Nor leaden eye the beauties that arise ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MANURING; LONDON MARKET- Thus hath the faithful Muse his lore pursued, Leaves truth uncertain. See what various crops, Or do they owe to London's rich manure CULTURE AND MANURE MUST BOTH BE USED. KINDS OF Join, then, with culture the prolific strength Or folded flock, neglect. From sprinkled soot, 1 Covent Garden, which is now a market for greens, roots, etc., was formerly a garden belonging to the monks of St. Martin's convent. 2 The bark of oak, after it has been used by the tanner. It is frequently made use of for hot-beds, particularly for raising pine-apples; and is called by the gardeners tan. From ashes strewed around, let the damp soil MANURES; SHELLY OCEAN-SANDS AND THEIR USE; PULSE AND OTHER GREEN CROPS PLOUGHED IN TURNIPS. From ocean's verge, if not too far removed Its shelly lands, convey a warm compost, From land and wave commixt with richness fraught: This the sour glebe shall sweeten, and for years, Through chilly clay, its vigorous heat shall glow. But if nor oily marl, nor crumbling tan, Nor dung of cattle, nor the trampled street, Nor weed, nor ocean's sand, can lend its aid; Then, farmer, raise immediate from their seeds The juicy stalks of largely-spreading pulse, Beans, buck-wheat, spurry, or the climbing vetch; These early reaped, and buried in the soil, Enrich the parent womb from whence they sprung. Or sow the bulbous turnip; this shall yield Sweet pasture to the flocks or lowing herds, And well prepare thy land for future crops. HEDGES AND FENCING; THE SLOE, HOLLY; THE HAWTHORN, AND HOW TO SET IT. Yet not alone to raise, but to secure Thy products from invasion, and divide For various use the appropriated fields, Disdain not thus to learn. For this, the sloe, The furze, the holly, to thy hand present Their branches, and their different merits boast. But from the nursery then with care select Quick hawthorn sets, well rooted, smooth, and Then low as sinks thy ditch on either side, [straight; Let rise in height the sloping bank; there plant Thy future fence, at intervals a foot From each to each, in beds of richest mould. HOW TO DEFEND AND CULTIVATE THE GROWING HEDGE; HEDGEROW BIRDS AND FLOWERS; CRAB-TREES. Nor ends the labor here; but to defend Their little nests, and all thy labors cheer 1 If weeds are suffered to stand till they are ripe before they are made this use of, their seeds will fill the ground, and it will be difficult to get them out again. With stocks of knotted crabs, ingrafted fruits, When autumn crowns the year, shall smile around. TREE-CULTURE; CAUSES FOR IT; CHOICE OF A NURSERY, AND ITS PROTECTION. But from low shrubs, if thy ambition rise To cultivate the larger tree, attend. From seeds, or suckers, layers, or sets, arise To plant or animal. He, then, who, pleased, A sheltered nursery; well from weeds, from shrubs, SELECTION AND PLANTING OF SEED FOR NURSERY PLANTS; SPRING-CULTURE OF SEEDLINGS. Then from the summit of the fairest tree, His seed selected ripe, and sowed in rills On nature's fruitful lap: the harrow's care Indulgent covers from keen frosts that pierce, Or vermin who devour. The wintry months In embryo close the future forest lies, And waits for germination: but in spring, When their green heads first rise above the earth, And ask thy fostering hand; then to their roots The light soil gently move, and strew around Old leaves, or littered straw, to screen from heat The tender infants. Leave not to vile weeds This friendly office; whose false kindness chokes, Or starves the nurslings they pretend to shade. TRANSPLANTING OF NURSLINGS; WHEN AND HOW. When now four summers have beheld their youth Attended in the nursery, then transplant, The soil prepared, to where thy future grove Is destined to uprear its leafy head. Avoid the error of impatience. He Who, eager to enjoy the cooling shade His hands shall raise, removes at vast expense Tall trees, with envy and regret shall see His neighbor's infant plants soon, soon outstrip The tardy loiterers of his dwindled copse. HOW TO RAISE THE BEST TIMBER. But if thy emulation's generous pride Would boast the largest timber straight and strong! 1 Not spontaneous; yet creative energy never flags; preservation is perpetual creation, and seeds and eggs are constantly being produced by the ceaseless love and wisdom of God, where neither the one nor the other existed. Aspiring still, shall spread their powerful arms, USES OF THE VARIOUS FOREST-TREES; BEECH, BOX, YEW, Nor small the praise the skilful planter claims From his befriended country. Various arts Borrow from him materials. The soft beech, And close-grained box, employ the turner's wheel, And with a thousand implements supply Mechanic skill. Their beauteous veins the yew And phyllerea lend, to surface o'er The cabinet. Smooth linden best obeys The carver's chisel: best his curious work Displays in all its nicest touches. Birch Ah! why should birch supply the chair? since oft Its cruel twigs compel the smarting