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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3135-0.txt b/3135-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3544184 --- /dev/null +++ b/3135-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3301 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer in a Garden, and Calvin, +A Study Of Character, by Charles Dudley Warner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Summer in a Garden, and Calvin, A Study Of Character + +Author: Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: August 20, 2016 [EBook #3135] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER IN A GARDEN *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +SUMMER IN A GARDEN + +and + +CALVIN, A STUDY OF CHARACTER + + +By Charles Dudley Warner + + + + +INTRODUCTORY LETTER + +MY DEAR MR. FIELDS,--I did promise to write an Introduction to these +charming papers but an Introduction,--what is it?--a sort of pilaster, +put upon the face of a building for looks' sake, and usually flat,--very +flat. Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, which is, as I understand +it, a cruel device of architecture, representing a man or a woman, +obliged to hold up upon his or her head or shoulders a structure which +they did not build, and which could stand just as well without as with +them. But an Introduction is more apt to be a pillar, such as one may +see in Baalbec, standing up in the air all alone, with nothing on it, +and with nothing for it to do. + +But an Introductory Letter is different. There is in that no formality, +no assumption of function, no awkward propriety or dignity to be +sustained. A letter at the opening of a book may be only a footpath, +leading the curious to a favorable point of observation, and then +leaving them to wander as they will. + +Sluggards have been sent to the ant for wisdom; but writers might better +be sent to the spider, not because he works all night, and watches all +day, but because he works unconsciously. He dare not even bring his work +before his own eyes, but keeps it behind him, as if too much knowledge +of what one is doing would spoil the delicacy and modesty of one's work. + +Almost all graceful and fanciful work is born like a dream, that comes +noiselessly, and tarries silently, and goes as a bubble bursts. And yet +somewhere work must come in,--real, well-considered work. + +Inness (the best American painter of Nature in her moods of real human +feeling) once said, “No man can do anything in art, unless he has +intuitions; but, between whiles, one must work hard in collecting the +materials out of which intuitions are made.” The truth could not be hit +off better. Knowledge is the soil, and intuitions are the flowers which +grow up out of it. The soil must be well enriched and worked. + +It is very plain, or will be to those who read these papers, now +gathered up into this book, as into a chariot for a race, that the +author has long employed his eyes, his ears, and his understanding, in +observing and considering the facts of Nature, and in weaving curious +analogies. Being an editor of one of the oldest daily news-papers in New +England, and obliged to fill its columns day after day (as the village +mill is obliged to render every day so many sacks of flour or of meal +to its hungry customers), it naturally occurred to him, “Why not write +something which I myself, as well as my readers, shall enjoy? The +market gives them facts enough; politics, lies enough; art, affectations +enough; criminal news, horrors enough; fashion, more than enough of +vanity upon vanity, and vexation of purse. Why should they not have some +of those wandering and joyous fancies which solace my hours?” + +The suggestion ripened into execution. Men and women read, and wanted +more. These garden letters began to blossom every week; and many hands +were glad to gather pleasure from them. A sign it was of wisdom. In our +feverish days it is a sign of health or of convalescence that men love +gentle pleasure, and enjoyments that do not rush or roar, but distill as +the dew. + +The love of rural life, the habit of finding enjoyment in familiar +things, that susceptibility to Nature which keeps the nerve gently +thrilled in her homliest nooks and by her commonest sounds, is worth a +thousand fortunes of money, or its equivalents. + +Every book which interprets the secret lore of fields and gardens, every +essay that brings men nearer to the understanding of the mysteries which +every tree whispers, every brook murmurs, every weed, even, hints, is +a contribution to the wealth and the happiness of our kind. And if the +lines of the writer shall be traced in quaint characters, and be filled +with a grave humor, or break out at times into merriment, all this will +be no presumption against their wisdom or his goodness. Is the oak less +strong and tough because the mosses and weather-stains stick in all +manner of grotesque sketches along its bark? Now, truly, one may not +learn from this little book either divinity or horticulture; but if he +gets a pure happiness, and a tendency to repeat the happiness from the +simple stores of Nature, he will gain from our friend's garden what Adam +lost in his, and what neither philosophy nor divinity has always been +able to restore. + +Wherefore, thanking you for listening to a former letter, which begged +you to consider whether these curious and ingenious papers, that go +winding about like a half-trodden path between the garden and the field, +might not be given in book-form to your million readers, I remain, yours +to command in everything but the writing of an Introduction, + +HENRY WARD BEECHER. + + + + + +BY WAY OF DEDICATION + +MY DEAR POLLY,--When a few of these papers had appeared in “The +Courant,” I was encouraged to continue them by hearing that they had at +least one reader who read them with the serious mind from which alone +profit is to be expected. It was a maiden lady, who, I am sure, was no +more to blame for her singleness than for her age; and she looked to +these honest sketches of experience for that aid which the professional +agricultural papers could not give in the management of the little bit +of garden which she called her own. She may have been my only disciple; +and I confess that the thought of her yielding a simple faith to what a +gainsaying world may have regarded with levity has contributed much +to give an increased practical turn to my reports of what I know about +gardening. The thought that I had misled a lady, whose age is not her +only singularity, who looked to me for advice which should be not at all +the fanciful product of the Garden of Gull, would give me great pain. I +trust that her autumn is a peaceful one, and undisturbed by either the +humorous or the satirical side of Nature. + +You know that this attempt to tell the truth about one of the most +fascinating occupations in the world has not been without its dangers. I +have received anonymous letters. Some of them were murderously spelled; +others were missives in such elegant phrase and dress, that danger +was only to be apprehended in them by one skilled in the mysteries of +medieval poisoning, when death flew on the wings of a perfume. One lady, +whose entreaty that I should pause had something of command in it, wrote +that my strictures on “pusley” had so inflamed her husband's zeal, +that, in her absence in the country, he had rooted up all her beds of +portulaca (a sort of cousin of the fat weed), and utterly cast it out. +It is, however, to be expected, that retributive justice would visit +the innocent as well as the guilty of an offending family. This is only +another proof of the wide sweep of moral forces. I suppose that it is +as necessary in the vegetable world as it is elsewhere to avoid the +appearance of evil. + +In offering you the fruit of my garden, which has been gathered from +week to week, without much reference to the progress of the crops or the +drought, I desire to acknowledge an influence which has lent half the +charm to my labor. If I were in a court of justice, or injustice, under +oath, I should not like to say, that, either in the wooing days of +spring, or under the suns of the summer solstice, you had been, either +with hoe, rake, or miniature spade, of the least use in the garden; but +your suggestions have been invaluable, and, whenever used, have been +paid for. Your horticultural inquiries have been of a nature to astonish +the vegetable world, if it listened, and were a constant inspiration to +research. There was almost nothing that you did not wish to know; +and this, added to what I wished to know, made a boundless field for +discovery. What might have become of the garden, if your advice had been +followed, a good Providence only knows; but I never worked there without +a consciousness that you might at any moment come down the walk, under +the grape-arbor, bestowing glances of approval, that were none the +worse for not being critical; exercising a sort of superintendence that +elevated gardening into a fine art; expressing a wonder that was as +complimentary to me as it was to Nature; bringing an atmosphere which +made the garden a region of romance, the soil of which was set apart for +fruits native to climes unseen. It was this bright presence that filled +the garden, as it did the summer, with light, and now leaves upon it +that tender play of color and bloom which is called among the Alps the +after-glow. + +NOOK FARM, HARTFORD, October, 1870 + +C. D. W. + + + + + +PRELIMINARY + + +The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions, as it is the latest. +Mud-pies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So long as we are +dirty, we are pure. Fondness for the ground comes back to a man after +he has run the round of pleasure and business, eaten dirt, and sown +wild-oats, drifted about the world, and taken the wind of all its +moods. The love of digging in the ground (or of looking on while he pays +another to dig) is as sure to come back to him as he is sure, at last, +to go under the ground, and stay there. To own a bit of ground, to +scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch, their renewal of life, +this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing +a man can do. When Cicero writes of the pleasures of old age, that of +agriculture is chief among them: + +“Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus ego incredibiliter +delector: quae nec ulla impediuntur senectute, et mihi ad sapientis +vitam proxime videntur accedere.” (I am driven to Latin because New York +editors have exhausted the English language in the praising of spring, +and especially of the month of May.) + +Let us celebrate the soil. Most men toil that they may own a piece of +it; they measure their success in life by their ability to buy it. It is +alike the passion of the parvenu and the pride of the aristocrat. Broad +acres are a patent of nobility; and no man but feels more, of a man in +the world if he have a bit of ground that he can call his own. However +small it is on the surface, it is four thousand miles deep; and that is +a very handsome property. And there is a great pleasure in working in +the soil, apart from the ownership of it. The man who has planted a +garden feels that he has done something for the good of the World. He +belongs to the producers. It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's +toil, if it be nothing more than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn. +One cultivates a lawn even with great satisfaction; for there is nothing +more beautiful than grass and turf in our latitude. The tropics may have +their delights, but they have not turf: and the world without turf is a +dreary desert. The original Garden of Eden could not have had such turf +as one sees in England. The Teutonic races all love turf: they emigrate +in the line of its growth. + +To dig in the mellow soil-to dig moderately, for all pleasure should be +taken sparingly--is a great thing. One gets strength out of the ground +as often as one really touches it with a hoe. Antaeus (this is +a classical article) was no doubt an agriculturist; and such a +prize-fighter as Hercules could n't do anything with him till he got +him to lay down his spade, and quit the soil. It is not simply beets +and potatoes and corn and string-beans that one raises in his well-hoed +garden: it is the average of human life. There is life in the ground; it +goes into the seeds; and it also, when it is stirred up, goes into the +man who stirs it. The hot sun on his back as he bends to his shovel and +hoe, or contemplatively rakes the warm and fragrant loam, is better than +much medicine. The buds are coming out on the bushes round about; the +blossoms of the fruit trees begin to show; the blood is running up the +grapevines in streams; you can smell the Wild flowers on the near bank; +and the birds are flying and glancing and singing everywhere. To the +open kitchen door comes the busy housewife to shake a white something, +and stands a moment to look, quite transfixed by the delightful sights +and sounds. Hoeing in the garden on a bright, soft May day, when you are +not obliged to, is nearly equal to the delight of going trouting. + +Blessed be agriculture! if one does not have too much of it. All +literature is fragrant with it, in a gentlemanly way. At the foot of the +charming