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DKVOTBJD TO AGRECULTUKE, HOBTICULTTJKE, AUD KXNDKED ARTS. 



NEW SERIES. 



Boston, April, 1870. VOL. IV.— NO. 4. 



R. V. EATON^ & CO., Plrlisherr, 

 Office, 3* Merchants' How. 



MONTHLY. 



SIMON BROWN, ) editors 

 S. FLETCHER, ( J^»"0R3. 



FARM OPERATIONS IN APRIL. 



"Than in the couTitry, tell me TOlure 

 Men fr- er are from pi iug care ? 

 Where can ih'V H^muder Bleep erjoy, 

 Or time more harmlessly employ ? 

 Do marble pavemes l« more delight 

 Than the green turf i hat cbeer8 the sight? 

 Or does the v/aU r of the town 

 Taste sweeter than the crystal rills 

 That trickle down the verdant hills ?" 



N this month 

 the business 

 of creation 

 seems re- 

 sumed. The 

 vital spark 

 rekindles in 

 ihe dormant 

 existences — 

 and anon all 

 things "live, 

 and move, 

 and have 

 their being." 

 The earth 

 puts on her 

 livery and 

 awaits ihe 

 call of her 

 lord ; the air breathes gently on his cheek, and 

 conducts to his senses the warbling of birds 

 and the odors of new-born herbs and (lowers ; 

 the great eye of the world "sees and shines" 

 with bright and gladdening glances ; the waters 

 teem with life ; man himself feels the revivi- 

 fying and all-pervading influence ; and his 



"spirit holds cnmmuairin sweet 

 With the brighter tpivits of the sky." 



But this, though true of April, because it 

 brings the first balmy airs and bursting flow- 

 ers, is not all of April. Like the shifting 

 scenes in the pathway of a good man's life, 

 April has its clouds and tears, which succeed 

 i*s genial sunshine, in chilling winds or storms 

 of snow. But they are as evanescent as the 

 month is fickle. The all-searchirgsun, strong 

 and fervid in its new course, pours its mehing 

 beams upon them, and they disappear. Then 

 the grass springs up, the flowers unfold, the 

 earth opens her bosom and invites man forth 

 to scatter seed into it, in the hope of a boun- 

 tiful harvest. 



The April work of the farmer is a sort of 

 foundation-work for all the rest of the year. 

 That which is not begun cannot be finished. 

 Seed-time must be improved, or harvests will 

 not succeed. Late in the morning, late all 

 day. The laggard has no pluck. He who 

 leads in the race is full of courage. And so 

 it is on the farm. 



April comes but once in a year, and April's 

 work cannot be so well done at any other 

 time as in April. Man cannot change the 

 seasons at his will, but must perform the work 

 adapted to them while they remain, or suffer 

 the loss that is quite certain to follow. 



The constant desire of the farmer is for 

 more fertilizing materials in order to bring 

 more profitable crops. There are two ways 



