1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



427 



opinions and modes of practice must be useful to 

 most of us. Let the motto be, — "Farmers ! write 

 for your paper." 



THE SONO OF THE BJilN. 



Lo ! the long, slender spears, how they quiver and Bash, 



Where the cloads send their cavalry down ; 

 Kank and file, by the million, the rain lancers dash, 



Over mountain, and river, and town ; 

 Thict the battle drops fall,— but they drip not in blood ; 

 The trophy of war is the green, fresh bud j 

 O, the rain, the plentiful raitt ! 



The pastures lie baked and the furrow is bare ; 



The wells, they yawn empty and dry ; 

 But a rushing of waters is heard in the air. 



And a rainbow leaps out in the sky. 

 Hark ! the heavy drops pelting the sycamore leaves. 

 How they wash the wide pavement and sweep from the caves'. 

 0, the rain, the plentiful rain ! 



See the weaver throws wide his one swinging pane. 



The kind drops dance on the floor ; 

 And his wife brings her Bower-pots to drink the sweet rain, 



On the step by the half open door ; 

 At the time on the skylight, far over his head, 

 Smiles the poor, crippled lad on his hospital bed; 

 0, the rain, the pleatifui rain I 



And away, far from men, where high mountains tower. 



The little green mosses rejoice, 

 And the bud beaded heather nods to the shower. 



And the hill torrents lift up their voice ; 

 And the pools in the hollows mimic the flight 

 Of the tain, as their thousand points dart up in light j 

 0, the rain, the plentiful rainl 



Ani deep in the fir wood below, near the plain, 



A single thrush pipes full and sweet ; 

 How days of clear shining will come after raia, 

 Waving meadows and thick growing wheat! 

 So the voice of hope sings in the heart of our fears, 

 Of the harvest that springs from a great nation's tears ; 

 O, the rain, the plentiful rain. 



Dweling in London Spectator. 



AQRICUliTURAI. PAIRS, 



The California State Agricultural Society holds 

 its annual fair this year at Sacramento, Septem- 

 ber 16 — 21, and offers a long list of prises, some 

 of which are much higher than for the same grades 

 in the Eastern States, 



"Committees are especially instructed not to 

 award a premium to an unworthy object, in any 

 department, though there be no competition. The 

 judges on animals will have regard to the symme- 

 try, early maturing, thorough breeding and char- 

 acteristics of the breed which they judge. They 

 will make proper allowances for the age, feeding 

 and condition of the animals, especially in the 

 breeding classes, and will not give encourage- 

 ment to over-fed animals," 



Some other good rules are made, such as should 

 be more rigidly adhered to by all societies. For 

 instance : 



"The horse of all work should be between fif- 

 teen and sixteen hands ; quick, lively ears ; broad 

 between the eyes ; round barrel ; short loins ; 

 well up in the shoulder ; deep chested ; square 

 quarters j flat legs, short between knee and pas- 



tern, and hock and pastern ; hind legs well under 

 him; speed equal to eight miles on the road, and 

 at least three miles at the plow ; with sufficient 

 blood to insure spirit and endurance ; and no 

 horse or mare in this or any other class will be al- 

 lowed to compete for a premium unless free from 

 any disease or blemish which can be transmitted 

 to posterity. 



Exhibitors of implements and machinery will 

 be required to label each implement or machine 

 with the name of exhibitor, name of machine, its 

 use, and price at which sold." 



For Vie New England Farmer. 

 MORE ABOUT THE THRUSHES. 



In the Farmer of August 3d is the criticism of 

 a Vermont correspondent upon "J, A, A.," who 

 he says "has something to learn about the thrush- 

 es." So thought I, when I read the views of this 

 interesting bird family, which he presented evi- 

 dently as the views of others, rather than as the 

 fruits of his own observation in the woods, where 

 most of these species of birds dwell, breed and 

 have their homes during the summer. And when 

 I read the communication of the Vermont cor- 

 respondent, I said that he has something to 

 unlearn and "much more to learn about the 

 thrushes." 



Having from the days of early boyhood been a 

 studious observer of birds, and especially of the 

 thrushes, which have ever been great favorites 

 with me, perhaps I may venture to hope that I 

 can do something to set the readers of the Far- 

 mer right on this interesting subject. Let me 

 premise by saying, however, that I, too, "have 

 something to learn on this subject," for it is not 

 easy to learn everything about anything ; but 

 what I have learned of the thrush family of New 

 England, I deem biographically correct as far as 

 it goes, according to my observation. 



The Wood thrush. Tardus melodus, of Wilson, 

 and T. mustelinus, of Gmelin, Latham, Vieillot, 

 Nuttall, Audubon and Bonaparte, and Merula 

 mustelina, of Richardson, is stout in form, of a 

 cinnamon brown on the head, becoming rufous on 

 the back, the rump and tail being olivaceous, 

 light below, marked with blackish spots, sharply 

 defined. Its length is about 8 inches, a little 

 more or less in different specimens. My atten- 

 tion was early attracted to this bird of retiring 

 and of somewhat solitary habits, on account of 

 its exceedingly sweet and melodious notes, great- 

 ly surpassing those of any other song bird of the 

 field or forest in New England, It has been 

 called by some the American Nightingale, Philo- 

 mela luscinia, of which Milton said, 



♦'O, nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray 

 Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still." 



So of the Wood thrush ; it sings sweetest at ear- 

 ly dawn or at eve, when other song-birds are 

 mute. From some tall tree in the dark deep for- 

 est it pours forth its clear, shrill and sweet har- 

 monious notes which have been compared to the 

 double tonguing of a flute. Of a dark, cloudy 

 misty day in the last of May or in June, I have 

 often listened with delight quite as indescribable 

 as are the mellifluous notes of this bird to one 

 who has never heard it sing. 



It seems to avoid the haunts and homes of 



