into the hay loft, and opening a
little door. Fanny often went up there to look at the eggs, and play
with the young pigeons. Indeed, the old ones were quite tame, and not
at all afraid of her.

[Illustration: FANNY IN THE PIGEON HOUSE.]

All the various occupations of the neighboring farmers were observed
by these children with great attention; because they were desirous of
gaining information by their own observation. The ploughing of the
ground in the spring, and the breaking of it up with the harrow, to
prepare it for receiving grain, such as barley, rye, and wheat, were
operations which interested them very much, as well as the sowing of
the wheat, and harrowing it so as to cover the seed.

[Illustration: HOEING CORN.]

Then, again, the culture of Indian corn, or maize, was another curious
operation. They saw the farmer, after ploughing up the ground, making
it into little hillocks with his hoe; each hillock, or hill, as he
called it, received a shovel full of manure, before the corn was
dropped in, which last operation, Frank and Fanny sometimes assisted
their neighbor, Farmer Baldwin, to perform. Afterwards they saw the
farmer hoe the corn, loosening the soil round the plant, and cutting
up the weeds with his hoe. In summer, they often enjoyed a feast of
green corn, roasted or boiled, and when it was gathered, in autumn,
they assisted the farmer in husking it.

[Illustration: SHEEP WASHING.]

Farmer Baldwin's sheep were objects of great interest to the children,
and the little lambs they very justly regarded as types of purity and
innocence. When the season of sheep washing and shearing came, they
went over to the farmer's, and witnessed these amusing operations with
great delight.

[Illustration: SHEEP SHEARING]

Very sorrowful were they when they heard of the disaster which
happened to the good farmer's flock, by the great snow storm. The
sheep were in a pasture quite distant from the village, late in
autumn, when just before night there came up a sudden and violent
storm of snow, and Farmer Baldwin and his hired men got the flock home
with some difficulty, losing several lambs in the snow.

[Illustration: FARMER BALDWIN'S DISASTER.]

When the season for harvesting the grain arrived, the children's
services were sometimes required by the farmer, to carry the dinner to
the reapers, out in the field where they were reaping the wheat with
sickles, and binding it into sheaves. An expedition of this kin