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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



everything is snuggled and packed ! How aH 

 nature gets ready for the cold season ! How 

 the leaves heap themselves upon the roots to 

 protect from the frost ! How all things tough- 

 en to stand the buffetings of the winter ! And 

 hardy vines and roots bravely sport bannered 

 leaves, that the frost cannot kill, sending th6m 

 up cloar into the coldest days. November is 

 a dreary month to some ; it is sad to me ; and 

 it is a sweet sadness it brings to my mind." 



"Farewell to Autumn and her yellow bowers, 



Her waning skies and fields of yellow hue; 

 Farewell, ye perisliing and peris'hed flowers, 



Ye shall revive when vernal skies are blue, 

 But now the tempest cloud of Winter lowers. 



Frosts are severe, and snowflakes not a few ; 

 Sifting their leafless boughs against the breeze, 



Fonorn appear the melancholy trees." 



If any there are to whom November brings 

 a sadness which is not "sweet," they can dis- 

 pel it by cultivating a love of Nature ; by oc- 

 cupation in the garden, or in the green house ; 

 by reading about and making preparation for 

 the pleasant duties in working among the soil 

 in the coming Spring. If these fail there is 

 one other resource that cannot fail, and that 

 is, 'Agoing about and doing good.'''' There is 

 no balm like this, no despondency that can 

 withstand its attacks. It works radical and 

 permanent cures — assuages real grief, even, 

 and builds up the whole christian character. 



■WORK FOR NOVEMBER. 



If the ground is not frozen, ploughing may 

 be advantageously done this month. The 

 teams are sturdy and strong, and so much will 

 be done to help along the work in the hurry 

 of spring. The turfs will be rotting in some 

 degree, so that they will more readily impart 

 their fertilizing properties to the corn plants 

 growing upon them. 



See that the asparagus bed is manured and 

 that it is protected a little. 



Protect such plants in the garden as need it. 



Instead of earth against the house for bank- 

 ing up, rotting away the wood work, use ever- 

 green branches, hemlock, or white or yellow 

 pine. After the snow has been blown in 

 among them, they will keep out frost far 

 better than banks of earth. The labor of 

 banking with brush will not be half that of 

 using earth, in most cases, and they are alto- 

 gether cleaner, while being more effectual. 



The season has been so damp that some 

 fields of corn have not thoroughly ripened. 

 It will be necessary to stir it occasionally if 



spread upon the floor. If it is in airy bins it 

 may be safe. 



Feed all fattening animals liberally, and 

 keep them dry and warm. 



Do not allow the cattle to remain too late in 

 the mowing fields, and feeding them until the 

 grass roots are laid bare, and made liable to 

 be winter-killed. This practice is an exceed- 

 ingly injurious one. If less feeding and 

 poaching our mowing fields were to take 

 place, there would be less complaint of winter- 

 killed grass in the spring. 



Store away peat for use on the manure 

 heaps through the winter. Every cord used 

 will be a cord of the best manure in the spring, 

 and will increase the crops wonderfully. 



Ditch and drain that old meadow near the 

 house. There is only a single acre of it, 

 which, when well drained, will yield 3,000 

 pounds of the best hay annually, instead of 

 the crop of frogs and skunk cabbage it has 

 produced for the last forty years. 



Gather up the potato, pumpkin and other 

 vines, and mulch the peach trees, or other 

 plants that need it. 



In short, make some permanent improve- 

 ment on the farm which is like so much cash 

 put at interest. 



FERTILITY.— SILEX, &c. 

 Science has demonstrated that in order to 

 be fertile, a soil must contain all the mineral 

 ingredients which are found by analysis to ex- 

 ist in the ashes of the plant, or plants, it is 

 required to sustain ; and that these must exist 

 in such a state or under such conditions as to 

 be at all times readily available to the roots, 

 and in such profusion as to ensure an adequate 

 supply being kept up during the period of their 

 growth. 



The texture of the soil must be neither too 

 coarse nor too fine, but should consist of an 

 intermixture of larger particles, with a due 

 quantity of impalpable matter, so as to secure 

 to it a degree of porosity, and render it easily 

 penetrable by the fructifying principles of air, 

 warmth and moisture ; together with an ample 

 provision of vegetable matter in a condition 

 to undergo chemical changes, as the necessities 

 or wants of the cultivated vegetables require. 

 With this texture and mineral constitution, 

 the process of enrichment by the application 

 of various decomposing animal or vegeta- 



