202 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



Cowslips in the wet meadow, puts the poets 

 in high spirits, but a patch of the Trailing 

 Arbutus, exhaling their charming fragrance 

 into the air, crowns their researches and the 

 heads of the girls, and off all scamper for a 

 warm room and a hot breakfast. 



It is no use to try to sing our Mayday into 

 an English Mayday. The weather and the 

 winds are against us. The poets must give it 

 up, and the girls and boys must give it up. 

 Our better way is, to get up an institution of 

 our own, and be sure and fix the time late 

 enough to dispense with overcoats and fur 

 mittens. Say the first of June, or, if earlier, 

 the 20th of May ; that is the time when cows 

 are turned to pasture, and it is supposed there 

 is some green thing, then. Besides, the twen- 

 tieth of May has been said to be particularly 

 lucky for lovers to meet in couples to marry ; 

 at least, so an ancient ballad says, in a "■Song 

 to Harriet ;'' 



"Of the three summer months they say, 

 The most of luck is the twenty o' May, 

 Our hearts and hands to join ; 



This bloom which fills the fragrant air, 

 Shall rest upon thy bosom faire, 



And thou shalt rest on mine." 



So, if you are all agreed, we will have the 

 "first of May come on the twentieth," or at 

 least postpone going a-Maying until that time. 

 Customs, like virtues, come slowly ; so that it 

 is time we stop imitating others, where it is 

 impossible to graft their graces upon our more 

 rigid climate, and strike out something of o^ir 

 own, which shall become a custom worthy of 

 remembrance and record.^ 



But May is a busy month ; we cannot stop 

 long among the romping boys and girls, nor 

 even the poets. The first thing which we 

 ought to do, is to see that every thing is pro- 

 vided in the house and around the house, for 

 the convenience and comfort of the women. 

 Their lot is harder than ours. They have less 

 hours of relaxation, are confined more at home, 

 and have less of the outside world to excite 

 and interest them than men. And then, gen- 

 erally, they do not hold the purse, and do not 

 find it so convenient to purchase many little 

 matters of convenience or of lal)or-saving, as 

 those do who are in the habit of making the 

 purchases. This should be the item o? first 

 consideration in our spring work. In tbe sub- 

 jects considered, the next should be that of 



Setting an Asparagus Bed, — because it 

 will be a comfort to the women to adorn the 

 table with an elegant dish, and at the same 

 tmie provide the family with a wholesome and 

 nutritious vegetable. Obtain one or two hun- 

 dred good roots, two or three years old, and 

 set them in a trench a foot wide and deep, and 

 a foot apart in the trench. Spread the roots 

 out, at a distance of one foot apart on each 

 side of the trench, making two rows in one 

 trench, or 100 plants in 60 feet. Before mark- 

 ing out the trenches, the whole plot ought to 

 be spaded two feet deep and an abundance of 

 manure mingled with the soil. If well done 

 and tended, the bed will continue from ten to 

 one hundred years. 



Dry Pastures. — Remember the short feed 

 in pastures in July and August. Do not turn 

 stock upon them too early. Sow oats, millet 

 and corn, for feeding out when the pinch comes. 



The Corn Crop. — Get it in early — by the 

 10th, if you can. Plant well, and you can hoe 

 well. A field well planted Avill be cheaply 

 tended, compared with one hastily and im- 

 perfectly planted. Steep corn in saltpetre 

 or co})peras water, if liable to be pulled up. 



Ornamental. — Do not forget to plant the 

 shade trees in front of the house, that you re- 

 gretted you had not done some years ago ! 

 Nor to enclose a spot for a garden, near the 

 house, and begin to fill it with plants for small 

 and large fruits. 



Graft the Trees that need it. 



Cultivate Roots for the stock. Turnips, 

 carrots, beets, mangolds, parsnips, &c. 



Early Corn. — Plant it early, and continue 

 to plant small patches, and you will have an 

 abundance of it until heavy frosts come, and 

 the fattening hogs will fare well, too. 



Plow and Manure Early. — Plow the fields 

 twice, if convenient. We do not plow the 

 land enough. Twice is better than once — 

 three times better than twice, often. 



Be Prompt, but moderate ; be prudent, but 

 not doubting ; be temperate, but live gener- 

 ously ; and this will be the most useful and 

 satisl'actory Month of May you have ever 

 lived. 



— The Michigan Senate has pas^scd a bill appro- 

 printing ^"iO.OOO for a building to be used by tbo 

 State Agricultural College. 



