The fun's meridian disk, and at the back Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or hedge Impervious to the wind. First he bids spread Dry fern or litter'd hay, that may imbibe Th' ascending damps; then leisurely impose, And lightly, shaking it with agile hand From the full fork, the faturated straw. What longest binds the closest, forms fecure The shapely fide, that as it rises takes, By just degrees, an overhanging breadth, Shelt'ring the base with its projected eaves. Th' uplifted frame, compact at ev'ry joint, And overlaid with clear translucent glass, He fettles next upon the floping mount, Whofe fharp declivity fhoots off fecure From the dafh'd pane the deluge as it falls. He shuts it close, and the first labour ends. Thrice muft the voluble and restless earth Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth, Slow gathering in the midft, through the fquare mafs
Diffus'd, attain the furface: when, behold!
A peftilent and moft corrofive steam, Like a grofs fog Bœotian, rising fast, And faft condens'd upon the dewry sash, Afks egrefs; which obtain'd, the overcharg'd And drench'd confervatory breathes abroad,
In volumes wheeling flow, the vapour dank, And purified, rejoices to have loft
Its foul inhabitant. But to affuage
Th' impatient fervour which it firft conceives Within its reeking bosom, threat'ning 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 Th' aufpicious moment, when the temper'd heat,
Friendly to vital motion, may afford Soft fomentation, and invite the feed. The feed, selected wifely, plump, and smooth, And gloffy, he commits to pots of fize Diminutive, well fill'd with well-prepar'd And fruitful foil, that has been treafur'd 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 ftand immers❜d. Then rife the tender germs, upftarting quick, And fpreading wide their spongy lobes, at first Pale, wan, and livid, but affuming foon, If fann'd by balmy and nutritious air,
Strain'd through the friendly mats, a vivid green. Two leaves produc'd, two rough indented leaves, Cautious, he pinches from the second stalk
A pimple, that portends a future fprout, And interdicts its growth. Thence ftraight fuc- ceed
The branches, sturdy to his utmost wish, Prolific all, and harbingers of more.
The crowded roots demand enlargement now, And tranfplantation in an ampler space. Indulg'd in what they wish, they foon fupply Large foliage, overshadowing golden flowers, Blown on the fummit of th' apparent fruit. These have their fexes, and when fummer fhines The bee transports the fertilizing meal From flow'r to flow'r, and ev'n 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 infures the crop.
Grudge not, ye rich, (fince luxury must have His dainties, and the world's more num'rous half Lives by contriving delicates for you)
Grudge not the cost. Ye little know the cares,
The vigilance, the labour, and the fkill, That day and night are exercis'd, and hang Upon the ticklish balance of suspense, That he may garnish your profuse regales
With fummer fruits brought forth by wintry funs. Ten thousand dangers lie in wait to thwart
The procefs. Heat and cold, and wind and fteam,
Moisture and drought, mice, worms, and fwarming flies,
Minute as duft and numberlefs, oft work Dire disappointment that admits no cure, And which no care can obviate. It were long, Too long, to tell th' expedients and the shifts Which he that fights a season so severe Devifes, while he guards his tender trust, And oft, at laft, in vain. The learn'd 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 produc'd.
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 unwith'ring leaf Shines there and flourishes. The golden boast Of Portugal and western India there, The ruddier orange and the paler lime, Peep through their polish'd foliage at the storm, And feem to fmile at what they need not fear. Th' amomum there with intermingling flow'rs And cherries hangs her twigs. Geranium boasts
Her crimson honours, and the spangled beau, Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long. All plants, of ev'ry leaf, that can endure The winter's frown, if screen'd from his fhrewd bite,
Live there and profper. Those Aufonia claims, Levantine regions thefe; th' Azores fend Their jeffamine, her jeffamine remote Caffraia; foreigners from many lands, They form one focial fhade, as if conven'd By magic fummons of th' Orphean lyre. Yet juft arrangement, rarely brought to pafs But by a master's hand, difpofing well The gay diverfities of leaf and flow'r, Muft lend its aid t' illustrate all their charms, And dress the regular yet various scene. Plant behind plant afpiring, in the van The dwarfish, in the rear retir'd, but still Sublime above the reft, the ftatelier stand. So once were rang'd the fons of ancient Rome, A nobler fhow! while Rofcius trod the ftage; And fo, while Garrick, as renown'd as he, The fons of Albion; fearing each to lofe Some note of Nature's mufic from his lips, And covetous of Shakespeare's beauty, feen In ev'ry flash of his far-beaming eye. Nor tafte alone and well-contriv'd display Suffice to give the marshall'd ranks the grace
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