youth To dread the hateful seat. Tough-bending ash Gives to the humble swain his useful plough, And for the peer his prouder chariot builds. To weave our baskets the soft osier lends His pliant twigs: staves that nor shrink nor swell, The cooper's close-wrought cask to chestnut owes. USES OF THE WALNUT-TREE, ELM, AND OAK; SHIPS; DRUID GROVES. The sweet-leaved walnut's undulated grain, Polished with care, adds to the workman's art Its varying beauties. The tall, towering elm, Scooped into hollow tubes, in secret streams Conveys for many a mile the limpid wave; Or from its height, when humbled to the ground, Conveys the pride of mortal man to dust. And last the oak, king of Britannia's woods, And guardian of her isle! whose sons robust, The best supporters of incumbent weight, Their beams and pillars to the builder give. Of strength immense or in the bounding deep The loose foundations lay of floating walls, Impregnably secure. But sunk, but fallen From all your ancient grandeur, O ye groves! Beneath whose lofty, venerable boughs, The Druid erst his solemn rites performed, And taught to distant realms his sacred lore, Where are your beauties fled? where but to serve Your thankless country, who unblushing sees, Her naked forests longing for your shade. THE PRINCE EXHORTED TO RENEW THE OAK FORESTS OF The task, the glorious task, for thee remains, The fair occasion to remotest time In every climate of the peopled earth. Let Thame once more on Windsor's lofty hills The Spaniard's terror rise renewed; and Trent, THE POET'S (DODSLEY'S) BIRTH-PLACE AND ASPIRATIONS. O native Sherwood, happy were thy bard, Might these his rural notes to future time Boast of tall groves, that, nodding o'er thy plain, Rose to their tuneful melody. But, ah! Beneath the feeble efforts of a muse Untutored by the lore of Greece or Rome; A stranger to the fair Castalian springs, Whence happier poets inspiration draw, And the sweet magic of persuasive song,The weak presumption, the fond hope expires. Yet sure some sacred impulse stirs my breast! I feel, I feel, an heavenly guest within! And all-obedient to the ruling God, The pleasing task which he inspires pursue. DRAINING IRRIGATION. And hence, disdaining low and trivial things; A hollow trench; which, arched at half its depth, LANDSCAPE-GARDENING; A TASTEFULLY LAID OUT FARM; WALKS WALL-FRUITS, ESCULENTS. But sing, O muse! the swain, the happy swain, Whom taste and nature, leading o'er his fields, Conduct to every rural beauty. See! Before his footsteps winds the waving walk, Here gently rising, there descending slow, Through the tall grove, or near the water's brink, Where flowers besprinkled paint the shelving bank, And weeping willows bend to kiss the stream. Now wandering o'er the lawn he roves, and now Beneath the hawthorn's secret shade reclines : Where purple violets hang their bashful heads, Where yellow cowslips, and the blushing pink, Their mingled sweets and lovely hues combine. 1 The officers on board the Spanish fleet, in 1588, called the Invincible Armada, had it in their orders, if they could not subdue the island, at least to destroy the forest of Dean, which is in the neighborhood of the river Severn. Here sheltered from the north, his ripening fruits Display their sweet temptations from the wall, Or from the gay espalier: while below, His various esculents, from glowing beds, Give the fair promise of delicious feasts. THE GROVE, AND ITS MOSS-GROWN, RUINED TEMPLE. There from his forming hand new scenes arise, The fair creation of his fancy's eye. Lo! bosomed in the solemn, shady grove, Whose reverend branches wave on yonder hill, He views the moss-grown temple's ruined tower, Covered with creeping ivy's clustered leaves; The mansion seeming of some rural god, Whom nature's choristers, in untaught hymns Of wild yet sweetest harmony, adore. A PROSPECT OVER AN IMPROVED AND CULTIVATED LANDSCAPE SHRUBS; THE ORANGE, ALMOND, PINE, GELDERROSE, ACACIA, ROSES, HONEYSUCKLE, MEZEREON, LAURUSTINUS, LABURNUM. From the bold brow of that aspiring steep, Where hang the nibbling flocks, and view below Their downward shadows in the glassy wave, What pleasing landscapes spread before his eye! Of scattered villages, and winding streams, And meadows green, and woods, and distant spires, Seeming, above the blue horizon's bound, To prop the canopy of Heaven. Now lost Amidst a blooming wilderness of shrubs, The golden orange, arbute ever green, The early-blooming almond, feathery pine, Fair opulus, to spring, to autumn dear, And the sweet shades of varying verdure caught From soft acacia's gently waving branch, Heedless he wanders: while the grateful scents Of sweet-brier, roses, honeysuckles wild, Regale the smell; and to the enchanted eye Mezereon's purple, laurustinus white, And pale laburnum's pendent flowers display Their different beauties. LAWNS; WATERFALLS; HAUNTS OF MEDITATION. O'er the smooth-shorn grass His lingering footsteps leisurely proceed, 1 The gelder-rose, a marsh shrub, called also the snowball tree. APOSTROPHE TO THE GENIUS OF GARDENS; PARADISE, THE DUTCH GARDENS REPROBATED; THEIR STIFFNESS AND ANGULARITY. Drive then Batavia's monsters from our shades; Of plans by line and compass, rules abhorred CHISWICK GARDENS; RICHMOND AND OATLAND. And, lo! the progress of thy steps appears On Oatland's brow, where grandeur sits enthroned, THE VALE OF ESHER; SOUTHCOTE'S GROUNDS AND HAGLEY PARK DESCRIBED. In the lovely vale Of Esher, where the Mole glides lingering, loth 1 The taste for straight lines, regular platforms, and clipt trees, was imported from Holland at the Revolution. 