574 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Dec. 



suppose "P. was aware that at the time of the 

 show, tliere was much excitement in the commu- 

 nity on acconnt of the war. And the first day of 

 the sliow there were "appearances of rain," and 

 the second day rain came. 



I am surprised at "P.'s" "impressions" as to the 

 "shovv' of fruits." I fear he is disposed to find 

 fault, because the show was in Georgetown, and 

 not nearer his home. I know fruits are not cul- 

 tivated in so extensive varieties in Georgetown 

 and its vicinity, as in some portions of the county. 

 And I Avould suggest this as a reason why "P." 

 should see to it that the show shall be in George- 

 town next year, and that a better collection from 

 a "single garden" shall be gathered and exliibited, 

 to give a stimulus to fruit-growing in this town 

 and vicinity. I would further add, for the benefit 

 of all turnip-raisers, that "P.'s" impressions in re- 

 gard to "a project to secure an election to the 

 Board of Trustees" are incorrect. The project had 

 been referred to a committee, the committee have 

 reported ; the report of the committee has been 

 rejected, and the committee dischajrged, and con- 

 sequently, no report caa reasonably be expected 

 uext year. GEOBXiETCrwT^. 



Nov. 6, 1862. 



THE CLOSE OF THE YEAB. 



The preparation of an Index to the annual vol- 

 ume of the Farmer — made up in book form of 

 the numbers which are issued for the respective 

 months — leads us to a sort of review of our edi- 

 torial labors during the past year. It is necessary 

 in this part of our pleasant duty to get the title 

 or subject of the articles, and in so doing we rap- 

 idly scan many of them, in order to catch anew 

 their spirit, to impress more firmly upon the mind 

 some suggestion or truth, or to learn whether the 

 work, upon the whole, is adapted to the wants of 

 the farmer, and will have that influence in his 

 household for which it was intended. 



We have now finished that review, and cannot 

 see how any material change in the objects sought 

 can be advantageously introduced. What we have 

 written has sprung from a love of the occupation 

 of the farmer, and from a real life on the farm, 

 — not occasional and incidental, — but from a con- 

 stant oversight and contact with every variety of 

 labor that any farmer is called to engage in. It 

 has grown out of our strong, li\"ing faith in the 

 necessity and beneficent influences of rural life. 



Our correspondents have been numerous, intel- 

 ligent and practical, — what they have said, being 

 generally the result of their observation or exper- 

 iments on their own premises. They have usual- 

 ly written in clear and forcible language, in cour- 

 teous and gentlemanly terms, and evidently with 

 a desire to contribute to the common stock of 

 knowledge which is demanded by intelligent and 

 progressive farmers. That they have not labored 

 in vain, we have the testimony of thousands of 

 skillful cultivators of the soil, as well as of me- 

 chanics, merchants and professional men. 



But the field labors of the year are now over. 

 The grand round of the seasons has once more 

 brought to the vegetable kingdom, as well as the 

 husbandman, a period of comparative repose. The 

 trees have cast their leaves, and now their brawny 

 branches stand out in bold rehef against the open 

 sky. But though stript and exposed to the win- 

 ter blasts, they are full of life and energy, and 

 have already upon them the germ of future crops 

 of health-giving fruits. The embryo buds arc al- 

 ready set, which will be quickened into beautiful 

 life by future vernal showers and solar rays. Fit- 

 ting type of what our lives should be, — filled with 

 every manly virtue and grace, and thus setting 

 the bud of immortality which shall blossom and 

 forever exhale its fi-agrance in the skies. Sombre 

 days have come ; the clouds are thick and dark j 

 cold winds whistle in the bare branches ; occa- 

 sional snow-flalies fly, and night shuts in sudden- 

 ly upon us after four o'clock. The domestic ani- 

 mals seek shelter, and look wistfully for the care 

 of man, or chew the cud of contentment, in sim- 

 ny places, if they can find them. 



It is the Fall of the year — nothing but that fa- 

 miliar New England term will express it. The 

 sun falls short of his long summer journey; the 

 Months have one after another fallen away from 

 our grasp ; fruits and leaves fall, and the glories 

 of the garden fall by the first perishing frost. So, 

 with the departing Year, fall^ another period of 

 our mortal life. 



It is not strange, then, with all these signs- of 

 decay about us, though they are the natural and 

 indispensable operations of nature — that the mmd 

 should sometimes partake of their hues, and be 

 less elastic and ho}:>eful than in the glowing hours 

 of Spring or amidst the plenitude of mid Sum- 

 mer. 



This, then, is peculiarly the-season to seek new 

 measures of Faith and Hope. To clothe the Mind 

 withj fresh inspirations of these qualities, and 

 firmly establish it in the promise that seed time 

 and harvest shall not fail, and in the belief that 

 God loveth a cheerful heart, as well as a "cheerful 

 giver." 



The year has been one of new exj>erienccs to 

 most of us. The Great Rebellion which we are 

 now living through, will become the theme of fu- 

 ture ages, and this sharp trial of our free institu- 

 tions, the terrible destruction of human life and 

 property, and the derangement of business at 

 home and abroad, will be recorded in their true 

 colors by the pen of the historian. Only those ac- 

 tually engaged in the strife will be able to realize 

 its horrors. Not us, at home, however deeply the 

 foundations of civil liberty may be shaken. Actu- 

 al contact can only bring a realizing sense of the 

 horrors of war. 



At such a period as this, the farmer -will feel its 



