ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND PABMDfG. 419 



weasel ! Other, and unnatural hens there are, to whom 

 the vast brood of peeping, chirping chicks is but a burden. 

 They seem to have thoughts of their own, and are per- 

 plexed and interrupted by the cares needM for their 

 household. Could we pry into the secrets of this race, 

 doubtless there would be foimd to be literary mothers, too 

 busy for the general good to have much time for special 

 duties. We ctonot stop now to draw out these analogies, 

 so well worthy the study of mental philosophers ; else we 

 should exhibit the distinctions of rank, race, and culture, in 

 this interesting kingdom. There are nice questions of 

 pedigi?e, there are points in relation to feathers and top- 

 knots, combs and spurs, tail-feathers and wing-feathers, 

 neck-hackles and toes, which are worthy the attention of 

 any Calhoun of the barn-yard. The more savory but 

 homely considerations of fattening, slaying, dressing, sell- 

 ing, stuffing, cooking, carving, distributing, eating and 

 digestion, must be left to our readers' own reflections. 

 Meanwhile, any man that owns a hen, or has a coop in 

 prospect, may buy this book, certain of his money's worth. 

 Book-fanning and book-fowling are better than nothing. 



REFLECTIONS ON THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.* 



The labor of another year has passed beyond our reach. 

 We can alter nothing, and the past is of no use to us except 

 as a lesson for the future. The soil that the plow ripped 

 up, in the spring, has yielded its harvest, its work is closed, 

 its fruits garnered. The tree whose boughs grew green 

 when the singing of birds proclaimed that spring was come, 

 has ripened its fruit, perfected its growth, its store is 

 gathered, and its leaves are lying beneath it, and slowly 



* A.D. 1846. 



