The Cecil Whig., 1881-06-04

A SPRING OPENING.
Furm tie -itIuni;r NoaMla


/ Econ, tie -itiuHtic lio!Hhla.
When does the Spring begin? IN No
yember. if we credit the witch hazel: for
no sooner has this vernal hearted crea-
ture stripped off her last Summers raj
ment than she decks herself out in yel-
low gimps and fringes, seeming to say,
! through the ominous rustic of falling
! leaves, :" Neighbors. you are all mistaken
i'll giving up and going to sleep. See
! how thrifty and courageous am
! Indeed. throughout the Winter. na-
lures active and crescive principle seems
never held wholly in allegiance. From
time to time, some precocious member of
4 dormant family, plant or animal, may
be observed awake and stirring, as one
who. having much an hand to accom-
plish. makes an early start by candle
light. The ground hog is probably not
the only cave dwelling worthy gifted
with meteorological second sight The
sleeping earth divncS.
have always wondered ut the remark
I able presumption Of the almanac makers
in furnishing us with time table show
ING the arrivals and departures of the
| seasons. They quarter the year by
means of eqninoxes and solstices, and we
good humoredly accept the arbitrary di-
visions. The only difficulty is the great
number and frequency of natures nova
ble festivals. which no statistician can
tabulate, the order being completed
changed from year to year. 1t takes the
united skill and experience of Old Prob
abilities. the naturalist and the poet to
run the line of survey exact between
Winter and Spring. The frontier is con-
stantly shifting. \ few days OF sun
shine push it forward many leagues i'll
favor of Spring: but the north wind,
making brisk assault from behind its
icy intrenchments, repels the invasion,
and reconquers the disputed territory for
| Winter.
1t is still February. You may treat it
as Dies Februatns, day of publication and
sacrifice: or, as the merry month of
Sprout kele. following the family hope
full suggestion of the old Saxon calendar.
TIL long snow has retreated under
ground, or is fast being carried OF by
numerous plcthoric streams, yellow and
seething as torrents Of lava lately spilled
from some volcano crater, presumably
not far away. The earth everywhere
looks shriveled and mummy like, giving
us the impression that the cerements
have been folded back prematurely, or
that the miracle of resurrection lags far
behind the hour appointed. Last years
crisp leaves takes spasmodic flights, like
bits of paper blown about in the electric
current. They sail SO high, one might
fancy they drifted into the folds and
creascs of the ragged, low-lying clouds
that characterize Februarys sky. In
yonder corn fields the pumpkin vines lie
scattered about in withered festoons
suggesting that the Lernean snake may
have been captured there, dispatched,
and left to dry away in the sunshine
Some trees in the orchard still bear a
remnant of their last years iruitaGc
there are your cold, frost baked apples,
there your cider, we'll mulled and war
ranted not to intoxicatc. Here are black
walnuts, Enthusiastically mined out by the
squirrels, reminding one of the ingeni
Gus knick knacks carved of bone OF
other material by soldiers in prison.
These shells would now do string for q
rustic rosary, on which To bead our pray,
ers to the sylvan deity. Here is L spar
row nest, plucke'l from its branch and
thrown away by the wind as 1 thing ca
pable OF no more service. 1t interests us
as some abandoned cabin on the edge OF
the wilderness might. Any tenement
that has at once sheltered a family, birtl's
brood or mans brood, has for us a Ger
tain pathetic Silggestiveness: we hate tc
see the old homestead given over to de
structon. This cottage in Il tree. OF
examination, proves to have been built
almost entirely OF dandelion down Co
which there was abundance early last
Spring,) strengthened by few Ions
tough grasses, answering for king posts
and tie beams.
As soon rs the snow is of | find in tho
orchard evidence of extensive agrcul-
tural operations. that have been carriet
on all Winter under cover of the deel
snow drifts. | know the husbandmal
who scooped out these primitive looking
burrows. He is. in himself. a most curl
ous piece of combination machinery, hi
nose being 4 natural plow share, and hi
fore arm natural spade. lie may b'
characterized as the original Autochthon
being earth of the eartl,-a rlod, with ;
little instinct superadded. He is know
by hearsay as the mole. lsare are th
glimpses one may have of this sh,
grounding. The field of his operation
is scarcely less ambitious than that whicl
Kubla Khan inclosed for the site of hi
pleasure house:
'.Twice five miles of fertile ground
| With walls and towers We're girdled round
If you lay open the soil, thinking to fol
low his trail, you will be surprised at til
great number of turns he has made-t
the right. to the left, back again upo
his traces.-until you find one deep Dor
which descends, apparently, to the nadil
. II your eXcayating tools are good enong
and your patience is also good, you ma
come upon him comfortably lozing il
the penetralia Of the earth.
There is likewise architectural cvidenc
above-ground of the Information Of hi
neighbor. the geld mouse. That 10,
grass thatch, looking precisely like tn
: geographical picture of lIottento
/ house, is his. Thrust your finger
! through the front door and gently lift o
! the roof, and you will see as cosy dom
cile as ever sheltered feathered bipeG
1t would seem that this obscure citiZe
of the earth had some time been to schoc
to the wren or sparrow, so nest-like ar
structure and appointment Of his sleel
ing chamber. | never found much els
in his larder than Il few apple seeds
small Indication, indeed, of riotous Liz
ing. 4 good many well-riddled apple
lying in the path of his explorations sue
gested that he had been-living on til
vegetarian plan through the winter.