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Farm, GrarcLen, and Household. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —WASHINGTON. 
ORANGE JUDO, A. M., 
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ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
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VOL. XIX.— No. 4 . NEW-YORK, APRIL, 1860. [new series— No. 159 
g^'Office at 189 Water-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
H^Coutcnts, Terms, <Stc., on pages 123-8. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, 
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American Agriculturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
^American Agriculturist in (German. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
feoth the English and German Languages, Both 
Editions are of Uniform size, and contain, as 
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April. 
Does, then, the green earth teem with gladness 1 
Has Nature dropt her robe of sadness ? 
Do the swains pipe ; the flocks rejoice ; 
The mountains echo Bacchus’ voice ; 
The mariners their sails unloose ; 
The bees distil their luscious juice? 
Has Spring inspired the warbling throng? 
— And can’t the poet make a song ? 
Meleager’s “ Spring.” 
The poet hardly needs an apology for his song 
at this gladsome season of the year. For it is a 
bright and cheerful time, whether it come with 
elastic footstep, as on the plains of Syria where 
Meleager sung, or with lingering tread, as on the 
Atlantic slope of our continent. It is none the 
less glad, because the sunny days come tardily, 
alternating with days of storm, when the chill 
East wind with breath of needle points, fills the 
air. There is a perfume of roses about these first 
warm days in the unconfirmed Spring, all the 
more enjoyable because of the sharp contrasts 
that precede and follow them. Flowers were not 
half so sweet, if they were not frail and perish¬ 
ing. April is the weeping sister in the fair com¬ 
pany of the months, because her showers are so 
numerous and fitful. We enjoy the gleams of 
sunlight between, all the more for the setting of 
storm and cloud that encircles them. The pleas¬ 
ant days of April come to us, with all the fresh¬ 
ness of novelty. The biting cold of Winter, its 
snow clad hills and ice bound streams, its sleet¬ 
ed forests and frozen earth, are yet fresh in mem¬ 
ory. We feel that we hold the golden hours by 
the slightest tenure. All signs of fair weather 
fail. The ruddy sunsets do not bring dry weath¬ 
er on the morrow, and wind from the north is 
not the harbinger of clear skies. Here comes a 
squall out of the northwest, black, windy clouds 
pouring down snow and hail with a violence 
worthy of December. But it is soon over, and 
the springing blades of grass look all the greener 
amid the dissolving snow. 
With all these drawbacks, Nature gives un¬ 
mistakable evidence that “ the Winter is over 
and gone, and that the time of the singing of birds 
has come.” The feathered songsters are already 
heard in the edge of the forest and in the orchard. 
The soft notes of the blue-bird have filled the 
morning air with melody for many weeks, and he 
is already looking up his Summer quarters. He 
has found his mate, and we understand the 
sprightly conversation now going on around 
that knot hole in the old apple tree. The 
woodpeckers occupied the tenement, and raised 
their brood there last year, but the blue-birds 
have the start of them now, and already the nest 
is lined, and will soon be filled with tiny eggs. 
The robins are seen in every hedge and shelter¬ 
ed spot, and the blackbirds have made their ap¬ 
pearance in the edges of the swamp. They fol¬ 
low the plow-boy as he turns the furrow, and in 
company with tile redbreast, devour every grub 
and worm that comes to the surface. 
The wild geese, in long wedge-shaped flocks, 
are wending their way from the swamps of 
Florida and the Carolinas, to the coasts of 
Labrador and the far North, to lay their eggs 
and rear their broods. The ducks that thronged 
the bays and rivers in the Winter, have long 
since disappeared. The domesticated fowls also 
give unmistakable signs of a change of sea¬ 
son. The poultry yard is more noisy than ev¬ 
er. What struttings and crowings of the cocks, 
what cacklings of the hens, making a sensation 
over new laid eggs ! The geese and ducks are 
already busy with the labors of incubation, and 
will soon have their young flocks abroad upon 
the pond or brook. 
