Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1863-07-01

SCytne swept IL uoNh, anu u" Z
the homes of ground building birds ana
eartl.-burrowing animals and lnsecIS'
which the destroyer lays bare. but
these thoughts have no place IN ms mlnd.
He NAV. while whetting his scythe, wsn-
der how MANY more times ne VIII nave
+, sbarpen il before he cuts his way up /
70 the hedge, where his provision basket, |
beer bottle, and the clothes he has thrown !
off. Ire in the shade, guarded by hs dog, /
and when there slake his thirst. Many /
of those grasses which he cuts down so |
thouehtlessly are as beautiful as the rarest /
flowers that ever bloomed, though they
must be examined minutely for their ele-
giant forms and splendid colors. NO
plumage that ever nodded over the brow
of beauty, not even that of the rare bird
of Paradise, can excel the graceful, silky
sweep of the feather grass, which ladies
used to wear in their head-dresses. The
silky bent grass, which the least stir OF
air sets in motion, is as glossy and beau
tiful as the richest satin that ever embodied
the elegant form of maidenhood. The
quaking or tottering grass is hung with
hundreds of beautiful spikelets, which al
all shaken by the least movement OF an
insects wing; and when in motion, the
shifting light that plays upon It's many
colored flowers makes them glitter like
Jewels. But let the gentlest breeze that
ever blew breathe through 4 bed OF this
beautiful grass, and you might fancy that
thousands of fairy bells were swinging,
and the hair-like stems were the ropes
pulled by the greenwood elves, which are
thinner than the finest silk. 1t las many
pretty names, such as pearl-grass, silk
grass, while the country children call II,
Ringing-all-the- e-belles-in-London, on ac
count of It's purple spikelets being ever i'll
motion. Nothing was ever yet woven III
loom to which art could give such grace
ful coloring as Is shown in the luminous
pink and dazzling sca-grcen Of the soft
meadow grass; the flowers spread over
panicle of bloom, which is SO soft and
yielding that the lightest footed insect
sinks into IFS downy carpeting when pas
sing. Many grasses which the mower IS
now sweeping down would, to the eye OF
a common observer, appear all alike;
though upon close examination they will
be found TO differ as much as one flower
the fox-tail and other grasses, which have
all round heads, and seem at the first
glance only to vary III length and thick
ness they are also 50 common, that
there is hardly field without them. We
take up handful of grass from the swath
Just cut down, and find dozens OF these
round d-headcd flowers in it. One is of Il
rich golden green. of light silvery hairs,
so thinly interspcrscd that they hide not
the golden ground beneath it another Is
rich purple tint, that rivals the glowing
bloom of the dark-shaded pansy; while
besides colors, the stems will be found 10
vary, some being pointed and pinchcd un-
I'll they resemble the limbs of daddy
long-logs. This is the scented vernal
grass that gives out. the rich aroma we
now inhale from the new mOwn field. II
seldom grows more than Il foot high, and
has as you see, a closc-set paniclc, just
like wheat f; and in these yellow dots, on
theg green valves that hold the flowers,
the fragrance is supposed to lie which
scents the June air for miles around when
the grass is cut and dried
In the next field we see the lawmakers
hard at work, turning the grass over, and
shaking it up with their forks, or letting
1t float loose on the wind, to be blown rs
far as it can go; while the air that passes
through 1t carries the pleasant smell of
new mown hay to the far away fields and
villages that 1t sweeps by. How happy
haym;tkers always appear, rs if work to
them were pleasure; even the little chill
dren, while they laugh as they throw the
hay ever one another, are unconsciouslv
assisting the laborcrs, for it cannot be
dispersed too much What a blcSsinr il
would be il all work could be made so
pleasant! Some are gathering the hay
into windows, great long mbrukcu rides.
that extend from one end of the field to
another, and look like motioness waves
in the distance, while between them all
space is r;,kcd up tidily Then comes
the last process, 10 roll these long wind
rows into haycocks, turning the hay on
thier forks, over and over, and clearing
the ground ut every turn, as the BOYS do
the huge SNOWFALL, which it takes four or
five of them to .movc-until the haycock
Is as high as Il mans head, and not a YES
tige of a windrow Is left when the work
is finished by the rakers. Rolling those
huge haycocks together is hard work and
when you see it done, you marvel not at
the quantity of beer the men drink. la
boring as they do, in the hot open sun
shine OF June. We then see the Ioodcd
haywagons leaving the fields, rocking ms
they cross the burrows, over which wheels
but rarely roll; moving along green lanes
and bpfXyepn hiOh hrIraro,,-S ,,.L:I -
tool from the wains as they pass, until
new hay hangs down from every branch.
What labor it would save the birds in
building If hay was led two or three
months earlier, for nothing could be more
soft and downy for the lining of their
nests than many of the fcathered heads