120 



NEW ENGLAND FAIi:\IER. 



March 



From the Boston Transcript. 

 THE SUGAR CAMP. 



BY J. II. WOODS. 



Wb.it timo JiTow England's hills of snow 

 Have felt the Southern breezes blow; 



"What time the sun begins to break 



The bonds of ice-bound stream and lake; 



^V^len joyful earth is welcoming 

 To her embrace the early spring: 



Then let us to the woodlands hie, 

 Ere sunrise gild the eastern sky; 



For where yon hill-side slopes to meet 

 The river wiudmg at its feet, 



A thousand lofty maples yield 



The sweets within their cells concealed, 



And, as the bees are hired by flowers, 

 We haste to make the treasure ours. 



Warm, sunny days, with nights of frost, 

 Are those we now desire the most. 



Ah 1 then, at morn, what rare delight 

 To walk the lields that, yester-night. 



With crusted snow were covered o'er, 

 Solid and white as a marble floor ! 



Such is tlie royal road by which, 



O'er drift-screened rock and fence and ditch, 



We to our eiieerful task repair, 

 Beneatli the maples brown and bare. 



Now with our twirling bits we tap 

 The trees, and catch the flowing sap, — 



More grateful to the taste than wine, — 

 In cedar pails or troughs of pine. 



Then some sequestered nook is sought. 

 Where bark and branches interwrought. 



Soon form the "sugar camj) ;" and near 

 At hand two forked stakes appear. 



With tranverse pole above a row 

 Of huge black boilers ranged below. 



Here, when the evening shades descend. 

 Groups of young men and maidens tend 



The blazing fires and round about. 

 In shifting circles, laugh and shout. 



See how the vapors upward curl, 

 And tlieir gray phantom shajjes unfurl I 



See the hot syrup foam and seethe, 



As the tierce flames are stirred beneath I 



Some from long ladles love to sip 

 The neclared sweetness with their lip; 



While others, whom experience 



Warns when the process should commence, 



Pour out the syrup thick and dark, 

 In moulds of Liu or birclien bark. 



And view the cooling crystals meet 

 In liunps of sugar, crisp and sweet. 



O, ye by heavy cares weighed down, 

 Mid dust and uproar of tlie town. 



Lay for a time your burdens by. 



When SiJring with blithesome step draws nigh, 



And to the woodlands haste, 

 To breathe a jjurer air, and taste 



The sweets that Nature's cliemists there 

 With subtle alehe:uy prepare. 



For the Xew England Farmer. 

 WINDOW QABDENING FOR FEBRU- 

 ARY. 



The last and shortest of the winter months 

 lias now arrived, and we must stimulate our 

 plants at least twice a week to increase tneir 

 growth and beauty. They have had tiieir sea- 

 son of rest ; have concentrated tiielr forces, 

 and now with proper care are ready to bud 

 and blossom and rej)ay their cultivator for 

 the many hours passed in their service. 



A successful window garden cannot be en- 

 joyed without close attention. The plants 

 cannot be watered and cared for at one time, 

 and then neglected for a week ; but they de- 

 mand a daily amount of time to be expended 

 upon them. Every morning when the house- 

 work is finished, their wants must be attended 

 to, and be sure to give them warm water. Do 

 not let tlie ground become caked or dry, but 

 stir it at least twice a week, when stimulants 

 are added. We have given so many directions 

 for these stimulants that it would seem need- 

 less to repeat them ; but house ])lants will not 

 flourish without their aid, unless tlie soil has 

 been prepared by a llorist and made very rich. 



All ]iarasites nnist be kept off. We find the 

 "Grafton Fertilizer," a powder made from 

 the gold bearing rocks of New Ham])shire, a 

 great preventive against their inroads. We 

 have scattered it freely over all our tender 

 plants just after they had been thoroughly 

 sprinkled, and not an aphis or a red spider 

 dares show itself. A wash made of aloes and 

 saleratus, one ounce each to two quarts of 

 warm water, is said to kill all intruders. The 

 branches of the plants are to be dipped into 

 the solution, and rinsc-d u]) and down in it ; 

 then dip the whole plant into pure warm wa- 

 ter. One application of this remedy will often 

 be enough ; but if the parasites appear, try it 

 again. The aloes can be procured at any 

 country store. Pots and saucers must be 

 washed, and general attention paid to the 

 neatness of the stand of plants. 



Ivies and all climbing plants will grow rap- 

 idly during this month ; but take care not to 

 stimulate their growth too much. Long, lanky 

 stems, with leaves so far apart that they seem 

 frightened at each other, are not very orna- 

 mental or gracefid. The German ivy is too 

 apt to string itself out, and the Madeira vine 

 has a tendency that way. 



The Mexican Cobwa Scandens is an attrac- 

 tive vine ; it is quite an old plant, but we all 

 know that it is not every new thing which is 

 the most beautiful or the most desirable. Its 

 cultivation has increased of late, on account 

 of its rapid growth and its handsome bell- 

 shaped flowers. It is a tender perennial, but 

 is easily j)ropagated from cuttings ; and if the 

 seeds are sown in this month, the plant will 

 bloom the next autumn and winter. The 

 seeds are large and flat, and should be planted 

 edgewise. The flowers are full two inches 