2 Mr. Southcote's estate. HE GARDENS OF EPICURUS. Hail, sweet retirement! Wisdom's peaceful seat! This fair established truth! Ye blissful bowers, I see the sage : I hear, I hear his voice. THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF EPICURUS, CALLED GARDEN PHILOSOPHY; TEMPERANCE, COURAGE, FORTITUDE. 6 The end of life is happiness; the means That end to gain, fair virtue gives alone. From the vain phantoms of delusive fear, Or strong desire's intemperance, spring the woes Which human life embitter. O, my sons, From error's darkening clouds, from groundless fear Enfeebling all her powers, with early skill, Clear the bewildered mind. Let fortitude Establish in your breasts her steadfast throne ; So shall the stings of evil fix no wound : Nor dread of poverty, nor pain, nor grief, Nor life's disasters, nor the fear of death, Shake the just purpose of your steady souls. The golden curb of temperance next prepare, To rein the impetuous sallies of desire. AVOID ANGER, AMBITION, LEWDNESS, AVARICE. 'He who the kindling sparks of anger checks, Safe from the blast which shakes the towering pile, MODERATION TAUGHT WATER AND GARDEN-ROOTS, HERBS And see, my friends, this garden's little bound, To thirst delicious. Hence nor fevers rise, 1 Epicurus, who, on account of teaching in his garden, was called the garden philosopher; and his disciples, philosophers of the garden. He died at Athens. B.C. 270, aged 71. Of hay-making. A method of preserving hay from being mow-burnt, or taking fire. Of harvest, and the harvesthome. The praises of England with regard to its various products. Apples. Hops. Hemp. Flax. Coals. Fuller's earth. Stone. Lead. Tin. Iron. Dyer's herbs. Esculents. Medicinals. Transitions from the cultivation of the earth to the care of sheep, cattle, and horses. Of feeding sheep. Of their diseases. Sheep-shearing. Of improving the breed. Of the dairy and its products. Of horses. The draught-horse, road-horse, hunter, race-horse, and warhorse. Concluding with an address to the Prince to prefer the arts of peace to those of war. FARM-PRODUCTS; MOWING, HAY-RAKING. While thus at ease, beneath embellished shades, We rove delighted; lo! the ripening mead Calls forth the laboring hinds. In slanting rows, With still-approaching step, and levelled stroke, The early mower, bending o'er his scythe, Lays low the slender grass; emblem of man, Falling beneath the ruthless hand of time. Then follows blithe, equipped with fork and rake, In light array, the train of nymphs and swains. Wide o'er the field, their labor seeming sport, They toss the withering herbage. Light it flies, Borne on the wings of zephyr; whose soft gale, Now while the ascending sun's bright beam exhales The grateful sweetness of the new-mown hay, Breathing refreshment, fans the toiling swain. THE HAYMAKERS; THEIR MIRTH; LUNCHEON; THE HAYCART, BARN, HAY-STACK. And soon the jocund dale and echoing hill Resound with merriment. The simple jest, The village tale of scandal, and the taunts Of rude unpolished wit, raise sudden bursts Of laughter from beneath the spreading oak, Where, thrown at ease and sheltered from the sun, The plain repast and wholesome beverage cheer Their spirits. Light as air they spring, renewed, To social labor soon the ponderous wain Moves slowly onwards with its fragrant load, And swells the barn capacious: or, to crown Their toil, large tapering pyramids they build, The magazines of plenty, to insure From winter's want the flocks and lowing herds. HOW TO OBVIATE THE EFFECTS OF A SHOWER IN WETTING THE HAY; SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. But do the threatening clouds precipitate Thy work, and hurry to the field thy team, Ere the sun's heat, or penetrating wind, Hath drawn its moisture from the fading grass? Or hath the bursting shower thy labors drenched 1 Epicurus placed in his garden a statue of the Venus Celestis, which probably he might intend should be symbolical of his doctrine. With sudden inundation? Ah, with care Or on the rising rick. The smothered damps, WHEAT-HARVEST; RAVAGES OF THE TEMPEST AND THE DE STRUCTIVE CHASE; OPPRESSIVE TRESPASSES OF WEALTH UPON POVERTY. Now with enraptured eye toil, and its reward, And now the ruler of the golden day His frighted sense with dread. Near and more near WHEAT-SHEAFS; BEER; RYE; OATS; THE LAST LOAD; HARVEST-HOME; THE FESTIVAL OF HARVEST-HOME. Now see the yellow fields, with laborers spread, Resign their treasures to the reaper's hand. |