DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. V. 



BOSTON, JUNE, 1853. 



NO. 6, 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, PnopniETORS. 

 Office Quincy Hall. 



SIMON BROWN, Editor. jjeNRY F. FRENCH, \ EmTORs 



CALENDAR FOR JUNE. 



Lo ! The winter is past; the r;iin is over and ^one-, the flow 

 ers appear dii the earth, the time of the singinj; of hirda is 

 come, and the voice of the turtle is he ird in our luid. — Song 

 OF Solomon. 



Thus sang one, said to be the wisest among men. 

 The changes of the seasons, the times when the 

 birds came and ])egan to sing, and the voice of the 

 turtle Avas first heard, when the beautiful flowers 

 appeared, and all the new and varied aspects of 

 jiature presented themselves, were not unnoticed 

 or disregarded !)y him, filled with wisdom as he 

 was beyond the usual capacity of men. That wis- 

 dom rather gave him new powers to appreciate 

 their wonderful structure, usefulness and beauty ; 

 and in the fulne^.s of his heart he gave utterance 

 to the pleasant p »ng which we have quoted above. 



SolSmon probably looked at these revelations of 

 nature individually, as well as collectively, as we 

 believe any wise man must. Most of us-live alto- 

 gether too fast. 



Spring comes, a,nd all the elements of fertility 

 are active ; frost ;:nd snow disappear, while strong 

 winds sweep off the redundant moisture. The 

 more vertical solar rays warm the earth, set the 

 sap in motion and cause the flowers to appear, 

 studding the shrubs and trees as with so many 

 gems ; they deck the landscape with their grace- 

 ful forms and brilliant colors, while no nook is so 

 secluded, or hill-side so poor as not to produce, 

 with a seeming extravagance, these beautiful and 

 gentle denizens of the field and forest. 



We look and admire, perhaps exclaim, "how 

 past all human skill they are," and forget them. 

 We have looked on them as a whole, and retain no 

 distinct recollection of any. So, we think, did not 

 Solomon. Now look at tlfat bed of tulips, 



-"where beauty plays 



Her idle freaks 



or that branch from the gnarled oak, with its tiny 

 apples and tasseled flowers, or the blade of corn 

 or grass, — look at these with a little study and 

 thought, and you seem to arrest the march of 



time, by fixing an enduring impression of the varied 

 attractions of this season on the mind» The mind 

 has something individual and posi'.ive to go back 

 to, whose associations will introduce again the 

 whole panorama of this delightful period. 



To "know a little of everything" is well ; but to 

 know a good deal of some things will afford the 

 most substantial enjoyments. To know more of 

 farming will be to know more of these things of 

 which we are speaking ; and to know these we 

 must give them attention, thought and investiga- 

 tion, separately. Pause, then, under this tree, ex- 

 amine its bark, the form of its branches, its leaves 

 and flowers, and let this examination be the sub- 

 ject of your reflections /or the next hour. And so 

 of other things. Lettffere be a daily examination 

 of some of the stones, insects, plants or flowers 

 about you ; it is all "in the line of your duty," as 

 the military men say, and loill increase your pow- 

 er over the crops in your future operations, as well 

 as multiply the dimes in your pocket ! 



Some may say that all t\\\s is not practical , — and 

 has no bearing on their calling. So said the by- 

 standers to Newtox, and Fraxklix, and ^Fulton. 

 Who could see a passage to Europe in eleven days, 

 in the wheels and sheet iron pots of Fulton? or the 

 lightning drawn from the clouds and quietly de- 

 posited in the earth, inert and harmless, through 

 the bobs and strings and iron keys of that crotch- 

 ety fellow, Ben Franklin ? 



It is practical. ^ better knowledge of the wants 

 of plants leads to a better cultivation of them, and 

 a greater profit from the labor expended. We 

 shall yet find something in farming, beside the ex- 

 penditure of muscle on the clods and dung-heaps ; 

 and that false notion which prevails with so many; 

 and cries in the ears of the farmer, — toil, toil, 

 eighteen hours per day are demanded, — must ere 

 long give place to more enlightened views and 

 practices. 



But connected with this practical part, there 



