1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
405 
OCTOBER .—Engraved for the American Agriculturist , after Koch. 
Perhaps the most subtle and winning as¬ 
pect of October is its repose. In every other 
month Nature is at work, from the first of 
November, when the wintry storms set in, 
and the first snowflake falls, marking the 
first stages of preparation for the spring that 
lies beyond, to late September, when the 
last ripe apples are gathered from the 
trees. Every other month has its special 
work in the economy of the year, but 
in October there is a pause. The work 
•of the year has been accomplished, and 
that of the next is still to be begun. At no 
other season is there such a hush, such 
silence in the woods, such brooding peace 
over the meadows and the wide surfaces of 
lake and river. The peace and rest of a Sab¬ 
bath are in the air, as if Nature had closed her 
workshops and locked the doors of her num¬ 
berless activities, and turned from work to 
worship. The record of a twelvemonth is 
complete and may be read in the fields 
whose very stubble brings back the vision 
of the waving harvests, in the orchards 
which have gone step by step from the 
fragrance and whiteness of their first 
blooming to the ripe and rounded fruit, in 
the forests which have exchanged their first 
delicate verdure for carnation robes. At no 
time does Nature present a more picturesque 
appearance than during this month. The ten 
thousand city dwellers who have returned 
to their homes, may well regret that they did 
not tarry longer by field and river, among 
the hill-sides, now so attractive in their golden 
foliage, and so rich in their luscious fruits. 