olive-covered hills of Tivoli, Horace (not he of Chappaqua) +had a sunny farm: it was in sight of Hadrian's villa, who did landscape +gardening on an extensive scale, and probably did not get half as much +comfort out of it as Horace did from his more simply tilled acres. We +trust that Horace did a little hoeing and farming himself, and that his +verse is not all fraudulent sentiment. In order to enjoy agriculture, +you do not want too much of it, and you want to be poor enough to have +a little inducement to work moderately yourself. Hoe while it is spring, +and enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not +turn out well. + + + + +FIRST WEEK + +Under this modest title, I purpose to write a series of papers, some of +which will be like many papers of garden-seeds, with nothing vital in +them, on the subject of gardening; holding that no man has any right to +keep valuable knowledge to himself, and hoping that those who come after +me, except tax-gatherers and that sort of person, will find profit in +the perusal of my experience. As my knowledge is constantly increasing, +there is likely to be no end to these papers. They will pursue no +orderly system of agriculture or horticulture, but range from topic to +topic, according to the weather and the progress of the weeds, which may +drive me from one corner of the garden to the other. + +The principal value of a private garden is not understood. It is not to +give the possessor vegetables or fruit (that can be better and cheaper +done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him patience and philosophy +and the higher virtues, hope deferred and expectations blighted, leading +directly to resignation and sometimes to alienation. The garden thus +becomes a moral agent, a test of character, as it was in the beginning. +I shall keep this central truth in mind in these articles. I mean to +have a moral garden, if it is not a productive one,--one that shall +teach, O my brothers! O my sisters! the great lessons of life. + +The first pleasant thing about a garden in this latitude is, that +you never know when to set it going. If you want anything to come to +maturity early, you must start it in a hot-house. If you put it out +early, the chances are all in favor of getting it nipped with frost; for +the thermometer will be 90 deg. one day, and go below 32 deg. the night +of the day following. And, if you do not set out plants or sow seeds +early, you fret continually; knowing that your vegetables will be +late, and that, while Jones has early peas, you will be watching your +slow-forming pods. This keeps you in a state of mind. When you have +planted anything early, you are doubtful whether to desire to see it +above ground, or not. If a hot day comes, you long to see the young +plants; but, when a cold north wind brings frost, you tremble lest the +seeds have burst their bands. Your spring is passed in anxious doubts +and fears, which are usually realized; and so a great moral discipline +is worked out for you. + +Now, there is my corn, two or three inches high this 18th of May, and +apparently having no fear of a frost. I was hoeing it this morning for +the first time,--it is not well usually to hoe corn until about the 18th +of May,--when Polly came out to look at the Lima beans. She seemed to +think the poles had come up beautifully. I thought they did look well: +they are a fine set of poles, large and well grown, and stand straight. +They were inexpensive, too. The cheapness came about from my cutting +them on another man's land, and he did not know it. I have not examined +this transaction in the moral light of gardening; but I know people in +this country take great liberties at the polls. Polly noticed that the +beans had not themselves come up in any proper sense, but that the dirt +had got off from them, leaving them uncovered. She thought it would be +well to sprinkle a slight layer of dirt over them; and I, indulgently, +consented. It occurred to me, when she had gone, that beans always come +up that way,--wrong end first; and that what they wanted was light, and +not dirt. + +Observation.--Woman always did, from the first, make a muss in a garden. + +I inherited with my garden a large patch of raspberries. Splendid berry +the raspberry, when the strawberry has gone. This patch has grown into +such a defiant attitude, that you could not get within several feet of +it. Its stalks were enormous in size, and cast out long, prickly arms in +all directions; but the bushes were pretty much all dead. I have walked +into them a good deal with a pruning-knife; but it is very much like +fighting original sin. The variety is one that I can recommend. I think +it is called Brinckley's Orange. It is exceedingly prolific, and has +enormous stalks. The fruit is also said to be good; but that does not +matter so much, as the plant does not often bear in this region. The +stalks seem to be biennial institutions; and as they get about their +growth one year, and bear the next year, and then die, and the winters +here nearly always kill them, unless you take them into the house (which +is inconvenient if you have a family of small children), it is very +difficult to induce the plant to flower and fruit. This is the greatest +objection there is to this sort of raspberry. I think of keeping these +for discipline, and setting out some others, more hardy sorts, for +fruit. + + + + +SECOND WEEK + +Next to deciding when to start your garden, the most important matter +is, what to put in it. It is difficult to decide what to order for +dinner on a given day: how much more oppressive is it to order in a lump +an endless vista of dinners, so to speak! For, unless your garden is a +boundless prairie (and mine seems to me to be that when I hoe it on hot +days), you must make a selection, from the great variety of vegetables, +of those you will raise in it; and you feel rather bound to supply your +own table from your own garden, and to eat only as you have sown. + +I hold that no man has a right (whatever his sex, of course) to have +a garden to his own selfish uses. He ought not to please himself, but +every man to please his neighbor. I tried to have a garden that would +give general moral satisfaction. It seemed to me that nobody could +object to potatoes (a most useful vegetable); and I began to plant them +freely. But there was a chorus of protest against them. “You don't want +to take up your ground with potatoes,” the neighbors said; “you can buy +potatoes” (the very thing I wanted to avoid doing is buying things). +“What you want is the perishable things that you cannot get fresh in +the market.”--“But what kind of perishable things?” A horticulturist of +eminence wanted me to sow lines of straw-berries and raspberries right +over where I had put my potatoes in drills. I had about five hundred +strawberry-plants in another part of my garden; but this fruit-fanatic +wanted me to turn my whole patch into vines and runners. I suppose I +could raise strawberries enough for all my neighbors; and +perhaps I ought to do it. I had a little space prepared for +melons,--muskmelons,--which I showed to an experienced friend. + +“You are not going to waste your ground on muskmelons?” he asked. “They +rarely ripen in this climate thoroughly, before frost.” He had tried for +years without luck. I resolved to not go into such a foolish experiment. +But, the next day, another neighbor happened in. “Ah! I see you are +going to have melons. My family would rather give up anything else in +the garden than musk-melons,--of the nutmeg variety. They are the most +grateful things we have on the table.” So there it was. There was no +compromise: it was melons, or no melons, and somebody offended in any +case. I half resolved to plant them a little late, so that they would, +and they would n't. But I had the same difficulty about string-beans +(which I detest), and squash (which I tolerate), and parsnips, and the +whole round of green things. + +I have pretty much come to the conclusion that you have got to put your +foot down in gardening. If I had actually taken counsel of my friends, I +should not have had a thing growing in the garden to-day but weeds. And +besides, while you are waiting, Nature does not wait. Her mind is made +up. She knows just what she will raise; and she has an infinite variety +of early and late. The most humiliating thing to me about a garden +is the lesson it teaches of the inferiority of man. Nature is prompt, +decided, inexhaustible. She thrusts up her plants with a vigor and +freedom that I admire; and the more worthless the plant, the more rapid +and splendid its growth. She is at it early and late, and all night; +never tiring, nor showing the least sign of exhaustion. + +“Eternal gardening is the price of liberty,” is a motto that I should +put over the gateway of my garden, if I had a gate. And yet it is +not wholly true; for there is no liberty in gardening. The man who +undertakes a garden is relentlessly pursued. He felicitates himself +that, when he gets it once planted, he will have a season of rest and +of enjoyment in the sprouting and growing of his seeds. It is a green +anticipation. He has planted a seed that will keep him awake nights; +drive rest from his bones, and sleep from his pillow. Hardly is the +garden planted, when he must begin to hoe it. The weeds have sprung up +all over it in a night. They shine and wave in redundant life. The docks +have almost gone to seed; and their roots go deeper than conscience. +Talk about the London Docks!--the roots of these are like the sources of +the Aryan race. And the weeds are not all. I awake in the morning (and +a thriving garden will wake a person up two hours before he ought to +be out of bed) and think of the tomato-plants,--the leaves like fine +lace-work, owing to black bugs that skip around, and can't be caught. +Somebody ought to get up before the dew is off (why don't the dew stay +on till after a reasonable breakfast?) and sprinkle soot on the leaves. +I wonder if it is I. Soot is so much blacker than the bugs, that they +are disgusted, and go away. You can't get up too early, if you have a +garden. You must be early due yourself, if you get ahead of the bugs. +I think, that, on the whole, it would be best to sit up all night, +and sleep daytimes. Things appear to go on in the night in the garden +uncommonly. It would be less trouble to stay up than it is to get up so +early. + +I have been setting out some new raspberries, two sorts,--a silver and +a gold color. How fine they will look on the table next year in a +cut-glass dish, the cream being in a ditto pitcher! I set them four +and five feet apart. I set my strawberries pretty well apart also. The +reason is, to give room for the cows to run through when they break into +the garden,--as they do sometimes. A cow needs a broader track than a +locomotive; and she generally makes one. I am sometimes astonished, +to see how big a space in, a flower-bed her foot will cover. The +raspberries are called Doolittle and Golden Cap. I don't like the name +of the first variety, and, if they do much, shall change it to Silver +Top. You never can tell what a thing named Doolittle will do. The one +in the Senate changed color, and got sour. They ripen badly,--either +mildew, or rot on the bush. They are apt to Johnsonize,--rot on the +stem. I shall watch the Doolittles. + + + + +THIRD WEEK + +I believe that I have found, if not original sin, at least vegetable +total depravity in my garden; and it was there before I went into it. It +is the bunch, or joint, or snakegrass,--whatever it is called. As I do +not know the names of all the weeds and plants, I have to do as Adam did +in his garden,--name things as I find them. This grass has a slender, +beautiful stalk: and when you cut it down, or pull up a long root of it, +you fancy it is got rid of; but in a day or two it will come up in the +same spot in half a dozen vigorous blades. Cutting down and pulling up +is what it thrives on. Extermination rather helps it. If you follow a +slender white root, it will be found to run under the ground until it +meets another slender white root; and you will soon unearth a network +of them, with a knot somewhere, sending out dozens of sharp-pointed, +healthy shoots, every joint prepared to be an independent life and +plant. The only way to deal with it is to take one part hoe and two +parts fingers, and carefully dig it out, not leaving a joint anywhere. +It will take a little time, say all summer, to dig out thoroughly a +small patch; but if you once dig it out, and keep it out, you will have +no further trouble. + +I have said it was total depravity. Here it is. If you attempt to pull +up and root out any sin in you, which shows on the surface,--if it does +not show, you do not care for it,--you may have noticed how it runs into +an interior network of sins, and an ever-sprouting branch of them roots +somewhere; and that you cannot pull out one without making a general +internal disturbance, and rooting up your whole being. I suppose it is +less trouble to quietly cut them off at the top--say once a week, on +Sunday, when you put on your religious clothes and face so that no one +will see them, and not try to eradicate the network within. + +Remark.