DEVOTED TO AG-RICULTUBE AND ITS KINDRED AETS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, JANUARY, 1860. 



NO. 1. 



NOURSE, EATON & TOLMAN, Peoprietors. cnvroTj uTjn-wnvr -pnTTn-R 

 n^vrrv '^A Alt- pr„ avts' Rnw SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



Office 34 Merchants' Row. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK, ) Associatb 

 HENRY F. FRENCH, \ Editors. 



CALENDAR FOR JANUARY. 



•'How dead the vegetable kingdom lies." 



, OURNEYING along 



its silent course, 

 another Year has 

 gone, with its joys 

 and sorrows, plea- 

 sures and pains, 

 successes and fail- 

 ures. The begin- 

 ning of each month 

 may afibrd us an opportuni- 

 ty to review that which has 

 passed, and the beginning 

 of a New Year affords a 

 good opportunity to look 

 back over the reports of the 

 several months, and take a 

 general review of the entire 

 year. The merchant and man of 

 business now foot up their books, 

 and ascertain the results of the 

 labors and speculations of the 

 year. It is well for us, that the journey of life is 

 divided by stations and stopping-places, at which 

 we may pause and take a retrospect of the ground 

 over which we have passed. We may recall the 

 difficulties we have often met, the dangers we have 

 encountered, the pleasant passages we have had, 

 the agi-eeable scenes by which we have been en- 

 tertained, the cheerful companions who have ac- 

 companied us, the aids we have received — all the 

 various incidents that have occurred to us. We 

 may bring before our minds the instances in 

 which we have done or felt wrong — have been 

 hasty, or inconsiderate, or unwise, or have injured 

 the feelings or interests of others. We may enjoy 

 the satisfaction of reflection on what we have done 

 that is kind, or benevolent, or good. We may 

 ook forward to the journey that is before us, and 

 see how we mav avoid the mistakes we have 



made, and the difficulties we have met with, and 

 thus by a wise consideration, be enabled to pur- 

 sue our future course with more pleasure and sat- 

 isfaction than we have the past. 



"Know thyself," is a maxim of so much im- 

 portance to our happiness and success in life, thai 

 the ancients ascribed its origin to the gods. We 

 cannot know ourselves without frequent and 

 searching examinations of our outward and in- 

 ward life — of our actions, and motives, and feel- 

 ings. And when is there a better time for such , 

 examination than the present, Avlien another year 

 has passed away, and a new year is commencing ? 



When the mariner has completed his voyage, 

 he takes his chart, and retraces his course to the 

 point from which he sailed. He marks the course 

 of the winds and currents, and observes the break- 

 ers and sunken rocks that he found in his way, 

 and thus the experience of the past assists him 

 in the future. Thus should we all do, both in our 

 business affairs, and in our social and moral cul- 

 ture. 



K we have failed in any of our plans, let us 

 review the whole ground, and ascertain, if possi- 

 ble, to what circumstances the failure was due, 

 that we may avoid a failure in future. If we have 

 been successful, let us know to what circumstances 

 success was owing, that we may achieve the same 

 success hereafter. It is only in this way, that we 

 can profit from our experience. For want of this 

 retrospection, many hard-working men fail to learn 

 anything from their experience. After many years 

 of toil — of success and want of success, they have 

 no more definite knowledge that may avail them 

 as a guide, than they had when they commenced. 

 It has been truly said that a man's experience 

 does not depend upon the years he has lived, but 

 upon the accurate observation he has made. A 

 young man may have more experience than a man 

 with grey hairs, — certainly he may have acquired 

 more of that knowledge that will be of value to 

 him in after life. 