It is yeaning time in the farm yard. Calves 
with sleek sides, and mouths frothy with fresh 
drawn milk, are seen at morning and evening 
running at full speed, pursued by anxious moth¬ 
ers. Here also are the little white lambs lying 
beside the fleecy ewes, pictures of innocence 
and comfort. There would be poetry in the 
scene, if we did not see the drover, or the butch¬ 
er looking through the gate, and putting a price 
upon the heads of these innocents, tempting the 
farmer to sacrifice these gambols for sordid love 
of gold. The boys hate the sight of his red 
wagon, and his big whip. They have seen many 
a favorite calf with his bright eyes and beauti¬ 
ful white spots disappear in that same red wag¬ 
on, and have shed tears over his untimely fate. 
When they get big, the butcher will do well to 
keep away from that farm-yard ! 
Now too the cheerful labors of the garden begin. 
Woman is out, trowel in hand, giving her per¬ 
sonal attention to the early floral visitors. The 
flower border is uncovered, and the crocuses and 
jonquils, violets and snow drops, are seen peeping 
from the earth. The climbing roses are trimmed 
and fastened anew to the trellis. The Wistarias, 
honeysuckles, and other creepers are put in or¬ 
der. The whole border is dug over and prepared 
for seed-sowing. A charming sight is woman 
in the garden, evoking flowers from the genial 
soil, herself the fairest of them all. There is 
said to be nothing so good for dyspepsia, as the 
smell of fresh earth. Provided the invalid does 
the slirring, we have faith in the remedy. It r 
also an excellent remedy for pale cheeks an 
weak joints. There is health in the morning 
air, and in the companionship of dew drops. 
There is often a medicinal virtue in them, that 
the drops administered by the faculty do not pos¬ 
sess. Beginning with the early Spring, and grad¬ 
ually increasing the labor, it is quite possible for 
daughters delicately reared, to strengthen their 
bodies, and fit themselves for the responsibili¬ 
ties of housekeeping. There is a much older and 
more brilliant language than French, they need 
to learn. The lessons are taken at sunrise, and 
the dictionary is a flower border well stocked 
with seeds and plants. Now that the season is 
changed, let the fair pupils exchange skates for 
the trowel and garden rake, and see if something 
noteworthy can not be learned in the most prim¬ 
itive of human arts. 
As for the piping mentioned by our poet, the 
world has undergone an entire change since his 
day. The swains pipe as much as ever, but the 
instrument is no longer a reed, and the product, 
music, but a small bowl of clay, with short stem, 
stuffed with a dry herb, anil the product, a stench 
that would have smoked Hecate and the Furies 
out of their homes. There is no accounting for 
tastes, but we think the piping of the swains of 
the olden time was the more sensible of the two. 
The world has undergone important changes 
in other respects. Commerce no longer goes 
creeping along the shores of inland seas, confin¬ 
ing itself to Summer voyages, and hauling its 
boats on shore when the Winter storms come on. 
It pushes its adventurous way out into the track¬ 
less ocean, on voyages of years in length, vexes 
the waters of all seas, and never furls its sails 
but in climes where the ice rears its impassable 
barriers. Agriculture is no longerthe puny hand¬ 
maid of the living ship of the desert, and the boat, 
trade of the Mediterranean, but the mighty feed¬ 
er of modern commerce, freighting ships to all 
lands, and making the silks and teas of China, the 
coffee and spices of the Indies, the sugars and 
fruits of the tropics, and the furs and oils of the 
frozen zones, the common articles of convenience 
ar.d luxury in every prosperous farmer’s home- If 
the old Greek felt like singing with the incoming 
Spring, hew much more should we be thankful 
not only for the changing seasons, but in the 
greater change of the farmer’s lot from his iime 
to our own ! ^ 
To sit down at the beginning of the month and 
make a list of the various things to be attended 
to, greatly facilitates work. The most successful 
farmer we know, keeps a slip of paper constantly 
with him, and whenever anything occurs to his 
mind that he desires to remember, he at, once 
notes it down on his memorandum. It is unnec¬ 
essary to say that on his farm every thing moves 
forward sroqothly, pleasantly, and profitably 