--This moral vegetable figure is at the service of any clergyman +who will have the manliness to come forward and help me at a day's +hoeing on my potatoes. None but the orthodox need apply. + +I, however, believe in the intellectual, if not the moral, qualities of +vegetables, and especially weeds. There was a worthless vine that +(or who) started up about midway between a grape-trellis and a row of +bean-poles, some three feet from each, but a little nearer the trellis. +When it came out of the ground, it looked around to see what it should +do. The trellis was already occupied. The bean-pole was empty. There +was evidently a little the best chance of light, air, and sole +proprietorship on the pole. And the vine started for the pole, and began +to climb it with determination. Here was as distinct an act of choice, +of reason, as a boy exercises when he goes into a forest, and, looking +about, decides which tree he will climb. And, besides, how did the vine +know enough to travel in exactly the right direction, three feet, to +find what it wanted? This is intellect. The weeds, on the other hand, +have hateful moral qualities. To cut down a weed is, therefore, to do +a moral action. I feel as if I were destroying sin. My hoe becomes an +instrument of retributive justice. I am an apostle of Nature. This view +of the matter lends a dignity to the art of hoeing which nothing else +does, and lifts it into the region of ethics. Hoeing becomes, not a +pastime, but a duty. And you get to regard it so, as the days and the +weeds lengthen. + +Observation.--Nevertheless, what a man needs in gardening is a +cast-iron back,--with a hinge in it. The hoe is an ingenious instrument, +calculated to call out a great deal of strength at a great disadvantage. + +The striped bug has come, the saddest of the year. He is a moral +double-ender, iron-clad at that. He is unpleasant in two ways. He +burrows in the ground so that you cannot find him, and he flies away +so that you cannot catch him. He is rather handsome, as bugs go, but +utterly dastardly, in that he gnaws the stem of the plant close to the +ground, and ruins it without any apparent advantage to himself. I find +him on the hills of cucumbers (perhaps it will be a cholera-year, and +we shall not want any), the squashes (small loss), and the melons (which +never ripen). The best way to deal with the striped bug is to sit down +by the hills, and patiently watch for him. If you are spry, you can +annoy him. This, however, takes time. It takes all day and part of the +night. For he flieth in darkness, and wasteth at noonday. If you get +up before the dew is off the plants,--it goes off very early,--you can +sprinkle soot on the plant (soot is my panacea: if I can get the disease +of a plant reduced to the necessity of soot, I am all right) and soot +is unpleasant to the bug. But the best thing to do is to set a toad to +catch the bugs. The toad at once establishes the most intimate relations +with the bug. It is a pleasure to see such unity among the lower +animals. The difficulty is to make the toad stay and watch the hill. +If you know your toad, it is all right. If you do not, you must build +a tight fence round the plants, which the toad cannot jump over. This, +however, introduces a new element. I find that I have a zoological +garden on my hands. It is an unexpected result of my little enterprise, +which never aspired to the completeness of the Paris “Jardin des +Plantes.” + + + + +FOURTH WEEK + +Orthodoxy is at a low ebb. Only two clergymen accepted my offer to +come and help hoe my potatoes for the privilege of using my vegetable +total-depravity figure about the snake-grass, or quack-grass as some +call it; and those two did not bring hoes. There seems to be a lack of +disposition to hoe among our educated clergy. I am bound to say that +these two, however, sat and watched my vigorous combats with the weeds, +and talked most beautifully about the application of the snake-grass +figure. As, for instance, when a fault or sin showed on the surface of a +man, whether, if you dug down, you would find that it ran back and into +the original organic bunch of original sin within the man. The only +other clergyman who came was from out of town,--a half Universalist, +who said he wouldn't give twenty cents for my figure. He said that the +snake-grass was not in my garden originally, that it sneaked in under +the sod, and that it could be entirely rooted out with industry and +patience. I asked the Universalist-inclined man to take my hoe and try +it; but he said he had n't time, and went away. + +But, jubilate, I have got my garden all hoed the first time! I feel as +if I had put down the rebellion. Only there are guerrillas left here and +there, about the borders and in corners, unsubdued,--Forrest docks, +and Quantrell grass, and Beauregard pig-weeds. This first hoeing is +a gigantic task: it is your first trial of strength with the +never-sleeping forces of Nature. Several times, in its progress, I was +tempted to do as Adam did, who abandoned his garden on account of the +weeds. (How much my mind seems to run upon Adam, as if there had been +only two really moral gardens,--Adam's and mine!) The only drawback to +my rejoicing over the finishing of the first hoeing is, that the garden +now wants hoeing the second time. I suppose, if my garden were planted +in a perfect circle, and I started round it with a hoe, I should never +see an opportunity to rest. The fact is, that gardening is the old fable +of perpetual labor; and I, for one, can never forgive Adam Sisyphus, or +whoever it was, who let in the roots of discord. I had pictured myself +sitting at eve, with my family, in the shade of twilight, contemplating +a garden hoed. Alas! it is a dream not to be realized in this world. + +My mind has been turned to the subject of fruit and shade trees in a +garden. There are those who say that trees shade the garden too much, +and interfere with the growth of the vegetables. There may be something +in this: but when I go down the potato rows, the rays of the sun +glancing upon my shining blade, the sweat pouring from my face, I should +be grateful for shade. What is a garden for? The pleasure of man. I +should take much more pleasure in a shady garden. Am I to be sacrificed, +broiled, roasted, for the sake of the increased vigor of a few +vegetables? The thing is perfectly absurd. If I were rich, I think +I would have my garden covered with an awning, so that it would be +comfortable to work in it. It might roll up and be removable, as the +great awning of the Roman Coliseum was,--not like the Boston one, which +went off in a high wind. Another very good way to do, and probably not +so expensive as the awning, would be to have four persons of foreign +birth carry a sort of canopy over you as you hoed. And there might be +a person at each end of the row with some cool and refreshing drink. +Agriculture is still in a very barbarous stage. I hope to live yet to +see the day when I can do my gardening, as tragedy is done, to slow and +soothing music, and attended by some of the comforts I have named. These +things come so forcibly into my mind sometimes as I work, that perhaps, +when a wandering breeze lifts my straw hat, or a bird lights on a near +currant-bush, and shakes out a full-throated summer song, I almost +expect to find the cooling drink and the hospitable entertainment at the +end of the row. But I never do. There is nothing to be done but to turn +round, and hoe back to the other end. + +Speaking of those yellow squash-bugs, I think I disheartened them by +covering the plants so deep with soot and wood-ashes that they could not +find them; and I am in doubt if I shall ever see the plants again. But +I have heard of another defense against the bugs. Put a fine wire-screen +over each hill, which will keep out the bugs and admit the rain. I +should say that these screens would not cost much more than the melons +you would be likely to get from the vines if you bought them; but then +think of the moral satisfaction of watching the bugs hovering over the +screen, seeing, but unable to reach the tender plants within. That is +worth paying for. + +I left my own garden yesterday, and went over to where Polly was getting +the weeds out of one of her flower-beds. She was working away at the bed +with a little hoe. Whether women ought to have the ballot or not (and I +have a decided opinion on that point, which I should here plainly give, +did I not fear that it would injure my agricultural influence), 'I am +compelled to say that this was rather helpless hoeing. It was patient, +conscientious, even pathetic hoeing; but it was neither effective +nor finished. When completed, the bed looked somewhat as if a hen had +scratched it: there was that touching unevenness about it. I think no +one could look at it and not be affected. To be sure, Polly smoothed it +off with a rake, and asked me if it was n't nice; and I said it was. +It was not a favorable time for me to explain the difference between +puttering hoeing, and the broad, free sweep of the instrument, which +kills the weeds, spares the plants, and loosens the soil without leaving +it in holes and hills. But, after all, as life is constituted, I think +more of Polly's honest and anxious care of her plants than of the most +finished gardening in the world. + + + + +FIFTH WEEK + +I left my garden for a week, just at the close of the dry spell. +A season of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the +transformation was wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly +jumped forward. The tomatoes which I left slender plants, eaten of bugs +and debating whether they would go backward or forward, had become +stout and lusty, with thick stems and dark leaves, and some of them +had blossomed. The corn waved like that which grows so rank out of the +French-English mixture at Waterloo. The squashes--I will not speak of +the squashes. The most remarkable growth was the asparagus. There was +not a spear above ground when I went away; and now it had sprung up, and +gone to seed, and there were stalks higher than my head. I am entirely +aware of the value of words, and of moral obligations. When I say that +the asparagus had grown six feet in seven days, I expect and wish to be +believed. I am a little particular about the statement; for, if there is +any prize offered for asparagus at the next agricultural fair, I wish to +compete,--speed to govern. What I claim is the fastest asparagus. As for +eating purposes, I have seen better. A neighbor of mine, who looked in +at the growth of the bed, said, “Well, he'd be -----“: but I told him +there was no use of affirming now; he might keep his oath till I wanted +it on the asparagus affidavit. In order to have this sort of asparagus, +you want to manure heavily in the early spring, fork it in, and +top-dress (that sounds technical) with a thick layer of chloride of +sodium: if you cannot get that, common salt will do, and the neighbors +will never notice whether it is the orthodox Na. Cl. 58-5, or not. + +I scarcely dare trust myself to speak of the weeds. They grow as if the +devil was in them. I know a lady, a member of the church, and a very +good sort of woman, considering the subject condition of that class, who +says that the weeds work on her to that extent, that, in going +through her garden, she has the greatest difficulty in keeping the ten +commandments in anything like an unfractured condition. I asked her +which one, but she said, all of them: one felt like breaking the whole +lot. The sort of weed which I most hate (if I can be said to hate +anything which grows in my own garden) is the “pusley,” a fat, +ground-clinging, spreading, greasy thing, and the most propagatious (it +is not my fault if the word is not in the dictionary) plant I know. I +saw a Chinaman, who came over with a returned missionary, and pretended +to be converted, boil a lot of it in a pot, stir in eggs, and mix and +eat it with relish,--“Me likee he.” It will be a good thing to keep the +Chinamen on when they come to do our gardening. I only fear they will +cultivate it at the expense of the strawberries and melons. Who can say +that other weeds, which we despise, may not be the favorite food of some +remote people or tribe? We ought to abate our conceit. It is possible +that we destroy in our gardens that which is really of most value in +some other place. Perhaps, in like manner, our faults and vices are +virtues in some remote planet. I cannot see, however, that this thought +is of the slightest value to us here, any more than weeds are. + +There is another subject which is forced upon my notice. I like +neighbors, and I like chickens; but I do not think they ought to be +united near a garden. Neighbors' hens in your garden are an annoyance. +Even if they did not scratch up the corn, and peck the strawberries, +and eat the tomatoes, it is not pleasant to see them straddling about +in their jerky, high-stepping, speculative manner, picking inquisitively +here and there. It is of no use to tell the neighbor that his hens eat +your tomatoes: it makes no impression on him, for the tomatoes are not +his. The best way is to casually remark to him that he has a fine lot of +chickens, pretty well grown, and that you like spring chickens broiled. +He will take them away at once. + +The neighbors' small children are also out of place in your garden, in +strawberry and currant time. I hope I appreciate the value of children. +We should soon come to nothing without them, though