20G 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ISTay 



that have an instinct for the spring, and feel it 

 to the very tips of their fingers, are permitted 

 to let May come upon them ■without knowing 

 •from whence the impulse of happiness that 

 they feel proceeds, or whither it tends." 



This was truly said of the people in milder 

 regions than ours, where pelting storms and 

 untimely frosts, never succeeded a calm, bright, 

 and beautiful May day, such as we sometimes 

 have. To inspire us up to the pitch of en- 

 thusiasm which the old writers felt, our month 

 of JNlay must partake more of the character 

 of June — but not to be like June, after all — 

 May with us does not " pace the earth in all 

 the primal pomp of her beauty, with flowers 

 and soft airs everywhere." We must wait 

 until June for this lovely garniture and life- 

 giving airs. Then, in June, the summer has 

 come, and the delicious and soul-stirring sen- 

 sations of the advent of Spring cannot be 

 realized ! 



There is something singularly impressive in 

 this. We can no more call up at will, in the 

 autumn, the feelings inspired by a balmy May- 

 day, or in June, those awakened in a bright, 

 nut-dropping, October morning, than the 

 leopard can change his spots. The seasons 

 have their influences upon our natures as well 

 as upon the vegetable kingdom. Some tem- 

 peraments are inspired and made joyous by 

 aspects of the autumnal months, while others 

 feel an undefinable gloom resting upon them 

 during the fruition and decay of vegetable life 

 about them. 



Another temperament is soothed and made 

 happy by the gloom of November, the shifting 

 skies and moaning winds, which are full of 

 harmony to them. The trees have laid up the 

 promise of future fruitfulness in compact buds, 

 carefully bestowed to spring into life when the 

 warmth and moisture of a coming May shall 

 excite them. They have performed all their 

 duty for the season, cast their leaves back to 

 the generous earth, and are seeking their win- 

 ter repose, — only occasionally awaking from 

 their bybernative state, when the too constant 

 and powerful rays of the sun excite them too 

 much. 



So another temperament finds pleasure in 

 mid-winter, when the wind roars through leaf- 

 less branches, or careers over the hills, filling 

 the air with snow which it sweeps before it into 

 the valleys. 



In the famous city of Ephesus, about the 

 period in which St. Paul visited it, the whole 

 month of May was usually consecrated to the 

 glory of the goddess Z)(ano. From the towns 

 on the coast and in the interior, the lonians 

 came up' with their wives and children to wit- 

 ness the gymnastic games and musical con- 

 tests, and to enjoy the various amusements 

 which made the days and nights of 3Iay one 

 long scene of revelry. 



The practices of our English ancestors were 

 not objectionable. They assembled on the 

 green, or in groves, erected the May-pole, 

 crowned that and each other with garlands of 

 flowers and evergreens, and sang and danced 

 away the hours in merry and healthful amuse- 

 ments. 



Our people have caught something of that 

 innocent inspiration. But our May will 

 neither afford us the flowers, nor permit us 

 to visit the woods and groves, unless panoplied 

 in the habiliments of winter. Boots and over- 

 coats, mufflers and mittens, do not harmonize 

 with fresh flowers and dancing on the "green ;" 

 the discordance destroys all sentiment, and we 

 are obliged to honor the good taste of our 

 ancestors by crowning our girls with hot-house 

 flowers, and dance around them in gas-lighted 

 halls. 



FARM WORK FOB MAY, 



Among the work which ought not to be done 

 in the month of May, nor m April, is that of 

 pruning trees. 



WiXTER Grains. — Where land was plough- 

 ed last fall and sowed to winter grain, the 

 crops will be greatly promoted, — if the soil 

 upon which they stand is not in high condi- 

 tion — by giving them a slight top-dressing of 

 composted, fine manure, and especially by a 

 dressing of ashes. A half dozen bushels to 

 the acre, if no more can be spared, will be of 

 essential benefit. 



Ploughixg. — Some farmers prefer to 

 plough the land quite early in the spring which 

 is intended for oats, barley or wheat, and 

 then plough again a day or two before the 

 seed is sown. On land which is high and dry, 

 this practice maybe a good one ; but, after all, 

 it admits of a question. Nature has a process 

 of preparing the land for us in the spring, 

 which can hardly be improved upon. The 

 frost has swollen it, and then leaves it with 

 such slight finger-touches that the particles are 



