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.] 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. 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 (frauf), 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'! Seek to wear it in thy crown; Then, if all the world should frown, That will guide thee to the skies. 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! 3. The pleasant spring is here again; It smiles from every sunny glen, *The turtle-dove is here referred to. 4. All is beauty, all is mirth, Shout we, then, with nature's voice, [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.] "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 seed. He sows spring wheat, and rye, and oats, and barley, and other kinds of grain. 2. Sometimes he uses a machine called a drill, 3. With the hoe he plants corn', and potatoes', and cucumbers', and melons', and the seeds of many other vegetables', some of which grow in the fields', and some in the garden'. Much of his time in the spring is occupied in hoeing these veg etables. 4. He also plows some of his fields, in which he intends to sow wheat and rye in the fall of the year. These fields are called summer-fallows, because they are left fallow, or unsown, during the summer. But the farmer must leave some pasture for his cattle, and his sheep, and his horses, and also meadow-land for hay. 5. In the Southern States, the planter, or farmer, raises rice on the marshy lands of the sea-coast. Large quantities of maize, or Indian corn, are also raised at the South; but cotton, and sugar made from the sugar-cane, are the most important prod |