1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



387 



more with a lovfe for this useful and beautiful part 

 of creation — the birds. 



If this study occupied the life of an individual 

 distinguished alike for intelligence, and a desire 

 to promote the welfare of his race, shall not the 

 farmer find inducements to enter into its outer 

 courts, at least, and inquire whether there is not 

 in their contemplation some compensation for his 

 constant physical application ? Birds are emi- 

 nently the friends of the farmer ; without them it 

 may well he doubted whether his labors upon many 

 crops would not be utterly in vain. If so, they 

 demand our attention in a mercenary point of 

 view. But there is another gain— they exert a di- 

 rect influence upon the heart; many of our earli- 

 est associations are of the birds ; their habits of 

 migration and return, their amazing power of 

 wing and artistic skill, and their attachment to old 

 locations, and devotion to their young, have been 

 the themes of admiration in all lands. A study 

 of their habits gives sweetness of tone to the 

 heart, quiets its fears, allays its griefs. IIow 

 •wonderful, that when, warned by the approach of 

 winter, our pleasant summer friends have left us, 

 others, far into the Arctic regions, should come to 

 enliven the dreary landscape ! Then with glisten- 

 ing wing comes the Pine Grosbeak and the Snow 

 Bunting. The howling storm and driving snow- 

 are but pastime to them. 



In the comparative leisure of winter and the in- 

 tervals of labor from field-work on the farm, and 

 in the house, the study of birds will prove a de- 

 lightful and profitable recreation. Knowledge ac- 

 quired of this piirt of animated nature, is jvncer, as 

 much as physical strength to guide the plow, or 

 swing the scythe, is power. It makes men and 

 women stronger, better, more useful, and draws 

 away the mind from what has become the dull 

 routine of life, delving on the f;irm. Such knowl- 

 edge heals the discontent which broods upon the , 

 mind like a nightmare ; liea])s up the imaginary I 

 gold in California, or kindles the iynisfaimis light . 

 about the lawyer's ofSce, the merchant's desk, or 

 mechanic's bench, and brings compensation for | 

 sun-burnt cheeks, hard hands, and coarse apparel. 

 But there are numerous other attractions to study 

 and reflecticm, both in the animal and vegetable 

 kingdoms about us. 



Have you examined the plant at your feet, the 

 tree at your door — investigated the currents of 

 the sap, and learned "how the sweet perfume and 

 delicate hues of the flower, the oil of the olive, the 

 sugar of the cane, the narcotic juice of the poppy, 

 the nutritious farina of the cereal tribes, and the 

 poisonous extract of the nightshade, are all elabo- 

 rated by the same mysterious process, and from 

 similar, if not the very same materials ?" 



By visiting the leaves, the sap becomes a very 

 different substance before returning to the stems 



and the trunk of the tree. It returns thicker, is in 

 a more concentrated form, and better adapted to 

 nutrition, after having thrown off its excess of wa- 

 ter. This change causes the fruit to become like 

 that of the branches and leaves through which 

 the sap last passes. Thus, if a sweet apple is en- 

 grafted upon a sour tree, the fruit is sweet, be- 

 cause the sap Is elaborated or prepared by a sweet 

 branch and leaves. 



Have you investigatetl the functions of the 

 leaves, and noted the beautiful operations they 

 perform — how they exhale, absorb and digest ? 

 They exhale during the day, and throw off the ex- 

 cess of water in the sap; this exhalation is differ- 

 ent from mere evaporation, and depends upon the 

 state of the temperature, and the air. 



Absorption is performed mainly by the roots ; 

 but if these are defective, the leaf assumes the of- 

 fice ; and you will see the invigoratinij effect of a 

 shower of rain on the leaves of parched and wilt- 

 ed plants, long before the water could have reach- 

 ed the roots, and been carried up to the leaves. 



Respiration in plants, as in animals, consists in 

 the absorption of oxygen from the air, and giving 

 off of carbonic acid, and is performed mainly by 

 the leaves. 



Di(/e.tti(Mi consists in the decomposition of car- 

 bonic acid by the green tistsues of the leaves, un- 

 der the stimulus of the Hglit, the fixation of the 

 solid carbon and the evolution of the pure oxy- 

 gen. 



But we will not dwell on these particulars, in- 

 teresting as they are. The whole vegetable king- 

 dom is filled with wonderful manifestations of the 

 wisdom, power and goodness of God. On what- 

 ever side we turn on the farm, there is still some- 

 thing inviting our contem]jlation ; something ta 

 awaken new sentiments of gratitude, new emo- 

 tions of delight. In the morning the sun glances 

 on millions of liquid drops, changing them into 

 pearls. The questions should arise, How came 

 they there? What unseen Power has been at 

 work during the silent night, studding the blades 

 of grass, the bending leaf and fragrant flower, 

 with these crystal gems? 



How many "brush with hasty step the dew 

 away," nor ever ])ause to contemplate it as a part 

 of that wisdom which has created and governed 

 all things — nor as the result of the operation of 

 certain laws. The air being filled with vapor, and 

 the earth becoming cooler than the surrounding 

 air, after the sun declines, condenses the moisture 

 into drops on the outside of the pitcher that is 

 filled with cold water in the hot summer noon. 

 But if it is cloudy, there is no dew. The clouds 

 hang over the earth like an immense blanket and 

 prevent the heat from escaping, or rather re- 

 transmit to the earth the heat which had been ra- 

 diated from it. The temperature of plants, there- 



