29G 
RURAL HOURS. 
Tlie woods, generally, are green as midsummer — but a small 
shnib here and there is faintly touched with autumnal colors. 
Wednesday, \Zth . — Bright and pleasant. Slight touch of frost 
in the clear moonlight of last night, the first we have had this 
autumn. It has left no traces, and seems only to have fallen in 
spots ; even the tomato-vines in the garden are untouched. 
As we were standing on the wharf, we obseiwed buiT-marigolds 
growing in a spot usually covered with water the year round. The 
lake has been very low lately, but this particular spot can only 
have been out of water three or four weeks at the utmost, and 
here Ave have plants already grown up and in flower. They are 
annuals, I believe. 
Thursday, \Ath. — Rainy, cheerless day. Short walk toward 
evening. Saw a couple of snail-shells, in a tuft of fern, by the 
road-side. How much less common are these land-snails in our 
part of the world than in Europe ; in the Old World, you find 
them in the fields and gardens at every turn, but here we only 
see one now and then, and chiefly in the woods. 
Friday, \5th . — Strong wind from the south, rustling with a 
full, deep sough through the trees. The locusts, as their branches 
bend before the wind, show their pods prettily — some clusters 
bright yelloAv, others a handsome red, as they are more or less 
ripe. The Virginia creepers are turning cheny color ; they are 
always the first leaves to change. 
Saturday, \Qth. — Pleasant, soft weather. The farmers arc 
ploughing and sowing grain, and have been doing so for some 
days ; they are earlier than they used to be with their autumn 
seed-time. The buckwheat fields are turning red, and will soon 
be cut. The maize-stalks are dr}nng and withering as the ears 
