DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. V. 



BOSTON, MARCH, 1853. 



NO. 3. 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, Proprieto s. 

 Office Quincv IIai.l. 



SIMON BROWN, Ediior. 



FUED'K HOI.BROOK.i Associate 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, 5 Editors. 



CALENDAR FOR MARCH. 



'March, monlli of 'iiisiny weiilliers,' wildly comes 

 In hail, and snow, and riin, and ihrealeiing hums. 



From bank to bank, alon-r the meadow lea, 

 The river sprer.ds, and shines ii lillle sea." 



WiLLi.\.M HowiTT, in "The Book of the Seasons," 

 says "March is a rude and boisterous month, pos- 

 sessing many of the characteristics of winter, yet 

 awakening sensations perhaps more delicious than 

 the two following spring months ; for it gives us 

 the first announe.ment and taste of spring. 



"There are occasionally mornings in March when 

 a lover of nature may enjoy, in a stroll, sensations 

 not to be exceeded, or perhaps equalled, by any- 

 thing which the full glory of summer can awaken." 

 Now the first signs of the early spring appear in 

 the snowdrops ; they peep above the ground and 

 try to show a flower ; the yellow hellebore and the 

 spring crocus appear in warm situations, and if in 

 regular form, give to the garden a brilliant aspect : 



"Crocuses, like drops of gold, 

 Studded on the deep brown mould, 

 Snowdrops fair, like flakes of snow. 

 And bright liv.rworts now blow." 



Well did the puct call March the month of 

 "mamj wealhcrs,'' so changeable is it. Sometimes 

 the tempest howls, driving flakes of snow through 

 the air. At other times, the cold and sleety rain 

 falls in torrents, carrying along with it the snow 

 which it has melted in the mountains, and at oth- 

 er times the hoar frost lies thick and chill, and 

 spreads its snowy mantle over the fields, while the 

 deep blue sky, and the sun rising in the glowing 

 east, without a cloud, speak deceitfully of to-mor- 

 row's softness and beauty. And, in the beautiful 

 verse of ^Irs. Barbauld — 



"Hardly now the snowdrop dares appear, 

 The first pale blossom of the unripened year; 

 As Flora's breath, by some transforming power, 

 Had changed an icicle into a nower; 

 Its name and hue the scentless plant retains, 

 And winter lingers in its icy veins." 



But there are interesting proofs of the advancing 

 year. The day has increased in length, and the 

 sun takes a wider sweep and darts more vertical 



beams. The buds begin to swell, the tops of the 

 elin and white maple thicken wonderfully, while 

 the catkins of the willow throw their elegant forms 

 on the sight. In still days, and sunny places, un- 

 der the friendly brush heap, or in the sheltered 

 nooks of the garden, the warbling sparrow regales 

 us with its cheerful song, or the plaintive note of 

 the blue-bird is heard for a few moments from hia 

 old hollow briinch in the morning. •• 



Then, stronger suns warm up the bosom of the 

 earth, new forms of vegetation appear ; the gay 

 dandalion dots the reluctant green, and the modest 

 violets hold up their beautiful heads. 



Now that we have briefly glanced at the grand 

 movements of Nature, let us turn to some of our 

 own, so humble compared with her imposing 

 March. 



Books. — All farmers have, or ought to have, 

 trees — and they ought to understand sotnething of 

 their peculiar properties. Such as their compara- 

 tive value for fuel or timber, or endurance as fenc- 

 ing materials. Well, Emerson's book on Trees 

 and Shrubs, to a farmer who loves his calling, is 

 more interesting than a political paper or the last 

 novel. There is time now, before the evenings are 

 short or the snow-flakes cease to fly, to give that 

 book a perusal. If you intend to clean out those 

 ditches, or have not (juite decided to get up 50 cords 

 of swamp mud next summer to experiment upon 

 with guano, or lime, or salt, these blustering 

 March days and evenings will aS"ord a fine oppor- 

 tunity to bring your decision up to the sticking .- 

 point, by reading Dana's Muck Manual, the Amer- 

 ican Muck Book, or several others full of safe 

 teachings. 



Science! — Is a humbug, is it? Ah, no. We 

 are all indebted to it for the best comforts we en- 

 joy. No man is already more deeply indebted to 

 its teachings, or may still look forward with expec- 

 tations of benefit from it, than the farmer. It is 

 merely making the head work, instead of tlie hands. 

 Its iron thews and sinews do not ache or tire. It 