the Shakers have +the best gardens in the world. Without them the common school would +languish. But the problem is, what to do with them in a garden. For they +are not good to eat, and there is a law against making away with them. +The law is not very well enforced, it is true; for people do thin them +out with constant dosing, paregoric, and soothing-syrups, and scanty +clothing. But I, for one, feel that it would not be right, aside from +the law, to take the life, even of the smallest child, for the sake of a +little fruit, more or less, in the garden. I may be wrong; but these +are my sentiments, and I am not ashamed of them. When we come, as Bryant +says in his “Iliad,” to leave the circus of this life, and join that +innumerable caravan which moves, it will be some satisfaction to us, +that we have never, in the way of gardening, disposed of even the +humblest child unnecessarily. My plan would be to put them into +Sunday-schools more thoroughly, and to give the Sunday-schools an +agricultural turn; teaching the children the sacredness of neighbors' +vegetables. I think that our Sunday-schools do not sufficiently impress +upon children the danger, from snakes and otherwise, of going into the +neighbors' gardens. + + + + +SIXTH WEEK + +Somebody has sent me a new sort of hoe, with the wish that I should +speak favorably of it, if I can consistently. I willingly do so, but +with the understanding that I am to be at liberty to speak just as +courteously of any other hoe which I may receive. If I understand +religious morals, this is the position of the religious press +with regard to bitters and wringing-machines. In some cases, the +responsibility of such a recommendation is shifted upon the wife of +the editor or clergy-man. Polly says she is entirely willing to make a +certificate, accompanied with an affidavit, with regard to this hoe; but +her habit of sitting about the garden walk, on an inverted flower-pot, +while I hoe, some what destroys the practical value of her testimony. + +As to this hoe, I do not mind saying that it has changed my view of +the desirableness and value of human life. It has, in fact, made life +a holiday to me. It is made on the principle that man is an upright, +sensible, reasonable being, and not a groveling wretch. It does away +with the necessity of the hinge in the back. The handle is seven and a +half feet long. There are two narrow blades, sharp on both edges, which +come together at an obtuse angle in front; and as you walk along with +this hoe before you, pushing and pulling with a gentle motion, the weeds +fall at every thrust and withdrawal, and the slaughter is immediate and +widespread. When I got this hoe I was troubled with sleepless mornings, +pains in the back, kleptomania with regard to new weeders; when I went +into my garden I was always sure to see something. In this disordered +state of mind and body I got this hoe. The morning after a day of using +it I slept perfectly and late. I regained my respect for the eighth +commandment. After two doses of the hoe in the garden, the weeds +entirely disappeared. Trying it a third morning, I was obliged to throw +it over the fence in order to save from destruction the green things +that ought to grow in the garden. Of course, this is figurative +language. What I mean is, that the fascination of using this hoe is such +that you are sorely tempted to employ it upon your vegetables, after the +weeds are laid low, and must hastily withdraw it, to avoid unpleasant +results. I make this explanation, because I intend to put nothing into +these agricultural papers that will not bear the strictest scientific +investigation; nothing that the youngest child cannot understand and cry +for; nothing that the oldest and wisest men will not need to study with +care. + +I need not add that the care of a garden with this hoe becomes the +merest pastime. I would not be without one for a single night. The only +danger is, that you may rather make an idol of the hoe, and somewhat +neglect your garden in explaining it, and fooling about with it. +I almost think that, with one of these in the hands of an ordinary +day-laborer, you might see at night where he had been working. + +Let us have peas. I have been a zealous advocate of the birds. I have +rejoiced in their multiplication. I have endured their concerts at four +o'clock in the morning without a murmur. Let them come, I said, and eat +the worms, in order that we, later, may enjoy the foliage and the fruits +of the earth. We have a cat, a magnificent animal, of the sex which +votes (but not a pole-cat),--so large and powerful that, if he were in +the army, he would be called Long Tom. He is a cat of fine disposition, +the most irreproachable morals I ever saw thrown away in a cat, and a +splendid hunter. He spends his nights, not in social dissipation, but in +gathering in rats, mice, flying-squirrels, and also birds. When he first +brought me a bird, I told him that it was wrong, and tried to convince +him, while he was eating it, that he was doing wrong; for he is a +reasonable cat, and understands pretty much everything except the +binomial theorem and the time down the cycloidal arc. But with no +effect. The killing of birds went on, to my great regret and shame. + +The other day I went to my garden to get a mess of peas. I had seen, +the day before, that they were just ready to pick. How I had lined the +ground, planted, hoed, bushed them! The bushes were very fine,--seven +feet high, and of good wood. How I had delighted in the growing, the +blowing, the podding! What a touching thought it was that they had all +podded for me! When I went to pick them, I found the pods all split +open, and the peas gone. The dear little birds, who are so fond of the +strawberries, had eaten them all. Perhaps there were left as many as I +planted: I did not count them. I made a rapid estimate of the cost of +the seed, the interest of the ground, the price of labor, the value of +the bushes, the anxiety of weeks of watchfulness. I looked about me +on the face of Nature. The wind blew from the south so soft and +treacherous! A thrush sang in the woods so deceitfully! All Nature +seemed fair. But who was to give me back my peas? The fowls of the air +have peas; but what has man? + +I went into the house. I called Calvin. (That is the name of our cat, +given him on account of his gravity, morality, and uprightness. We +never familiarly call him John). I petted Calvin. I lavished upon him +an enthusiastic fondness. I told him that he had no fault; that the one +action that I had called a vice was an heroic exhibition of regard for +my interests. I bade him go and do likewise continually. I now saw how +much better instinct is than mere unguided reason. Calvin knew. If he +had put his opinion into English (instead of his native catalogue), it +would have been: “You need not teach your grandmother to suck eggs.” It +was only the round of Nature. The worms eat a noxious something in the +ground. The birds eat the worms. Calvin eats the birds. We eat--no, we +do not eat Calvin. There the chain stops. When you ascend the scale of +being, and come to an animal that is, like ourselves, inedible, you +have arrived at a result where you can rest. Let us respect the cat. He +completes an edible chain. + +I have little heart to discuss methods of raising peas. It occurs to +me that I can have an iron peabush, a sort of trellis, through which +I could discharge electricity at frequent intervals, and electrify the +birds to death when they alight: for they stand upon my beautiful +brush in order to pick out the peas. An apparatus of this kind, with +an operator, would cost, however, about as much as the peas. A neighbor +suggests that I might put up a scarecrow near the vines, which would +keep the birds away. I am doubtful about it: the birds are too much +accustomed to seeing a person in poor clothes in the garden to care much +for that. Another neighbor suggests that the birds do not open the pods; +that a sort of blast, apt to come after rain, splits the pods, and the +birds then eat the peas. It may be so. There seems to be complete unity +of action between the blast and the birds. But, good neighbors, kind +friends, I desire that you will not increase, by talk, a disappointment +which you cannot assuage. + + + + +SEVENTH WEEK + +A garden is an awful responsibility. You never know what you may be +aiding to grow in it. I heard a sermon, not long ago, in which the +preacher said that the Christian, at the moment of his becoming one, +was as perfect a Christian as he would be if he grew to be an archangel; +that is, that he would not change thereafter at all, but only develop. +I do not know whether this is good theology, or not; and I hesitate to +support it by an illustration from my garden, especially as I do not +want to run the risk of propagating error, and I do not care to give +away these theological comparisons to clergymen who make me so little +return in the way of labor. But I find, in dissecting a pea-blossom, +that hidden in the center of it is a perfect miniature pea-pod, with the +peas all in it,--as perfect a pea-pod as it will ever be, only it is as +tiny as a chatelaine ornament. Maize and some other things show the same +precocity. This confirmation of the theologic theory is startling, and +sets me meditating upon the moral possibilities of my garden. I may find +in it yet the cosmic egg. + +And, speaking of moral things, I am half determined to petition the +Ecumenical Council to issue a bull of excommunication against “pusley.” + Of all the forms which “error” has taken in this world, I think that is +about the worst. In the Middle Ages the monks in St. Bernard's ascetic +community at Clairvaux excommunicated a vineyard which a less rigid +monk had planted near, so that it bore nothing. In 1120 a bishop of Laon +excommunicated the caterpillars in his diocese; and, the following year, +St. Bernard excommunicated the flies in the Monastery of Foigny; and in +1510 the ecclesiastical court pronounced the dread sentence against +the rats of Autun, Macon, and Lyons. These examples are sufficient +precedents. It will be well for the council, however, not to publish the +bull either just before or just after a rain; for nothing can kill this +pestilent heresy when the ground is wet. + +It is the time of festivals. Polly says we ought to have one,--a +strawberry-festival. She says they are perfectly delightful: it is so +nice to get people together!--this hot weather. They create such a good +feeling! I myself am very fond of festivals. I always go,--when I can +consistently. Besides the strawberries, there are ice creams and cake +and lemonade, and that sort of thing: and one always feels so well the +next day after such a diet! But as social reunions, if there are good +things to eat, nothing can be pleasanter; and they are very profitable, +if you have a good object. I agreed that we ought to have a festival; +but I did not know what object to devote it to. We are not in need of +an organ, nor of any pulpit-cushions. I do not know that they use +pulpit-cushions now as much as they used to, when preachers had to have +something soft to pound, so that they would not hurt their fists. I +suggested pocket handkerchiefs, and flannels for next winter. But +Polly says that will not do at all. You must have some charitable +object,--something that appeals to a vast sense of something; something +that it will be right to get up lotteries and that sort of thing for. +I suggest a festival for the benefit of my garden; and this seems +feasible. In order to make everything pass off pleasantly, invited +guests will bring or send their own strawberries and cream, which I +shall be happy to sell to them at a slight advance. There are a great +many improvements which the garden needs; among them a sounding-board, +so that the neighbors' children can hear when I tell them to get +a little farther off from the currant-bushes. I should also like +a selection from the ten commandments, in big letters, posted up +conspicuously, and a few traps, that will detain, but not maim, for the +benefit of those who cannot read. But what is most important is, +that the ladies should crochet nets to cover over the strawberries. A +good-sized, well-managed festival ought to produce nets enough to cover +my entire beds; and I can think of no other method of preserving the +berries from the birds next year. I wonder how many strawberries it +would need for a festival and whether they would cost more than the +nets. + +I am more and more impressed, as the summer goes on, with the inequality +of man's fight with Nature; especially in a civilized state. In +savagery, it does not much matter; for one does not take a square +hold, and put out his strength, but rather accommodates himself to +the situation, and takes what he can get, without raising any dust, or +putting himself into everlasting opposition. But the minute he begins to +clear a spot larger than he needs to sleep in for a night, and to try to +have his own way in the least, Nature is at once up, and vigilant, and +contests him at every step with all her ingenuity and unwearied vigor. +This talk of subduing Nature is pretty much nonsense. I do not intend +to surrender in the midst of the summer campaign, yet I cannot but think +how much more peaceful my relations would now be with the primal forces, +if I