110 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



]\L4^RCH 



this particular. Travellers give even morel 

 graphic descriptions of the ^vretched condition 

 of the highways in the Southern States. 



Even in Enghmd, progressive as she has 

 been, it is not long since a journey of a hun- 

 dred miles was an undertaking which few peo- 

 ple dared to hazard. 



Pennant, an English writer who died about 

 70 years ago, describing a journey from Ches- 

 ter to London, says, — "the first day, with 

 much labor, we got 20 miles, and at the end 

 of the sixth day, to London. The strain and 

 labor of six good horses, sometimes eight, 

 drew us through the sloughs of Mireden, and 

 many other places. We were constantly out 

 two hours before day, and as late at night ; 

 and in the depth of winter proportionately 

 later. Families who travelled in their own 

 carriages were dragged up in the same num- 

 ber of days, by three sets of able korses." 

 The duke of Somerset lived less than 50 miles 

 from London, and yet he had a half-way 

 house as a resting place for the night by any 

 part uf his families travelling to the metropo- 

 lis. 



But with all its turmoil of the elements and 

 bad roads, March is the harbinger of Spring 

 — that season which excites all organized 

 things. There is a new awakening in all. 

 Man feels its force and is led to expatiate up- 

 on the Wisdom and Power which bring the 

 wo«derful changes of the seasons in their 

 turn . The dumb animals manifest it in vari- 

 ous ways, and the earth, shaking off the leth- 

 argy in which it has been bound, begins to 

 spread over its surface a new life irr a thou- 

 sand diil'erent forms. New plants quickly 

 spring up, new colors everywhere meet the 

 eye, new^ sounds please the ear, and all 

 thoughtful beings love to exclaim, "How won- 

 derful are Thy works ; in Wisdom hast thou 

 made them all !" • 



Look at the trees, and see what March is 

 doing there. Only a few days since, and 

 their thin and apparently dry twigs, indicated 

 no signs of life. Now mark the change, and 

 observe what the sun's light and heat can do. 

 March winds may blow away their breath, 

 and March clouds shed their snow and hail 

 upon the trees, butwhenthe winds are hushed 

 and the clouds scattered, two or three days of 

 unclouded sun rouses them into a discernable 

 activity. See how the buds on some of the 



elms have swollen ; how their tops have thick- 

 ened up ; how the coverings of the buds glis- 

 ten in the sunlight ! All is life and activity 

 there now. The smi has asserted its power- 

 ful sway, making the trees feel , its influence 

 through every pore. But this is not all due 

 to an increased temperature, but largely 

 through the agency of solar light. The na- 

 ture of this action we can only understand 

 from its effects. Three successive days of 

 clear sunlight will excite so much activity in 

 the twigs of a tree whose roots are in shel- 

 tered places, that an obvious thickening up 

 among the branches takes place. This will 

 occur when the temperature is much below 

 the freezing point. If the clear sunshine is 

 immediately succeeded by clouds and severe- 

 ly cold weather, the thickening up of the 

 twigs will disappear in a considerable degree, 

 the buds shrinking into and being closely en- 

 circled by their coverings or scales. These 

 are closely applied to each other, and those 

 on the outside are largest and thickest, thor- 

 oughly protecting the tender centre of the bud 

 which is the seat of its vitality. 



March, then, has its appointed work of be- 

 neficence to do, as well as its changing skies, 

 bad roads, and rough winds to be endured. 

 It will be found all right, if we ourselves are 

 right ; teaching us lessons of confidence and 

 resignation which more quiet elements might 

 not impart. At any rate, let us endeavor to 

 receive and improve the lessons which stormy 

 March may suggest this year. 



For the New Enqland Farmer. 

 THE GABDEN IN" MARCH. 

 The best soil for a vegetable garden is gen- 

 erally illy adapted to growing fruit. While a 

 deep' rich soil is of the first importance to the 

 production of fine vegetables, it is now pretty 

 generally condemned for the fruit garden. 

 Hence we should inform ourselves in regard 

 to the re(juirements of the many different 

 varieties of our productions ; for while we 

 have to go to work one way to obtain fruits, 

 a different course must be pursued in many 

 respects, to obtain the best vegetables. For 

 the growth and rijiening of our fruits, direct 

 sunlight is essential ; but many vegetables 

 and roots hide themselves from the light in 

 a deep rich soil, while for the full develop- 

 ment of the foliage of vegetables, sunlight is 

 highly essential to most varieties. Although 

 it cannot be ex])ected that much actual labor 

 can be done in tlie garden during the month, yet 



