Design*)* I 0 imprfflr* all Classes interested in Boil Culture. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF M A N -Washington. 
ORANGE Jl'DR, A. 1H., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
VOL. XVI.—No. 6.] 
^ltusine»s Office at ^o. 191 Water-st. 
gpf'or Contents, Terms, Ac.see pag;e 120. 
JE^Notes to Correspondents, pages 11 5-6. 
business Notices, see page 116. 
EPFor Advertisements, seepages 117-9. 
WUKK FOR THE MONTH. 
Now the bright morning star, day’s harbinger, 
Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her 
The Flowery May, who from her green lap throws 
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. 
Hail bounteous May! that dost inspire 
Mirth and youth and warm desire ; 
Woods and groves are of thy blessing. 
Thus we salute thee with our early song, 
And welcome thee and wish thee long. 
Milton. 
The blind bard of rural England, never 
orgot. the fair landscapes, the green fields 
and wooded vales, of his native land. 
Though he might see no more the light of 
the sun nor “ human face divine,” these, 
and all the fair sights of Nature lived in his 
memory, and inspired his muse. He felt 
the touch of Spring thrilling through his 
soul, as joyously as if he could see the 
bright morning star, and the cowslips, and 
the primroses of which he sung. 
Few are so stolid as not to feel a new 
sensation glowing in their hearts, when the 
winds from the sweet South begin to blow, 
when there is first a Summer glow in the air, 
and the fields put on their robes of green, 
and flowers come forth like gems, upon the 
verdant turf. The spirit of the advancing 
season is infectious, and cold must be the 
heart that is not moved by the blithe song of 
birds, and the breath of flowers, that now 
comes wafted upon every breeze. The 
long doubtful struggle between Winter and 
Summer is at length ended, and there is, on 
every hand, indications of earnest work. 
Our Springs are always long and lingering, 
and the complaint of backwardness, cold, and 
wet, made this season have probably been 
made every season since the settlement of 
the country. The prevailing winds are 
from the North-west and the North-east, 
and we have the breath of Winter chilling 
us long after the spell of Winter is broken. 
There is however a difference in the Sea¬ 
sons, owing to causes that we do not yet 
perfectly understand. Backward as the 
Springs are, some are more so than others. 
Though the past winter was uncommonly 
severe, and we had cold more intense than 
has visited us for forty years, the Spring 
opened earlier than usual. A warm term 
commenced the last of February, carrying 
off most of the snow and opening the 
Hudson and Connecticut rivers for naviga¬ 
tion. In some places in the vallies of these 
XFAV-'i ( >8K, MAY. LH^r. 
rivers, the thermometer rose to 80 degrees, 
and the buds of fruit trees rapidly swelled. 
We have not heard however, that any inju¬ 
ry was done to the fruit trees, by this un- 
seasonab’e weather. The first crocus made 
its appearance in our garden, just a week 
sooner than last year, and we had our first 
cutting of Asparagus under glass on the 
20th of March, some ten days earlier than 
last year. 
This long reign of the cold and wet, in 
Spring, concentrates the work of seed time 
into a very few days. Everything is hur¬ 
ried now, and the whole success of the Sea¬ 
son hinges upon our activity in this month. 
Many have had their fields so wet that they 
were not able to plow during the month of 
April, and they now have their manures 
to spread and plow in, before they can seed 
down their land, and put in their hoed crops. 
This shortness of planting time has been 
foreseen by the experienced, and skilled 
cultivator, and he has everything in readi¬ 
ness for the emergency. His manures were 
put upon the ground in heaps ready for 
spreading, before the frost left it, and while 
the carting was good. He has seen the folly 
of worrying cattle, with a .heavy load of 
manure through muddy fields, just as the 
frost was breaking up. His tools are all in 
complete order, and his cattle are sleek and 
healthy, and ready for labor. He has pro¬ 
vided help enough for this busy season, and 
every crop goes into the soil, in the best 
time, and in the best condition. 
DRAINING 
is a lesson taught by our late Springs and 
we are happy to say a lesson that is begin' 
ning to he Iparned, by our best cultivators. 
They have discovered that soil, well tinder- 
drained is in good condition for planting, full 
a week earlier than the same kind of 
land in its natural condition. The drains 
take oft' the surplus water, as soon as the 
frost releases its hold, and of course, the 
temperature is at once raised over thh whole 
surface. It receives at once the full bene.- 
fit of the sun's rays, and may be planted two 
weeks earlier than utfdrained land. Some 
quite intelligent farmers who have never 
seen the operation of underdraining, suspect 
that our teachings upon this subject are pure¬ 
ly theoretical, drawn from the practice of 
English husbandry. It is true that under- 
draining has been more extensively practi¬ 
ced in England, than in this country, and 
that its utility there is placed beyond con¬ 
troversy. But though underdraining is yet 
in its infancy in this country, it is by no 
means a mere theory. It is well attested 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 124. 
bt many who have tried it on a large scale. 
We will give as an example a trial of drain¬ 
ing upon a part of our garden, embracing 
nearly a half acre, where stone was used as 
the draining material, because they were 
most convenient for our purpose. This 
was formerly a swamp producing nothing 
but sour grapes and briers. It is now the 
best part of our garden, growing the various 
kinds of fruit trees and vegetables in the 
greatest luxuriance. A part of it is appro¬ 
priated to asparagus, and we have noticed 
for two seasons, that the shoots upon the 
drained soil are full a week earlier, than 
those of a bed in another part of the garden, 
though it stands upon high ground, and has 
the benefit of the morning sun We have 
no doubt the drainage makes this difference. 
Now if the farmer had faith in underdrain¬ 
ing, and would try it upon a part of his 
fields, he would be able to begin his planting 
very much earlier, and would thus 
have a longer seed time. Its effect would 
be, not only to improve, the quality of the 
soil by taking off its excess of water, and its 
acids, but to raise its temperature and to 
prolong the season, which is a very impor¬ 
tant matter with many crops. Two weeks 
added to the growing of corn before the 
frost strikes it. would add greatly to its 
value—in many localities in the northern 
States. Under draining, once commenced, 
will work conviction upon the most sceptical. 
SEEDING LAND TO GRASS 
Many will be sowing grass seed with their 
Spring wheat and oats the first of this month. 
The sooner these crops are in, the better. 
It is a common error to sow too little grass 
seed. Timothy, red top, blue top, and clover 
are expensive, and most farmers purchase 
rather than raise their own seeds. Where 
the seed is not thick enough, the ground 
either lies idle, or is occupied by weeds. 
This is very poor husbandry, after carry¬ 
ing a field through a course of crops and 
manuring thoroughly to prepare it for grass. 
Be generous with the grass seed, if you 
wish good crops of hay in after years. One 
bushel of red top or furze ; twelve quarts of 
herds grass, and six pounds of clover are 
none too much for an acre. We have used 
this Spring a half bushel of herds grass seed 
to the acre, and though this seed is very 
expensive, we consider the money well laid 
out. The difference in the crop, for four or 
five years will more than pay the extra price 
of the seed. A variety of grass seeds is 
better than any one kind. The cattle will 
eat it better, and it stocks the land more 
perfectly. 