had, let Nature make the garden according to her own notion. +(This is written with the thermometer at ninety degrees, and the weeds +starting up with a freshness and vigor, as if they had just thought of +it for the first time, and had not been cut down and dragged out every +other day since the snow went off.) + +We have got down the forests, and exterminated savage beasts; but Nature +is no more subdued than before: she only changes her tactics,--uses +smaller guns, so to speak. She reenforces herself with a variety of +bugs, worms, and vermin, and weeds, unknown to the savage state, in +order to make war upon the things of our planting; and calls in the +fowls of the air, just as we think the battle is won, to snatch away the +booty. When one gets almost weary of the struggle, she is as fresh as at +the beginning,--just, in fact, ready for the fray. I, for my part, begin +to appreciate the value of frost and snow; for they give the husbandman +a little peace, and enable him, for a season, to contemplate his +incessant foe subdued. I do not wonder that the tropical people, where +Nature never goes to sleep, give it up, and sit in lazy acquiescence. + +Here I have been working all the season to make a piece of lawn. It had +to be graded and sowed and rolled; and I have been shaving it like +a barber. When it was soft, everything had a tendency to go on to +it,--cows, and especially wandering hackmen. Hackmen (who are a product +of civilization) know a lawn when they see it. They rather have a fancy +for it, and always try to drive so as to cut the sharp borders of it, +and leave the marks of their wheels in deep ruts of cut-up, ruined turf. +The other morning, I had just been running the mower over the lawn, and +stood regarding its smoothness, when I noticed one, two, three puffs +of fresh earth in it; and, hastening thither, I found that the mole +had arrived to complete the work of the hackmen. In a half-hour he had +rooted up the ground like a pig. I found his run-ways. I waited for him +with a spade. He did not appear; but, the next time I passed by, he had +ridged the ground in all directions,--a smooth, beautiful animal, with +fur like silk, if you could only catch him. He appears to enjoy the lawn +as much as the hackmen did. He does not care how smooth it is. He is +constantly mining, and ridging it up. I am not sure but he could be +countermined. I have half a mind to put powder in here and there, and +blow the whole thing into the air. Some folks set traps for the mole; +but my moles never seem to go twice in the same place. I am not sure but +it would bother them to sow the lawn with interlacing snake-grass (the +botanical name of which, somebody writes me, is devil-grass: the first +time I have heard that the Devil has a botanical name), which would +worry them, if it is as difficult for them to get through it as it is +for me. + +I do not speak of this mole in any tone of complaint. He is only a +part of the untiring resources which Nature brings against the humble +gardener. I desire to write nothing against him which I should wish to +recall at the last,--nothing foreign to the spirit of that beautiful +saying of the dying boy, “He had no copy-book, which, dying, he was +sorry he had blotted.” + + + + + +EIGHTH WEEK + +My garden has been visited by a High Official Person. President Gr-nt +was here just before the Fourth, getting his mind quiet for that event +by a few days of retirement, staying with a friend at the head of our +street; and I asked him if he wouldn't like to come down our way Sunday +afternoon and take a plain, simple look at my garden, eat a little lemon +ice-cream and jelly-cake, and drink a glass of native lager-beer. I +thought of putting up over my gate, “Welcome to the Nation's Gardener;” + but I hate nonsense, and did n't do it. I, however, hoed diligently on +Saturday: what weeds I could n't remove I buried, so that everything +would look all right. The borders of my drive were trimmed with +scissors; and everything that could offend the Eye of the Great was +hustled out of the way. + +In relating this interview, it must be distinctly understood that I am +not responsible for anything that the President said; nor is he, either. +He is not a great speaker; but whatever he says has an esoteric and an +exoteric meaning; and some of his remarks about my vegetables went very +deep. I said nothing to him whatever about politics, at which he seemed +a good deal surprised: he said it was the first garden he had ever been +in, with a man, when the talk was not of appointments. I told him that +this was purely vegetable; after which he seemed more at his ease, and, +in fact, delighted with everything he saw. He was much interested in my +strawberry-beds, asked what varieties I had, and requested me to send +him some seed. He said the patent-office seed was as difficult to raise +as an appropriation for the St. Domingo business. The playful bean +seemed also to please him; and he said he had never seen such impressive +corn and potatoes at this time of year; that it was to him an unexpected +pleasure, and one of the choicest memories that he should take away with +him of his visit to New England. + +N. B.--That corn and those potatoes which General Gr-nt looked at I +will sell for seed, at five dollars an ear, and one dollar a potato. +Office-seekers need not apply. + +Knowing the President's great desire for peas, I kept him from that part +of the garden where the vines grow. But they could not be concealed. +Those who say that the President is not a man easily moved are knaves +or fools. When he saw my pea-pods, ravaged by the birds, he burst into +tears. A man of war, he knows the value of peas. I told him they were an +excellent sort, “The Champion of England.” As quick as a flash he said, +“Why don't you call them 'The Reverdy Johnson'?” + +It was a very clever bon-mot; but I changed the subject. + +The sight of my squashes, with stalks as big as speaking-trumpets, +restored the President to his usual spirits. He said the summer squash +was the most ludicrous vegetable he knew. It was nearly all leaf and +blow, with only a sickly, crook-necked fruit after a mighty fuss. It +reminded him of the member of Congress from...; but I hastened to change +the subject. + +As we walked along, the keen eye of the President rested upon some +handsome sprays of “pusley,” which must have grown up since Saturday +night. It was most fortunate; for it led his Excellency to speak of the +Chinese problem. He said he had been struck with one, coupling of the +Chinese and the “pusley” in one of my agricultural papers; and it had a +significance more far-reaching than I had probably supposed. He had made +the Chinese problem a special study. He said that I was right in saying +that “pusley” was the natural food of the Chinaman, and that where +the “pusley” was, there would the Chinaman be also. For his part, he +welcomed the Chinese emigration: we needed the Chinaman in our gardens +to eat the “pusley;” and he thought the whole problem solved by this +simple consideration. To get rid of rats and “pusley,” he said, was +a necessity of our civilization. He did not care so much about the +shoe-business; he did not think that the little Chinese shoes that he +had seen would be of service in the army: but the garden-interest was +quite another affair. We want to make a garden of our whole country: +the hoe, in the hands of a man truly great, he was pleased to say, was +mightier than the pen. He presumed that General B-tl-r had never taken +into consideration the garden-question, or he would not assume the +position he does with regard to the Chinese emigration. He would let +the Chinese come, even if B-tl-r had to leave, I thought he was going to +say, but I changed the subject. + +During our entire garden interview (operatically speaking, the +garden-scene), the President was not smoking. I do not know how the +impression arose that he “uses tobacco in any form;” for I have seen +him several times, and he was not smoking. Indeed, I offered him a +Connecticut six; but he wittily said that he did not like a weed in a +garden,--a remark which I took to have a personal political bearing, and +changed the subject. + +The President was a good deal surprised at the method and fine +appearance of my garden, and to learn that I had the sole care of it. He +asked me if I pursued an original course, or whether I got my ideas +from writers on the subject. I told him that I had had no time to read +anything on the subject since I began to hoe, except “Lothair,” from +which I got my ideas of landscape gardening; and that I had worked the +garden entirely according to my own notions, except that I had borne in +mind his injunction, “to fight it out on this line if”--The President +stopped me abruptly, and said it was unnecessary to repeat that remark: +he thought he had heard it before. Indeed, he deeply regretted that he +had ever made it. Sometimes, he said, after hearing it in speeches, +and coming across it in resolutions, and reading it in newspapers, and +having it dropped jocularly by facetious politicians, who were boring +him for an office, about twenty-five times a day, say for a month, it +would get to running through his head, like the “shoo-fly” song +which B-tl-r sings in the House, until it did seem as if he should go +distracted. He said, no man could stand that kind of sentence hammering +on his brain for years. + +The President was so much pleased with my management of the garden, +that he offered me (at least, I so understood him) the position of head +gardener at the White House, to have care of the exotics. I told him +that I thanked him, but that I did not desire any foreign appointment. +I had resolved, when the administration came in, not to take an +appointment; and I had kept my resolution. As to any home office, I was +poor, but honest; and, of course, it would be useless for me to take +one. The President mused a moment, and then smiled, and said he would +see what could be done for me. I did not change the subject; but nothing +further was said by General Gr-nt. + +The President is a great talker (contrary to the general impression); +but I think he appreciated his quiet hour in my garden. He said it +carried him back to his youth farther than anything he had seen lately. +He looked forward with delight to the time when he could again have his +private garden, grow his own lettuce and tomatoes, and not have to get +so much “sarce” from Congress. + +The chair in which the President sat, while declining to take a glass of +lager I have had destroyed, in order that no one may sit in it. It +was the only way to save it, if I may so speak. It would have been +impossible to keep it from use by any precautions. There are people who +would have sat in it, if the seat had been set with iron spikes. Such is +the adoration of Station. + + + + +NINTH WEEK + +I am more and more impressed with the moral qualities of vegetables, and +contemplate forming a science which shall rank with comparative anatomy +and comparative philology,--the science of comparative vegetable +morality. We live in an age of protoplasm. And, if life-matter is +essentially the same in all forms of life, I purpose to begin early, and +ascertain the nature of the plants for which I am responsible. I will +not associate with any vegetable which is disreputable, or has not some +quality that can contribute to my moral growth. I do not care to be seen +much with the squashes or the dead-beets. Fortunately I can cut down any +sorts I do not like with the hoe, and, probably, commit no more sin in +so doing than the Christians did in hewing down the Jews in the Middle +Ages. + +This matter of vegetable rank has not been at all studied as it should +be. Why do we respect some vegetables and despise others, when all of +them come to an equal honor or ignominy on the table? The bean is a +graceful, confiding, engaging vine; but you never can put beans into +poetry, nor into the highest sort of prose. There is no dignity in the +bean. Corn, which, in my garden, grows alongside the bean, and, so far +as I can see, with no affectation of superiority, is, however, the child +of song. It waves in all literature. But mix it with beans, and its high +tone is gone. Succotash is vulgar. It is the bean in it. The bean is a +vulgar vegetable, without culture, or any flavor of high society among +vegetables. Then there is the cool cucumber, like so many people, good +for nothing when it is ripe and the wildness has gone out of it. How +inferior in quality it is to the melon, which grows upon a similar +vine, is of a like watery consistency, but is not half so valuable! The +cucumber is a sort of low comedian in a company where the melon is a +minor gentleman. I might also contrast the celery with the potato. The +associations are as opposite as the dining-room of the duchess and the +cabin of the peasant. I admire the potato, both in vine and blossom; but +it is not aristocratic. I began digging my potatoes, by the way, about +the 4th of July; and I fancy I have discovered the right way to do it. I +treat the potato just as I would a cow. I do not pull them up, and shake +them out, and destroy them; but I dig carefully at the side of the hill, +remove the fruit which is grown, leaving the vine undisturbed: and my +theory is, that it will go on bearing, and submitting to my exactions, +until