Must prompt him, and admonish how to catch The aufpicious moment, when the tempered heat, Friendly to vital motion, may afford
Soft fomentation, and invite the feed.
The feed, felected wifely, plump, and smooth,
And gloffy, he commits to pots of fize
Diminutive, well filled with well-prepared
And fruitful foil, that has been treasured long,
And drank no moisture from the dripping clouds :
These on the warm and genial earth, that hides
The smoking manure and o'erfpreads it all,
He places lightly, and, as time fubdues
The rage of fermentation, plunges deep
In the foft medium, till they stand immersed.
Then rife the tender germs, upftarting quick,
And spreading wide their spongy lobes; at first
Pale, wan, and livid; but affuming foon,
If fanned by balmy and nutritious air,
Strained through the friendly mats, a vivid green.
Two leaves produced, two rough indented leaves,
Cautious he pinches from the second stalk
A pimple, that portends a future sprout,
And interdicts its growth. Thence ftraight fucceed
The branches, fturdy to his utmost wish;
Prolific all, and harbingers of more.
The crowded roots demand enlargement now,
And transplantation in an ampler space.
Indulged in what they with, they foon fupply
Large foliage, overshadowing golden flowers,
Blown on the fummit of the apparent fruit.
These have their fexes! and, when fummer fhines,
The bee tranfports the fertilizing meal
From flower to flower, and e'en the breathing air
Wafts the rich prize to its appointed use.
Not fo when winter fcowls. Affiftant art
Then acts in nature's office, brings to pass
The glad efpoufals, and enfures the crop.
Grudge not ye rich, (fince luxury muft have His dainties, and the world's more numerous half Lives by contriving delicates for you)
Grudge not the coft. Ye little know the cares,
The vigilance, the labour, and the skill,
That day and night are exercised, and hang
Upon the ticklish balance of suspense,
That ye may garnish your profuse regales
With fummer fruits brought forth by wintry funs.
Ten thousand dangers lie in wait to thwart
The process. Heat and cold, and wind, and fteam, Moisture and drought, mice, worms, and swarming
Minute as duft, and numberless, oft work
Dire disappointment, that admits no cure,
And which no care can obviate. It were long,
Too long, to tell the expedients and the shifts,
Which he that fights a season so severe
Devises, while he guards his tender trust;
And oft at laft in vain. The learned and wife
Sarcaftic would exclaim, and judge the fong
Cold as its theme, and like its theme the fruit
Of too much labour, worthless when produced.
Who loves a garden loves a green-house too. Unconscious of a lefs propitious clime, There blooms exotic beauty, warm and fnug, While the winds whistle and the fnows defcend. The spiry myrtle with unwithering leaf Shines there, and flourishes. The golden boaft Of Portugal and western India there, The ruddier orange, and the paler lime, Peep through their polished foliage at the storm, And feem to fmile at what they need not fear.
The amomum there with intermingling flowers And cherries hangs her twigs.
Her crimson honours, and the spangled beau,
Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long.
All plants, of every leaf, that can endure
The winter's frown, iffcreened from his fhrewd bite,
Live there, and profper. Thofe Aufonia claims,
Levantine regions thefe; the Azores fend
Their jeffamine, her jeffamine remote
Caffraia: foreigners from many lands,
They form one focial fhade, as if convened
By magic fummons of the Orphean lyre.
Yet juft arrangement, rarely brought to pafs
But by a master's hand, disposing well
The gay diverfities of leaf and flower,
Muft lend its aid to illuftrate all their charms,
And dress the regular yet various fcene.
Plant behind plant aspiring, in the van
The dwarfish, in the rear retired, but ftill
Sublime above the reft, the statelier stand.
So once were ranged the fons of ancient Rome,
A noble fhow! while Rofcius trod the stage;
And fo, while Garrick, as renowned as he,
The fons of Albion; fearing each to lose
Some note of Nature's mufic from his lips,
And covetous of Shakespeare's beauty, feent
In every flash of his far-beaming eye.
Nor tafte alone and well-contrived display
Suffice to give the marthalled ranks the grace
Of their complete effect. Much yet remains
Unfung, and many cares are yet behind,
And more laborious; cares on which depend
Their vigour, injured foon, not foon restored.
The foil must be renewed, which often washed
Lofes its treasure of salubrious falts,
And disappoints the roots; the flender roots
Close interwoven, where they meet the vase,
Muft fmooth be fhorn away; the sapless branch
Muft fly before the knife; the withered leaf
Must be detached, and where it ftrews the floor
Swept with a woman's neatness, breeding else
Contagion, and diffeminating death.
Discharge but thefe kind offices, (and who
Would spare, that loves them, offices like these?)
Well they reward the toil. The fight is pleased,
The fcent regaled, each odoriferous leaf,
Each opening bloffom, freely breathes abroad
Its gratitude, and thanks him with its sweets.
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