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driving the cows to the pasture, and the dog is going with him. It is a quiet country scene. It is a morning in spring.

3. I like the country. Who does not like its green fields', its waving grain', its golden harvests', its old forests' and pleasant groves', its bubbling springs' and winding streams', its herds of cattle, its flocks of sheep'-and its good honest people too?

4. Has any one more cause to be happy than the farmer? Who has purer air to breathe', purer water to drink', and more wholesome food to eat, than the farmer'? Who has more real comforts, and less care than he'? Ought not the farmer to be very thankful' ?

5. The farmer rises early, and goes forth to his work in the field while the dew is still on the grass, and the morning air is fresh and balmy. The birds welcome him with their songs. His eye

beams with delight at all he sees; his step is firm and elastic; and the glow of health is on his cheek. 6. Happy the man whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound;

Content to breathe his native airf

In his own ground.

7. Whose herds with milk', whose fields' with bread', Whose flocks' supply him with attire';

Whose trees' in summer yield him shade',

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[LESSON XLIX. is the beginning of a series of lessons on "The Farmer's Life," illustrated by a picture of a farmer's home. The farmer is rep

resented as leading a quiet, healthy, and happy life, for which he has cause to be very thankful. For the benefit of the pupils, let the teacher give a more free reading of the seventh verse. Thus: "Whose herds supply him with milk, whose fields supply him with bread, whose flocks supply him with clothing," etc.]

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1. Maple sugar is made from the sap of the tree known as the sugar-maple; but muscovado sugar is made from the juice of the sugar-cane. In some parts of the country, where the sugar-maple-tree grows, the farmer's first work in the spring is the making of maple sugar. It is only in the spring, when the frost begins to leave the ground, that the sap can be obtained, as it then rises from the roots of the trees, and ascends to the buds and leaves.

2. The following is the manner in which the sap is obtained. A hole, about an inch deep, is bored into the tree, with an auger; and a tube, sometimes made of the wood of the elder, or of the sumach, or perhaps of pine, is then driven in. Through this tube the sap flows', sometimes in slow drops', and sometimes in almost a running stream'.

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3. The sap is caught in troughs, or in wooden buckets, as we see in the picture. A pailful a day is sometimes obtained from a single tree. The sap is carried to the sugar-house, where some of it is boiled down into a thick sirup, or molasses; and some of it is boiled until it becomes sugar.

4. At the head of this lesson we see a picture of the farmer's sugar-house, which is a rude cabin in the woods, where the maple-trees are abundant.a The farmer and his sons are going around to the trees and gathering the sap, which they take to the cabin, where it is poured into a large vat, or into a cistern, ready to be drawn off into the boiler as it may be needed.

a AS-CENDS', goes up.

b MAN'-NER, way; mode; method.

TROUGH (trawf), a long hollow vessel. d A-BUN'-DANT, plentiful.

[LESSON L. represents the farmer in spring. The making of maple sugar is described, and illustrated.]

THE PEARL OF TRUTH.

Priceless gem! the pearl of TRUTH'!
Brightest ornament of youth'!

Seek to wear it in thy crown;

Then, if all the world should frown,
Thou hast won a glorious prize,

That will guide thee to the skies.

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1. "Lo! the winter is past', the rain is over and gone';

The flowers appear on the earth';

The time of the singing of birds is come',

And the voice of the turtle* is heard in the land."

Song of Solomon.

2. Spring is coming! spring is coming!
Birds are chirping, insects humming;
Flowers are peeping from their sleeping;
Streams, escaped from winter's keeping,
In delighted freedom rushing,
Dance along in music gushing.

3. The pleasant spring is here again;
Its voice is in the trees;

It smiles from every sunny glen,

It whispers in the breeze.

*The turtle-dove is here referred to. See Fourth Reader, page 144.

4. All is beauty, all is mirth,

All is glory on the earth.

Shout we, then, with nature's voice,
Welcome, spring! Rejoice, rejoice!

[LESSON LI. In an extract from the Song of Solomon, the coming of spring is described. Then follows an exultation, or transport of joy, on the coming of spring, which is represented as heralded by the birds, insects, flowers, streams, etc. All nature rejoices.]

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"He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread."Prov., xii., 11.

1. Here is another picture of the farmer at his work, in the spring of the year. After the ground has become dry, the farmer plows his fields for the spring crops, and thus prepares the soil for the

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