enfold 



The ears of the well-ripened Maize." 



W. W. FOSDICK, OF N. Y. 



EFTEMBER, the 



first of the Au- 

 tumnal Months, 

 brings -with it 

 new aspects of 

 the year, and 

 calls up a new 

 class of emotions 

 in the heai't, to those who love 

 nature, and find pleasure in ob- 

 serving her ways. Now, the 

 voices of nature have materially 

 changed. The lark, the bob-o-link, the swallow, 

 that so lately allured us into the fields, are no 

 longer heard ; the early morning song of the rob- 

 in is sadly broken, and deficient in tone and com- 

 pass, while the plaintive note of the blue-bird is 

 only faintly heard at longer and longer intervals. 

 So new classes of insects utter their voices day and 

 night, and claim the season as their own. They 

 are as earnest and active in their calling, as were 



the oaks, the poplars, the horse-chestnuts, still 

 retain their darkest summer green ; the elms and 

 beeches are changing to a bright yellow which 

 produces, at a distance, the effect of patches of 

 sunshine ; and the sycamores are beginning, here 

 and there, to assume a brilliant warmth of hue, 

 almost amounting to scarlet." But nothing 

 among us exceeds in beauty and richness, our no- 

 ble forests, where the beech and birch, the white 

 and red maple, the elm, the ash, the walnut and 

 oak,with their endless variety of colors flashing in 

 the sun, are magnificently studded with here and 

 there a hemlock or pine or spruce towering above 

 them all. Less conspicuous than these, but ad- 

 mirably filling the picture, are the dog-wood, the 

 sassafras and blueberry, the alder, hazelnut, and 

 berberry, all with their ever-changing colors and 

 charms. 



September is a pleasant month in which to trav- 

 el. The systematic farmer, whose well-matured 

 plans up to this time have been completed, may 

 now take his wife or daughter and make those so- 

 cial and profitaltle visits which really give to life 

 a value never felt by thos(^who have not toiled 

 for their bread. In these visits — not made by the 

 rail,, however — he may gather much from the ex- 

 perience of others, and from an observation of 

 their modes of management. Every visit cannot 

 fail to add something valuable to the common 

 stock of knowledge which he possesses ; give him 



tlje May-flies, the June-bugs, the beetles and bor- an idea of some new mode in plowing,' plantino- 

 ers and bugs of every hue and name. harvesting, disposing of stone, erecting fences ?r 



So new aspects are presented by the vegetable 

 kingdom. Where freshness, fulness and beauty 

 lately prevailed in the flowers, the growing 

 plants, and shrubs and trees, age and perfection 

 have now marked them with the first touches of 

 decay. "The woods and groves, those grandest 

 and most striking among the general features of 

 the country, towards the end of the month begin 

 to put on their richest looks. The firs are gradu- 

 ally darkening towards their winter blackness ; 



buildings; or in reclaiming, or draining, or com- 

 posting. Each individual has a turn of mind, or 

 taste, peculiar to himself, that leads him, per- 

 haps, to investigate and settle some question for 

 which otliers about him Iiavc felt no interest. So 

 we must do for him ; and this makes up the sum 

 of human knowledge. Such visits will thus be- 

 come pro/liable, as we have stated, as well ag 

 agreeable. They will afTurd subjects for pleasant 

 family conversations of many a winter evening 



