The fence withdrawn, he gives them every beam, And spreads his hopes before the blaze of day.
To raife the prickly and green-coated gourd, So grateful to the palate, and when rare So coveted, elfe bafe and difefteemed- Food for the vulgar merely-is an art That toiling ages have but just matured, And at this moment unaffayed in fong.
Yet gnats have had, and frogs and mice, long fince, Their eulogy; those fang the Mantuan bard, And these the Grecian, in ennobling strains; And in thy numbers, Phillips, shines for aye The folitary fhilling. Pardon then, Ye fage difpenfers of poetic fame,
The ambition of one meaner far, whofe powers, Prefuming an attempt not less fublime, Pant for the praise of dreffing to the tafte Of critic appetite, no fordid fare,
A cucumber, while coftly yet and scarce.
The ftable yields a ftercoraceous heap, Impregnated with quick fermenting falts, And potent to refift the freezing blaft: For, ere the beech and elm have caft their leaf Deciduous, when now November dark
Checks vegetation in the torpid plant
Expofed to his cold breath, the task begins. Warily therefore and with prudent heed He feeks a favoured spot; that where he builds The agglomerated pile his frame may front The fun's meridian disk, and at the back Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or hedge Impervious to the wind. Firft he bids spread Dry fern or littered hay, that may imbibe The afcending damps ; then leifurely impofe, And lightly, fhaking it with agile hand From the full fork, the faturated ftraw. What longeft binds the clofeft forms fecure The shapely fide, that as it rises takes, By juft degrees, an overhanging breadth, Sheltering the base with its projected eaves; The uplifted frame, compact at every joint, And overlaid with clear translucent glafs, He fettles next upon the floping mount, Whose sharp declivity fhoots off fecure From the dashed pane the deluge as it falls. He shuts it clofe, and the firft labour ends. Thrice muft the voluble and reftless earth Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth, Slow gathering in the midft, through the square mafs Diffused, attain the furface: when, behold!
A peftilent and most corrofive ftream, Like a grofs fog Boeotian, rifing faft, And faft condenfed upon the dewy fash, Afks egrefs; which obtained, the overcharged And drenched confervatory breathes abroad, In volumes wheeling flow, the vapour dank; And purified rejoices to have loft
Its foul inhabitant. But to affuage
The impatient fervour, which it firft conceives Within its reeking bofom, threatening death To his young hopes, requires difcreet delay. Experience, flow preceptrefs, teaching oft The way to glory by miscarriage foul, Muft 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: Thefe on the warm and genial earth, that hides The fmoking 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, upstarting quick, And fpreading wide their spongy lobes; at firft 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 fprout,
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 tranfplantation in an ampler space. Indulged in what they wish, they foon supply Large foliage, overshadowing golden flowers, Blown on the fummit of the apparent fruit. These have their fexes! and, when fummer fhines, The bee transports 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 pafs The glad efpoufals, and enfures the crop.
Grudge not ye rich, (fince luxury muft have His dainties, and the world's more numerous hair
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 fufpenfe,
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 steam, Moisture and drought, mice, worms, and fwarming flies' 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 feafon fo fevere Devises, while he guards his tender truft; 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, worthlefs 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 whiftle and the fnows defcend.
The fpiry myrtle with unwithering leaf
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