the frost cuts it down. It is a game that one would not undertake +with a vegetable of tone. + +The lettuce is to me a most interesting study. Lettuce is like +conversation: it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely +notice the bitter in it. Lettuce, like most talkers, is, however, apt to +run rapidly to seed. Blessed is that sort which comes to a head, and so +remains, like a few people I know; growing more solid and satisfactory +and tender at the same time, and whiter at the center, and crisp in +their maturity. Lettuce, like conversation, requires a good deal of oil +to avoid friction, and keep the company smooth; a pinch of attic salt; a +dash of pepper; a quantity of mustard and vinegar, by all means, but so +mixed that you will notice no sharp contrasts; and a trifle of sugar. +You can put anything, and the more things the better, into salad, as +into a conversation; but everything depends upon the skill of mixing. I +feel that I am in the best society when I am with lettuce. It is in the +select circle of vegetables. The tomato appears well on the table; but +you do not want to ask its origin. It is a most agreeable parvenu. Of +course, I have said nothing about the berries. They live in another and +more ideal region; except, perhaps, the currant. Here we see, that, +even among berries, there are degrees of breeding. The currant is well +enough, clear as truth, and exquisite in color; but I ask you to notice +how far it is from the exclusive hauteur of the aristocratic strawberry, +and the native refinement of the quietly elegant raspberry. + +I do not know that chemistry, searching for protoplasm, is able to +discover the tendency of vegetables. It can only be found out by outward +observation. I confess that I am suspicious of the bean, for instance. +There are signs in it of an unregulated life. I put up the most +attractive sort of poles for my Limas. They stand high and straight, +like church-spires, in my theological garden,--lifted up; and some of +them have even budded, like Aaron's rod. No church-steeple in a +New England village was ever better fitted to draw to it the rising +generation on Sunday, than those poles to lift up my beans towards +heaven. Some of them did run up the sticks seven feet, and then +straggled off into the air in a wanton manner; but more than half of +them went gallivanting off to the neighboring grape-trellis, and wound +their tendrils with the tendrils of the grape, with a disregard of the +proprieties of life which is a satire upon human nature. And the grape +is morally no better. I think the ancients, who were not troubled with +the recondite mystery of protoplasm, were right in the mythic union of +Bacchus and Venus. + +Talk about the Darwinian theory of development, and the principle +of natural selection! I should like to see a garden let to run in +accordance with it. If I had left my vegetables and weeds to a free +fight, in which the strongest specimens only should come to maturity, +and the weaker go to the wall, I can clearly see that I should have had +a pretty mess of it. It would have been a scene of passion and license +and brutality. The “pusley” would have strangled the strawberry; the +upright corn, which has now ears to hear the guilty beating of the +hearts of the children who steal the raspberries, would have been +dragged to the earth by the wandering bean; the snake-grass would have +left no place for the potatoes under ground; and the tomatoes would have +been swamped by the lusty weeds. With a firm hand, I have had to make my +own “natural selection.” Nothing will so well bear watching as a garden, +except a family of children next door. Their power of selection beats +mine. If they could read half as well as they can steal awhile away, I +should put up a notice, “Children, beware! There is Protoplasm here.” + But I suppose it would have no effect. I believe they would eat +protoplasm as quick as anything else, ripe or green. I wonder if this is +going to be a cholera-year. Considerable cholera is the only thing that +would let my apples and pears ripen. Of course I do not care for the +fruit; but I do not want to take the responsibility of letting so much +“life-matter,” full of crude and even wicked vegetable-human tendencies, +pass into the composition of the neighbors' children, some of whom may +be as immortal as snake-grass. There ought to be a public meeting about +this, and resolutions, and perhaps a clambake. At least, it ought to be +put into the catechism, and put in strong. + + + + +TENTH WEEK + +I think I have discovered the way to keep peas from the birds. I tried +the scarecrow plan, in a way which I thought would outwit the shrewdest +bird. The brain of the bird is not large; but it is all concentrated +on one object, and that is the attempt to elude the devices of modern +civilization which injure his chances of food. I knew that, if I put up +a complete stuffed man, the bird would detect the imitation at once: +the perfection of the thing would show him that it was a trick. People +always overdo the matter when they attempt deception. I therefore hung +some loose garments, of a bright color, upon a rake-head, and set them +up among the vines. The supposition was, that the bird would think there +was an effort to trap him, that there was a man behind, holding up these +garments, and would sing, as he kept at a distance, “You can't catch +me with any such double device.” The bird would know, or think he knew, +that I would not hang up such a scare, in the expectation that it would +pass for a man, and deceive a bird; and he would therefore look for +a deeper plot. I expected to outwit the bird by a duplicity that was +simplicity itself I may have over-calculated the sagacity and reasoning +power of the bird. At any rate, I did over-calculate the amount of peas +I should gather. + +But my game was only half played. In another part of the garden were +other peas, growing and blowing. To-these I took good care not to +attract the attention of the bird by any scarecrow whatever! I left the +old scarecrow conspicuously flaunting above the old vines; and by this +means I hope to keep the attention of the birds confined to that side of +the garden. I am convinced that this is the true use of a scarecrow: +it is a lure, and not a warning. If you wish to save men from any +particular vice, set up a tremendous cry of warning about some other; +and they will all give their special efforts to the one to which +attention is called. This profound truth is about the only thing I have +yet realized out of my pea-vines. + +However, the garden does begin to yield. I know of nothing that +makes one feel more complacent, in these July days, than to have his +vegetables from his own garden. What an effect it has on the market-man +and the butcher! It is a kind of declaration of independence. The +market-man shows me his peas and beets and tomatoes, and supposes +he shall send me out some with the meat. “No, I thank you,” I say +carelessly; “I am raising my own this year.” Whereas I have been wont to +remark, “Your vegetables look a little wilted this weather,” I now say, +“What a fine lot of vegetables you've got!” When a man is not going to +buy, he can afford to be generous. To raise his own vegetables makes a +person feel, somehow, more liberal. I think the butcher is touched by +the influence, and cuts off a better roast for me, The butcher is my +friend when he sees that I am not wholly dependent on him. + +It is at home, however, that the effect is most marked, though sometimes +in a way that I had not expected. I have never read of any Roman +supper that seemed to me equal to a dinner of my own vegetables; when +everything on the table is the product of my own labor, except the +clams, which I have not been able to raise yet, and the chickens, which +have withdrawn from the garden just when they were most attractive. It +is strange what a taste you suddenly have for things you never liked +before. The squash has always been to me a dish of contempt; but I eat +it now as if it were my best friend. I never cared for the beet or +the bean; but I fancy now that I could eat them all, tops and all, so +completely have they been transformed by the soil in which they grew. I +think the squash is less squashy, and the beet has a deeper hue of rose, +for my care of them. + +I had begun to nurse a good deal of pride in presiding over a table +whereon was the fruit of my honest industry. But woman!--John Stuart +Mill is right when he says that we do not know anything about women. Six +thousand years is as one day with them. I thought I had something to do +with those vegetables. But when I saw Polly seated at her side of the +table, presiding over the new and susceptible vegetables, flanked by +the squash and the beans, and smiling upon the green corn and the new +potatoes, as cool as the cucumbers which lay sliced in ice before her, +and when she began to dispense the fresh dishes, I saw at once that the +day of my destiny was over. You would have thought that she owned all +the vegetables, and had raised them all from their earliest years. Such +quiet, vegetable airs! Such gracious appropriation! At length I said,-- +“Polly, do you know who planted that squash, or those squashes?” + +“James, I suppose.” + +“Well, yes, perhaps James did plant them, to a certain extent. But who +hoed them?” + +“We did.” + +“We did!” I said, in the most sarcastic manner. + +And I suppose we put on the sackcloth and ashes, when the striped bug +came at four o'clock A.M., and we watched the tender leaves, and watered +night and morning the feeble plants. “I tell you, Polly,” said I, +uncorking the Bordeaux raspberry vinegar, “there is not a pea here that +does not represent a drop of moisture wrung from my brow, not a beet +that does not stand for a back-ache, not a squash that has not caused me +untold anxiety; and I did hope--but I will say no more.” + +Observation.--In this sort of family discussion, “I will say no more” is +the most effective thing you can close up with. + +I am not an alarmist. I hope I am as cool as anybody this hot summer. +But I am quite ready to say to Polly, or any other woman, “You can have +the ballot; only leave me the vegetables, or, what is more important, +the consciousness of power in vegetables.” I see how it is. Woman is now +supreme in the house. She already stretches out her hand to grasp the +garden. She will gradually control everything. Woman is one of the +ablest and most cunning creatures who have ever mingled in human +affairs. I understand those women who say they don't want the ballot. +They purpose to hold the real power while we go through the mockery of +making laws. They want the power without the responsibility. (Suppose my +squash had not come up, or my beans--as they threatened at one time--had +gone the wrong way: where would I have been?) We are to be held to +all the responsibilities. Woman takes the lead in all the departments, +leaving us politics only. And what is politics? Let me raise the +vegetables of a nation, says Polly, and I care not who makes its +politics. Here I sat at the table, armed with the ballot, but really +powerless among my own vegetables. While we are being amused by the +ballot, woman is quietly taking things into her own hands. + + + + +ELEVENTH WEEK + +Perhaps, after all, it is not what you get out of a garden, but what you +put into it, that is the most remunerative. What is a man? A question +frequently asked, and never, so far as I know, satisfactorily answered. +He commonly spends his seventy years, if so many are given him, in +getting ready to enjoy himself. How many hours, how many minutes, does +one get of that pure content which is happiness? I do not mean laziness, +which is always discontent; but that serene enjoyment, in which all the +natural senses have easy play, and the unnatural ones have a holiday. +There is probably nothing that has such a tranquilizing effect, and +leads into such content as gardening. By gardening, I do not mean that +insane desire to raise vegetables which some have; but the philosophical +occupation of contact with the earth, and companionship with gently +growing things and patient processes; that exercise which soothes the +spirit, and develops the deltoid muscles. + +In half an hour I can hoe myself right away from this world, as we +commonly see it, into a large place, where there are no obstacles. What +an occupation it is for thought! The mind broods like a hen on eggs. +The trouble is, that you are not thinking about anything, but are really +vegetating like the plants around you. I begin to know what the joy of +the grape-vine is in running up the trellis, which is similar to that of +the squirrel in running up a tree. We all have something in our nature +that requires contact with the earth. In the solitude of garden-labor, +one gets into a sort of communion with the vegetable life, which makes +the old mythology possible. For instance, I can believe that the dryads +are plenty this summer: my garden is like an ash-heap. Almost all the +moisture it has had in weeks has been the sweat of honest industry. + +The pleasure of gardening in these days, when the thermometer is at +ninety, is one that I fear I shall not be able to make intelligible to +my readers, many of whom do not appreciate the delight of soaking in +the sunshine. I suppose that the sun, going through