^^^h^ 



DEVOTED TO AGRICtrLTTJKE AND ITS KINDRED ABTS AND SCIENCES, 



VOL. XIII. 



BOSTON, APRIL, 1861. 



NO. 4. 



NOURSE, EATON & TOLMAN, Proprietors. cTTv/r,->ivT B-D^TinvT ti-mt^^-o FREP'K HOLBROOK, ) Ai 



OFFICK....34 JIEECUAMS' Row. MMOH BKOWW, EDITOR. HENRY F. FRENCH, j E 



associat 

 Editors 



FAKM WOKK FOR APRIL. 



"The lark sits high in the walnut tree, 



And it rains, it rains, it rains ; 

 A jolly philosopher sure is he, 



Wliile it rains, it rains, it rains ; 

 Blithely he looks at the meadows below. 

 Where his nest will be when the grass blades grow. 

 And pours out his song in a liquid flow, 



While it rains, it rains, it rains." 



c . . 



HE active season for 



the farmer opens with 

 April, when the va- 

 ried labors that are 

 '^T^T' " \ \ 'to come before him 



~flim\\ S through the months 



which are to supply 

 his crops, demand es- 

 pecial attention. If 

 a man of forecast and 

 system, like a pru- 

 dent general who per- 

 fects his plans before 

 he enters the field of 

 his campaign, he has mapped out his plans, and 

 has them all at his command, so that men nor 

 teams ever wait for him to decide what is to be 

 done with this field or that. 



April brings a revivification of nature, and 

 this inspires us all with new life, hope and ambi- 

 tion. The opening flower, springing grass, the 

 lowing herds, and other cheerful voices of ani- 

 mated nature, all serve to kindle in us a new class 

 of emotions of the most agreeable kind. The la- 

 bor of the farmer leads him into the midst of 

 these kindly influences, where he may meditate 

 upon their connection with his labors, and, with 

 his springing plants, rise rapidly towards heaven 

 himself. In this pleasant field of labor, then, let 

 us see what is to be done. 



Clean Surroundings. — Nothing is more im- 

 portant than to make Home pleasant and attrac- 

 tive, and the first step towards this, is to make 

 its approaches clean. As soon as the snow is off". 



the frost out, and the surface settled, put the hoe 

 and rake in use to gather up whatever rubbish may 

 have accumulated about the buildings during the 

 winter. In this work you will need a sliort tooth 

 rake. When this is done, sweep the lawn, and 

 issue a decree, that whosoever defiles it with 

 sticks, chips, bits of paper, old rags, bones or 

 egg shells, shall not only remove them instantly,, 

 but be fined a dime for each ofi"ence, or be posted 

 on the walls of the house, as a — .sloven ! 



Who ever approached a farm-house and found 

 around the buildings a neat little lawn, with its 

 velvet carpet of richest green, and not a blemisJi 

 upon it, without thinking, if not saying, "This 

 is the abode of neatness and tranquillity — the 

 graces are here, let us enter and enjoy them ?" 



The Wood Pile. — Do not allow this to remain 

 unhoused till midsummer. It is money at inter- 

 est, under cover, where it can receive a daily air- 

 ing. Out of doors, it is a blotch in the surround- 

 ings, unless neatly piled and covered with boards. 



Droppings in Mowing Fields. — Where cat- 

 tle fed on mowing grounds, last autumn, little 

 heaps will be found, and unless scattered and 

 broken to pieces will be uncomfortable in haying 

 time. Broken, and dissolved by rains, they be- 

 come valuable fertilizers. Close fall feeding, by 

 the way, is a wretched policy — scarcely anything 

 is more fatal to the grass ; it is much like con- 

 tinually stripping a plant of its foliage, and ex- 

 pecting it to flourish. After grass is cut to be 

 made into hay, the roots have sufficient strength 

 left to throw out new leaves, and these, in turn, 

 are wanted to invigorate the roots, and when the 

 leaves are cropt ofl" day after day, the roots are 

 so weakened that they cannot withstand the 

 drought of autumn or the cold of winter, and the 

 gi-ass "runs out," as it is called. Close fall feed- 

 ing of mowing lands, is more costly than feeding 

 the stock on hay and grain. 



Overhaul Manures. — If manure is to be 

 spread upon the sward and plowed under, no mat- ■ 



