fall off. Whole months pass away before the ear of corn ventures to appear and expose itself to the air; but as soon as every thing is prepared for the formation of the blossoms and fruit, they all appear in a few days. With what skill, also, are the stalks and the ears of corn constructed! If the former were higher, the nutritive juice could not so well penetrate into them; if, on the contrary, the corn had been placed lower, the moisture would have made it spring up before it was reaped; birds and other animals would get at and destroy it. If the stem was weaker and smaller, the wind would break it; and if it was stronger and thicker, little animals might lodge in it, birds would perch upon it, and pick out the grain.

SEPTEMBER.

"Now soften'd suns a mellow lustre shed,
The laden orchards glow with tempting red;
On hazel boughs the clusters hang embrown'd,

And with the sportman's war the new-shorn fields resound."

THIS is, in general, a very agreeable month, the distinguishing softness and serenity of autumn, with its deep blue skies, prevailing through great part of it. The days are now very sensibly shortened; and the mornings and evenings are chill and damp, though the warmth is still considerable in the middle of the day. This variation of temperature is one cause why autumn is an unhealthy time, especially in the warmer climates, and in moist situations.

The labours of the husbandman have but a very short intermission; for, no sooner is the harvest gathered in, than the fields are again ploughed up and prepared for the winter corn, rye, and wheat, which are sown during this month and the next

Not only the swallow-tribe, but many other small birds which feed on insects, disappear on the approach of cold weather, when the insects themselves are no longer to be met with.

On the other hand, some birds arrive at this season from still more northerly countries, to spend the winter with us. The fieldfare and red wing, whose departure was mentioned in March, return about the end of September. They feed chiefly on the berries with which our woods and hedges are plentifully stored all the winter.

The most useful fruit this country affords, the apple, successively ripens, according to its different kinds, from July to September or October; but the principal harvest of them is about the close of this month. They are now gathered for our English vintage, the cider-making, which, in some counties, is a busy and important employment.

Pears, treated in the same manner, yield a vinous liquor called perry. These are the common drinks in the counties where they are chiefly made.

Partridge-shooting commences on the 14th of this month. Partridges feed on grain and other seeds scratched up; therefore live chiefly on the ground, making much use of their legs, and little of their wings. They pair early in the spring, the hen sit

ting twenty-two days, and the young coming forth. full feathered, like chickens. When the young ones are attacked, the old ones exhibit wonderful instances of attachment, and even feign being wounded, to draw off the pursuers from the nest. They retire to the groves in the day time, to the open stubble in the night; and, when man begins his

he obliges them, by pointers, to take wing, for the purpose of shooting them, or enclosing them in a net, when they remain on the ground; and it is highly admirable to observe

"How, in his mid-career, the spaniel, struck
Stiff by the tainted gale, with open nose,
Outstretch'd and cautious, on the latent prey;
As in the sun the circling covey bask

Their varied plumes, and, watchful every way,
Thro' the rough stubble turn the secret eye."

In this month the snake casts his skin, parting by rolling itself in the grass, with its whole external cover; even the outer coat of the eyes scale off, and is left in the head of the slough like a pair of spectacles.

Hazel nuts are now gathered in our thickets and gardens in this month. The oak sheds its acorns, and the nuts fall from the beech, both of which are called mast.

The autumnal equinox, when day and night are again equal over the whole globe, happens about the

23d of this month, and is often attended with heavy storms of wind and rain, which throw down much of the fruit yet remaining on the trees.

At the end of the month the leaves of many trees lose their given colours, and begin their grave autumnal tints, indicative of the approaching desolation of winter; which

"comes to rule the varied year,

Sullen and sad, with all her rising train,
Vapours, and clouds, and storms."

Fruit.

This is the happy season in which Divine Goodness lavishes all sorts of fruit upon us in great abundance. The charms of summer give place to more solid enjoyments. The boughs of the apple-tree bend under the weight of that golden fruit, the beauty of which is still heightened by its purple streaks. The melting pear, the plum sweet as honey, display their charms, and seem to invite the hand of their master. Should we not be unpardonable, if the sight of these blessings which we owe to the munificence of God, did not create in us grateful reflections, and by such means sanctify the pleasures of autumn?

There is hardly any food so wholesome as fruits. It was with a benificent view that Providence gave them to us in a season when they are not only pleasing and refreshing to us, but also excellent in a

medicinal way. Apples come seasonably during the heat of summer, because they temper the heat of the blood, and cool the stomach and bowels. The plums have an acid sweetness, with an oily, softening juice, which may make them useful in many cases. They gently open the body, and correct the acrid humours, which so often occasion inflammatory disorders. Nothing certainly is more delicious than fruit. Each sort has a peculiar flavour to itself. This variety renders them doubly pleasing to us. Thus, God, like a tender father, provides not only for the support of his creatures, but also for their. pleasure.

Herrings.

This is the season in which they fish for herrings on the coast of England and Scotland; by which means we receive a great quantity of these fish, which feed the poor as well as the rich during the whole year. Let us examine what is most important in the natural history of these fish. Innumerable shoals of herrings live in the Frozen Sea, near the Arctic Pole; but at a certain period they quit that place, and come in multitudes to the coasts of England and Scotland. It is not yet positively ascertained what may be the cause of this emigration. Some think it is to avoid whales and other great fish in the frozen seas; others imagine that the prodigious increase of the herrings obliges them to take these long voyages, and to divide into separate colo