a man, as it will +on such a day, takes out of him rheumatism, consumption, and every other +disease, except sudden death--from sun-stroke. But, aside from this, +there is an odor from the evergreens, the hedges, the various plants +and vines, that is only expressed and set afloat at a high temperature, +which is delicious; and, hot as it may be, a little breeze will come +at intervals, which can be heard in the treetops, and which is an +unobtrusive benediction. I hear a quail or two whistling in the ravine; +and there is a good deal of fragmentary conversation going on among +the birds, even on the warmest days. The companionship of Calvin, also, +counts for a good deal. He usually attends me, unless I work too long +in one place; sitting down on the turf, displaying the ermine of his +breast, and watching my movements with great intelligence. He has a +feline and genuine love for the beauties of Nature, and will establish +himself where there is a good view, and look on it for hours. He always +accompanies us when we go to gather the vegetables, seeming to be +desirous to know what we are to have for dinner. He is a connoisseur +in the garden; being fond of almost all the vegetables, except the +cucumber,--a dietetic hint to man. I believe it is also said that the +pig will not eat tobacco. These are important facts. It is singular, +however, that those who hold up the pigs as models to us never hold us +up as models to the pigs. + +I wish I knew as much about natural history and the habits of animals +as Calvin does. He is the closest observer I ever saw; and there are +few species of animals on the place that he has not analyzed. I think he +has, to use a euphemism very applicable to him, got outside of every one +of them, except the toad. To the toad he is entirely indifferent; but I +presume he knows that the toad is the most useful animal in the garden. +I think the Agricultural Society ought to offer a prize for the finest +toad. When Polly comes to sit in the shade near my strawberry-beds, to +shell peas, Calvin is always lying near in apparent obliviousness; but +not the slightest unusual sound can be made in the bushes, that he is +not alert, and prepared to investigate the cause of it. It is this habit +of observation, so cultivated, which has given him such a trained mind, +and made him so philosophical. It is within the capacity of even the +humblest of us to attain this. + +And, speaking of the philosophical temper, there is no class of men +whose society is more to be desired for this quality than that of +plumbers. They are the most agreeable men I know; and the boys in the +business begin to be agreeable very early. I suspect the secret of it +is, that they are agreeable by the hour. In the driest days, my fountain +became disabled: the pipe was stopped up. A couple of plumbers, with the +implements of their craft, came out to view the situation. There was a +good deal of difference of opinion about where the stoppage was. I found +the plumbers perfectly willing to sit down and talk about it,--talk by +the hour. Some of their guesses and remarks were exceedingly ingenious; +and their general observations on other subjects were excellent in their +way, and could hardly have been better if they had been made by the job. +The work dragged a little, as it is apt to do by the hour. The plumbers +had occasion to make me several visits. Sometimes they would find, upon +arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool; and one would +go back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his comrade would +await his return with the most exemplary patience, and sit down and +talk,--always by the hour. I do not know but it is a habit to have +something wanted at the shop. They seemed to me very good workmen, and +always willing to stop and talk about the job, or anything else, when I +went near them. Nor had they any of that impetuous hurry that is said +to be the bane of our American civilization. To their credit be it said, +that I never observed anything of it in them. They can afford to wait. +Two of them will sometimes wait nearly half a day while a comrade goes +for a tool. They are patient and philosophical. It is a great pleasure +to meet such men. One only wishes there was some work he could do for +them by the hour. There ought to be reciprocity. I think they have very +nearly solved the problem of Life: it is to work for other people, never +for yourself, and get your pay by the hour. You then have no anxiety, +and little work. If you do things by the job, you are perpetually +driven: the hours are scourges. If you work by the hour, you gently sail +on the stream of Time, which is always bearing you on to the haven of +Pay, whether you make any effort, or not. Working by the hour tends to +make one moral. A plumber working by the job, trying to unscrew a rusty, +refractory nut, in a cramped position, where the tongs continually +slipped off, would swear; but I never heard one of them swear, or +exhibit the least impatience at such a vexation, working by the hour. +Nothing can move a man who is paid by the hour. How sweet the flight of +time seems to his calm mind! + + + + +TWELFTH WEEK + +Mr. Horace Greeley, the introduction of whose name confers an honor upon +this page (although I ought to say that it is used entirely without his +consent), is my sole authority in agriculture. In politics I do not dare +to follow him; but in agriculture he is irresistible. When, therefore, +I find him advising Western farmers not to hill up their corn, I think +that his advice must be political. You must hill up your corn. People +always have hilled up their corn. It would take a constitutional +amendment to change the practice, that has pertained ever since maize +was raised. “It will stand the drought better,” says Mr. Greeley, “if +the ground is left level.” I have corn in my garden, ten and twelve feet +high, strong and lusty, standing the drought like a grenadier; and it +is hilled. In advising this radical change, Mr. Greeley evidently has +a political purpose. He might just as well say that you should not hill +beans, when everybody knows that a “hill of beans” is one of the most +expressive symbols of disparagement. When I become too lazy to hill my +corn, I, too, shall go into politics. + +I am satisfied that it is useless to try to cultivate “pusley.” I set a +little of it one side, and gave it some extra care. It did not thrive +as well as that which I was fighting. The fact is, there is a spirit of +moral perversity in the plant, which makes it grow the more, the more +it is interfered with. I am satisfied of that. I doubt if any one has +raised more “pusley” this year than I have; and my warfare with it has +been continual. Neither of us has slept much. If you combat it, it will +grow, to use an expression that will be understood by many, like the +devil. I have a neighbor, a good Christian man, benevolent, and a person +of good judgment. He planted next to me an acre of turnips recently. +A few days after, he went to look at his crop; and he found the entire +ground covered with a thick and luxurious carpet of “pusley,” with a +turnip-top worked in here and there as an ornament. I have seldom seen +so thrifty a field. I advised my neighbor next time to sow “pusley” and +then he might get a few turnips. I wish there was more demand in our +city markets for “pusley” as a salad. I can recommend it. + +It does not take a great man to soon discover that, in raising anything, +the greater part of the plants goes into stalk and leaf, and the fruit +is a most inconsiderable portion. I plant and hoe a hill of corn: it +grows green and stout, and waves its broad leaves high in the air, and +is months in perfecting itself, and then yields us not enough for a +dinner. It grows because it delights to do so,--to take the juices out +of my ground, to absorb my fertilizers, to wax luxuriant, and disport +itself in the summer air, and with very little thought of making any +return to me. I might go all through my garden and fruit trees with a +similar result. I have heard of places where there was very little +land to the acre. It is universally true that there is a great deal of +vegetable show and fuss for the result produced. I do not complain of +this. One cannot expect vegetables to be better than men: and they make +a great deal of ostentatious splurge; and many of them come to no result +at last. Usually, the more show of leaf and wood, the less fruit. This +melancholy reflection is thrown in here in order to make dog-days seem +cheerful in comparison. + +One of the minor pleasures of life is that of controlling vegetable +activity and aggressions with the pruning-knife. Vigorous and rapid +growth is, however, a necessity to the sport. To prune feeble plants and +shrubs is like acting the part of dry-nurse to a sickly orphan. You must +feel the blood of Nature bound under your hand, and get the thrill of +its life in your nerves. To control and culture a strong, thrifty plant +in this way is like steering a ship under full headway, or driving a +locomotive with your hand on the lever, or pulling the reins over a fast +horse when his blood and tail are up. I do not understand, by the +way, the pleasure of the jockey in setting up the tail of the horse +artificially. If I had a horse with a tail not able to sit up, I should +feed the horse, and curry him into good spirits, and let him set up +his own tail. When I see a poor, spiritless horse going by with an +artificially set-up tail, it is only a signal of distress. I desire to +be surrounded only by healthy, vigorous plants and trees, which require +constant cutting-in and management. Merely to cut away dead branches is +like perpetual attendance at a funeral, and puts one in low spirits. +I want to have a garden and orchard rise up and meet me every morning, +with the request to “lay on, Macduff.” I respect old age; but an old +currant-bush, hoary with mossy bark, is a melancholy spectacle. + +I suppose the time has come when I am expected to say something about +fertilizers: all agriculturists do. When you plant, you think you cannot +fertilize too much: when you get the bills for the manure, you think +you cannot fertilize too little. Of course you do not expect to get the +value of the manure back in fruits and vegetables; but something is due +to science,--to chemistry in particular. You must have a knowledge +of soils, must have your soil analyzed, and then go into a course of +experiments to find what it needs. It needs analyzing,--that, I am clear +about: everything needs that. You had better have the soil analyzed +before you buy: if there is “pusley” in it, let it alone. See if it is a +soil that requires much hoeing, and how fine it will get if there is no +rain for two months. But when you come to fertilizing, if I understand +the agricultural authorities, you open a pit that will ultimately +swallow you up,--farm and all. It is the great subject of modern times, +how to fertilize without ruinous expense; how, in short, not to starve +the earth to death while we get our living out of it. Practically, the +business is hardly to the taste of a person of a poetic turn of mind. +The details of fertilizing are not agreeable. Michael Angelo, who tried +every art, and nearly every trade, never gave his mind to fertilizing. +It is much pleasanter and easier to fertilize with a pen, as the +agricultural writers do, than with a fork. And this leads me to say, +that, in carrying on a garden yourself, you must have a “consulting” + gardener; that is, a man to do the heavy and unpleasant work. To such a +man, I say, in language used by Demosthenes to the Athenians, and which +is my advice to all gardeners, “Fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!” + + + + +THIRTEENTH WEEK + +I find that gardening has unsurpassed advantages for the study of +natural history; and some scientific facts have come under my +own observation, which cannot fail to interest naturalists and +un-naturalists in about the same degree. Much, for instance, has been +written about the toad, an animal without which no garden would be +complete. But little account has been made of his value: the beauty of +his eye alone has been dwelt on; and little has been said of his mouth, +and its important function as a fly and bug trap. His habits, and even +his origin, have been misunderstood. Why, as an illustration, are toads +so plenty after a thunder-shower? All my life long, no one has been able +to answer me that question. Why, after a heavy shower, and in the midst +of it, do such multitudes of toads, especially little ones, hop about on +the gravel-walks? For many years, I believed that they rained down; and +I suppose many people think so still. They are so small, and they +come in such numbers only in the shower, that the supposition is not +a violent one. “Thick as toads after a shower,” is one of our +best proverbs. I asked an explanation 'of this of a thoughtful +woman,--indeed, a leader in the great movement to have all the toads hop +in any direction, without any distinction of sex or religion. Her reply +was, that the toads come out during the shower to get water. This, +however, is not the fact. I have discovered that they come out not to +get water. I deluged a dry flower-bed, the other night, with pailful +after pailful of water. Instantly the toads came out of their holes in +the