In the foft medium, till they stand immers❜d.
Then rife the tender germs, upftarting quick,
And spreading 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 sprout,
And interdicts its growth. Thence ftraight fucceed The branches, sturdy to his utmost wish,
Prolific all, and harbingers of more.
The crowded roots demand enlargement now,
And transplantation in an ampler space.
Indulg'd in what they wish, they soon supply
Large foliage, overshadowing golden flowers,
Blown on the fummit of th'
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 coft. Ye little know the cares,
The vigilance, the labor, and the skill,
That day and night are exercis'd, and hang
Upon the ticklish balance of fufpenfe,
That ye may garnish your profufe 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 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 fo fevere
Devifes, while he guards his tender trust,
And oft, at laft, in vain. The learn'd and wife
Sarcastic would exclaim, and judge the fong
Cold as its theme, and, like its theme, the fruit
Of too much labor, worthlefs 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 weftern India there,
The ruddier orange and the paler lime,
Peep through their polish'd foliage at the storm,
And seem to fmile at what they need not fear.
Th' amomum there with intermingling flow'rs
And cherries hangs her twigs, Geranium boasts
Her crimson honors, 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 social shade, as if conven'd
By magic fummons of th' Orphean lyre.
Yet just arrangement, rarely brought to pass
But by a master's hand, difpofing well
gay diverfities of leaf and flow'r,
Muft lend its aid t' illuftrate all their charms,
And dress the regular yet various scene.
Plant behind plant aspiring, in the van
The dwarfish, in the rear retir'd, but still
Sublime above the reft, the ftatelier ftand.
So once were rang'd the fons of ancient Rome,
A noble show! while Rofcius trod the stage;
And fo, while Garrick, as renown'd as he,
The fons of Albion; fearing each to lose
Some note of Nature's music from his lips,
And covetous of Shakespeare's beauty, feen
In ev'ry flash of his far-beaming eye.
Nor taste alone and well-contriv'd display
Suffice to give the marshall'd 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 vigor, injur'd foon, not foon restor’d.
The foil must be renew'd, which, often wafh'd,
Lofes its treasure of falubrious falts,
And difappoints the roots; the flender roots
Close interwoven, where they meet the vase
Muft fmooth be fhorn away; the faplefs branch.
Muft fly before the knife; the wither'd leaf
Must be detach'd, and where it ftrews the floor
Swept with a woman's neatnefs, breeding else
Contagion, and diffeminating death.
Discharge but thefe kind offices, (and who
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