APRIL. 
“ Sweet April! Many a thought 
Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed; 
Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought, 
Life’s golden fruit is shed.” 
April is a hybrid month, a cross between all the other 
months of the season, and partaking of them all in its 
character. Upon the whole, it is one of the most re¬ 
markable months of the year. Winter is quite likely 
to return now and then, occasionally covering with a 
heavy mantle of snow the Snow-drops and Crocuses that 
supposed that spring had come to stay; it may be very 
cold at night, though moderately comfortable at 
mid-day. However cold, stormy and disagreeable it 
is to-day, to-morrow may be sultry and warm. Smiles 
and tears alternate this month; the cold east winds 
may blacken some of our early flowers, and our tem¬ 
pers as well, but it is spring, and its influences will be 
felt; in spite of all hindrances, it will pursue its way 
steadily, resolutely and with success. 
The world around is full of busy life, and what infi¬ 
nite pleasure its development affords? How beautiful 
to watch the vegetation of the seeds bequeathed to the 
soil in the previous autumn, and which, after lying in 
the earth apparently dead for many months, now assert 
their intense vitality and lift their green blades into 
the air ! A seed is one of the most wonderful things in 
the world, containing not only the first principles of the 
plant, but holding the power to lie, as it were, asleep 
until the fitting period for the expansion of the germ, 
and, meanwhile, notwithstanding influences of destruc¬ 
tion such as totally dissolve objects that have no life in 
them. When we consider the exquisite minuteness of 
many seeds, this property becomes still more amazing. 
Peas, Beans, and similar seeds, though by no means 
the largest, are yet of immense bulk when compared 
with the seeds of the Orchis, and these last, though so 
fine as to be scarcely visible, when seen singly, are in 
their turn large when compared with those of the Moss 
or the Fern. How strangely beautiful that such tiny 
forms can withstand the rigors of winter, and spring 
forth into life and usefulness by the breath of spring! 
A distinguished scientist asserts: “There is reason to 
believe that in the atmosphere are constantly floating 
millions upon millions of delicate germs; that we take 
these germs into our bodies when we breathe; that 
they become imbedded in every species and description 
of food; that they are associated, in a word, with every 
conceivable substance, and are as universal in then- 
penetration as the light of the sun. The inexpressible 
minuteness of every particular seed alone renders this 
possible, and perhaps it is by the minuteness that the 
indestructibility is partly insured. Seeds, accordingly, 
are not to be thought of merely in the idea of those we 
sow in the garden, with a view to wholesome vegeta¬ 
bles and flowers. These form but a very minute por¬ 
tion of the entire quantity; and though their destiny 
may seem more dignified, it may be questioned whether 
in the economy of nature the little seeds which we 
never behold, do not play a part quite as salutary and 
important. For in judging of nature and its processes, 
we err if we think those only to be grand and splendid 
which are promotive of benefit to ourselves. Since all 
things have been created for the glory of God, an equal 
splendor attaches to every phenomenon and process, 
however trifling in our eyes, that conduces m any way 
to the stability and decoration of the general fabric. 
These tiny seeds that float in the air, have for their 
special function the starting of life in places where 
previously there was none. The moment that any sur¬ 
face, previously bare, becomes moistened with rain or 
dew, they settle upon it as bees do upon flowers. If 
not burned up by the sun, in a little while there is a 
thin, green film of vegetation, and by-and-by there is 
seen a colony of Mosses. Hence upon the old cottage 
roof, especially if it be of thatch, that sweet and rich 
variety of tender leaf and blossom. Every spray is the 
growth of a seed wafted thither by the wind. It almost 
seems as if the atmosphere held plants in solution, and 
deposited them as a chemical fluid deposits crystals.” 
We love April because leaves are born this month, 
and what infant is more lovely than the infant leaf, 
warmed by the sun, kissed by the dews and cradled by 
the winds? What infant ever had more tender care 
and shed less tears ? The development of the leaves of 
plants, is the happiest sight of spring, they are particu¬ 
larly ornamental and beautifully diversify the • general 
appearance of nature, from their pleasing color, and 
the infinite variety, as well as elegance of their forms. 
Flowers are rarely plentiful enough to give expression 
to more than a very limited space at once, and although 
many living creatures, birds especially, make their re¬ 
newed appearance at this season, it is never with such 
power and with such continuousness of effect. That 
which is true of the little, is always, in that circum r 
stance, representatively true of the large, and thus, what 
becomes so obvious after a moment’s thought in respect 
to the spring verdure of our own country, is true in an 
extended sense of the whole world, at least every part of 
it which produces conspicuous vegetation. Fields of 
flowers always excite our admiration, it matters 
not whether they are those of the Apple-Tree, of the 
Buttercups and Daisies of our meadows, or the Asters 
and Golden-Rods of our roadsides, yet it is the green 
parts of plants that gives expression to the landscape; 
it is upon the leaves that our eyes delight the longest 
to linger. 
SOWING FLOWER-SEEDS AND TRANSPLANTING. 
We wish we might remove the too-common impres- than the most common garden vegetable. The same 
sion that flowers are more difficult to grow from seed law governs all manner of vegetable growth, and all 
