“Hay-making” (from The Youth’s Companion, July 23, 1846; p. 45)

June is a busy month with the farmer, as it is the season for hay-making, one of his most useful and pleasant occupations. He is now gathering into his barns the winter food for his flocks and herds, which contribute so much to his profit and comfort. This employment is so agreeable, that in it more than any other, the young, and even females like to engage. It is a treat to labor moderately among the new mown grass. The atmosphere is redolent with a most grateful perfume. Nothing is more refreshing than the air which the gentle breeze of summer wafts from the fields and meadows of the country when the grass is in preparation for its winter deposit. The traveller and the man of leisure, cannot find a more pleasant scene, than a hay-making party. It best resembles the poet’s Arcadian descriptions, which unite the beauties of nature, and the simplicity of manners among the inhabitants of the country in ancient days. Generally speaking, we believe it is still true, of the inhabitants of the country, that they are more uncorupt and more innocent than those crowded into large cities. We refer to such as are in the middle class of society; the man who has a few acres, which he can call his own, and who, with proper labor and industry, obtains a competency of temporal goods. There are few temptations in such a state; and the young have less exposure to dissipation and vice. In June the flowers are more abundant and of greater variety, than in the preceding month; though then many were expanded to adorn the fields, and to render the country very inviting. The rose, in all its variety and beauty, is now everywhere rejoicing in its pride; and the gardens, where the hand of culture has been busy, now make their richest display. All this, surely, were enough to recommend the country at the present time, and to justify our preference for this refreshing and blooming season. But rich fruits begin now to be found in the country; especially where provident industry has led the horticulturist to rear the tender exotic under a proper shelter, or to cherish indigenous plants and shrubs with early care. If this may be called a luxury, it is not a luxury of intoxicating effects, or expensive accompaniments. The moderate use of ripe fruit is favorable to health in summer; and the cultivation of fruit gardens has received the personal attention and labor of the wisest philosophers.— American Mag.

Children, remember that unripe fruit is injurious to health.