dirt, by tens and twenties and fifties, to escape death by drowning. +The big ones fled away in a ridiculous streak of hopping; and the little +ones sprang about in the wildest confusion. The toad is just like any +other land animal: when his house is full of water, he quits it. These +facts, with the drawings of the water and the toads, are at the service +of the distinguished scientists of Albany in New York, who were so much +impressed by the Cardiff Giant. + +The domestic cow is another animal whose ways I have a chance to study, +and also to obliterate in the garden. One of my neighbors has a cow, but +no land; and he seems desirous to pasture her on the surface of the +land of other people: a very reasonable desire. The man proposed that he +should be allowed to cut the grass from my grounds for his cow. I knew +the cow, having often had her in my garden; knew her gait and the size +of her feet, which struck me as a little large for the size of the body. +Having no cow myself, but acquaintance with my neighbor's, I told him +that I thought it would be fair for him to have the grass. He was, +therefore, to keep the grass nicely cut, and to keep his cow at home. I +waited some time after the grass needed cutting; and, as my neighbor +did not appear, I hired it cut. No sooner was it done than he promptly +appeared, and raked up most of it, and carried it away. He had evidently +been waiting that opportunity. When the grass grew again, the neighbor +did not appear with his scythe; but one morning I found the cow tethered +on the sward, hitched near the clothes-horse, a short distance from +the house. This seemed to be the man's idea of the best way to cut the +grass. I disliked to have the cow there, because I knew her inclination +to pull up the stake, and transfer her field of mowing to the garden, +but especially because of her voice. She has the most melancholy “moo” I +ever heard. It is like the wail of one uninfallible, excommunicated, and +lost. It is a most distressing perpetual reminder of the brevity of life +and the shortness of feed. It is unpleasant to the family. We sometimes +hear it in the middle of the night, breaking the silence like a +suggestion of coming calamity. It is as bad as the howling of a dog at a +funeral. + +I told the man about it; but he seemed to think that he was not +responsible for the cow's voice. I then told him to take her away; and +he did, at intervals, shifting her to different parts of the grounds in +my absence, so that the desolate voice would startle us from unexpected +quarters. If I were to unhitch the cow, and turn her loose, I knew where +she would go. If I were to lead her away, the question was, Where? for +I did not fancy leading a cow about till I could find somebody who +was willing to pasture her. To this dilemma had my excellent neighbor +reduced me. But I found him, one Sunday morning,--a day when it would +not do to get angry, tying his cow at the foot of the hill; the beast +all the time going on in that abominable voice. I told the man that I +could not have the cow in the grounds. He said, “All right, boss;” but +he did not go away. I asked him to clear out. The man, who is a French +sympathizer from the Republic of Ireland, kept his temper perfectly. He +said he wasn't doing anything, just feeding his cow a bit: he wouldn't +make me the least trouble in the world. I reminded him that he had been +told again and again not to come here; that he might have all the grass, +but he should not bring his cow upon the premises. The imperturbable man +assented to everything that I said, and kept on feeding his cow. Before +I got him to go to fresh scenes and pastures new, the Sabbath was almost +broken; but it was saved by one thing: it is difficult to be emphatic +when no one is emphatic on the other side. The man and his cow have +taught me a great lesson, which I shall recall when I keep a cow. I can +recommend this cow, if anybody wants one, as a steady boarder, whose +keeping will cost the owner little; but, if her milk is at all like her +voice, those who drink it are on the straight road to lunacy. + +I think I have said that we have a game-preserve. We keep quails, or try +to, in the thickly wooded, bushed, and brushed ravine. This bird is +a great favorite with us, dead or alive, on account of its tasteful +plumage, its tender flesh, its domestic virtues, and its pleasant +piping. Besides, although I appreciate toads and cows, and all that sort +of thing, I like to have a game-preserve more in the English style. +And we did. For in July, while the game-law was on, and the +young quails were coming on, we were awakened one morning by +firing,--musketry-firing, close at hand. My first thought was, that war +was declared; but, as I should never pay much attention to war declared +at that time in the morning, I went to sleep again. But the occurrence +was repeated,--and not only early in the morning, but at night. There +was calling of dogs, breaking down of brush, and firing of guns. It is +hardly pleasant to have guns fired in the direction of the house, at +your own quails. The hunters could be sometimes seen, but never caught. +Their best time was about sunrise; but, before one could dress and get +to the front, they would retire. + +One morning, about four o'clock, I heard the battle renewed. I sprang +up, but not in arms, and went to a window. Polly (like another 'blessed +damozel') flew to another window,-- + + “The blessed damozel leaned out + From the gold bar of heaven,” + +and reconnoitered from behind the blinds. + + “The wonder was not yet quite gone + From that still look of hers,” + +when an armed man and a legged dog appeared in the opening. I was +vigilantly watching him. + + .... “And now + She spoke through the still weather.” + +“Are you afraid to speak to him?” asked Polly. + +Not exactly, + + ....“she spoke as when + The stars sang in their spheres. + +“Stung by this inquiry, I leaned out of the window till + + “The bar I leaned on (was) warm,” + +and cried,-- “Halloo, there! What are you doing?” + +“Look out he don't shoot you,” called out Polly from the other window, +suddenly going on another tack. + +I explained that a sportsman would not be likely to shoot a gentleman in +his own house, with bird-shot, so long as quails were to be had. + +“You have no business here: what are you after?” I repeated. + +“Looking for a lost hen,” said the man as he strode away. + +The reply was so satisfactory and conclusive that I shut the blinds and +went to bed. + +But one evening I overhauled one of the poachers. Hearing his dog in the +thicket, I rushed through the brush, and came in sight of the hunter +as he was retreating down the road. He came to a halt; and we had some +conversation in a high key. Of course I threatened to prosecute him. I +believe that is the thing to do in such cases; but how I was to do it, +when I did not know his name or ancestry, and couldn't see his face, +never occurred to me. (I remember, now, that a farmer once proposed to +prosecute me when I was fishing in a trout-brook on his farm, and asked +my name for that purpose.) He said he should smile to see me prosecute +him. + +“You can't do it: there ain't no notice up about trespassing.” + +This view of the common law impressed me; and I said, + +“But these are private grounds.” + +“Private h---!” was all his response. + +You can't argue much with a man who has a gun in his hands, when you +have none. Besides, it might be a needle-gun, for aught I knew. I gave +it up, and we separated. + +There is this disadvantage about having a game preserve attached to your +garden: it makes life too lively. + + + + +FOURTEENTH WEEK + +In these golden latter August days, Nature has come to a serene +equilibrium. Having flowered and fruited, she is enjoying herself. I can +see how things are going: it is a down-hill business after this; but, +for the time being, it is like swinging in a hammock,--such a delicious +air, such a graceful repose! I take off my hat as I stroll into the +garden and look about; and it does seem as if Nature had sounded a +truce. I did n't ask for it. I went out with a hoe; but the serene +sweetness disarms me. Thrice is he armed who has a long-handled hoe, +with a double blade. Yet to-day I am almost ashamed to appear in such a +belligerent fashion, with this terrible mitrailleuse of gardening. + +The tomatoes are getting tired of ripening, and are beginning to go into +a worthless condition,--green. The cucumbers cumber the ground,--great +yellow, over-ripe objects, no more to be compared to the crisp beauty +of their youth than is the fat swine of the sty to the clean little pig. +The nutmeg-melons, having covered themselves with delicate lace-work, +are now ready to leave the vine. I know they are ripe if they come +easily off the stem. + +Moral Observations.--You can tell when people are ripe by their +willingness to let go. Richness and ripeness are not exactly the same. +The rich are apt to hang to the stem with tenacity. I have nothing +against the rich. If I were not virtuous, I should like to be rich. +But we cannot have everything, as the man said when he was down with +small-pox and cholera, and the yellow fever came into the neighborhood. + +Now, the grapes, soaked in this liquid gold, called air, begin to turn, +mindful of the injunction, “to turn or burn.” The clusters under the +leaves are getting quite purple, but look better than they taste. I +think there is no danger but they will be gathered as soon as they are +ripe. One of the blessings of having an open garden is, that I do not +have to watch my fruit: a dozen youngsters do that, and let it waste +no time after it matures. I wish it were possible to grow a variety of +grape like the explosive bullets, that should explode in the stomach: +the vine would make such a nice border for the garden,--a masked battery +of grape. The pears, too, are getting russet and heavy; and here and +there amid the shining leaves one gleams as ruddy as the cheek of the +Nutbrown Maid. The Flemish Beauties come off readily from the stem, if I +take them in my hand: they say all kinds of beauty come off by handling. + +The garden is peace as much as if it were an empire. Even the man's cow +lies down under the tree where the man has tied her, with such an air of +contentment, that I have small desire to disturb her. She is chewing my +cud as if it were hers. Well, eat on and chew on, melancholy brute. I +have not the heart to tell the man to take you away: and it would do no +good if I had; he wouldn't do it. The man has not a taking way. Munch +on, ruminant creature. + +The frost will soon come; the grass will be brown. I will be charitable +while this blessed lull continues: for our benevolences must soon be +turned to other and more distant objects,--the amelioration of the +condition of the Jews, the education of theological young men in the +West, and the like. + +I do not know that these appearances are deceitful; but I sufficiently +know that this is a wicked world, to be glad that I have taken it on +shares. In fact, I could not pick the pears alone, not to speak of +eating them. When I climb the trees, and throw down the dusky fruit, +Polly catches it in her apron; nearly always, however, letting go when +it drops, the fall is so sudden. The sun gets in her face; and, every +time a pear comes down it is a surprise, like having a tooth out, she +says. + +“If I could n't hold an apron better than that!” + +But the sentence is not finished: it is useless to finish that sort of a +sentence in this delicious weather. Besides, conversation is dangerous. +As, for instance, towards evening I am preparing a bed for a sowing of +turnips,--not that I like turnips in the least; but this is the season +to sow them. Polly comes out, and extemporizes her usual seat to +“consult me” about matters while I work. I well know that something is +coming. + +“This is a rotation of crops, is n't it?” + +“Yes: I have rotated the gone-to-seed lettuce off, and expect to rotate +the turnips in; it is a political fashion.” + +“Is n't it a shame that the tomatoes are all getting ripe at once? What +a lot of squashes! I wish we had an oyster-bed. Do you want me to help +you any more than I am helping?” + +“No, I thank you.” (I wonder what all this is about?) + +“Don't you think we could sell some strawberries next year?” + +“By all means, sell anything. We shall no doubt get rich out of this +acre.” + +“Don't be foolish.” + +And now! + +“Don't you think it would be nice to have a?”.... + +And Polly unfolds a small scheme of benevolence, which is not quite +enough to break me, and is really to be executed in an economical +manner. “Would n't that be nice?” + +“Oh, yes! And where is the money to come from?” + +“I thought we had agreed to sell the strawberries.” + +“Certainly. But I think we would make more money if we sold the plants +now.” + +“Well,” said Polly, concluding the whole matter, “I am going to do +it.” And, having thus “consulted” me, Polly goes away; and I put in the +turnip-seeds quite thick, determined to raise enough to sell. But not +even this mercenary thought can ruffle my mind as I rake off the loamy +bed. I notice, however, that the spring smell has gone out of the dirt. +That went into the first crop. + +In this peaceful unison with yielding nature, I was a little taken +aback to find that a new enemy had turned up. The celery had just rubbed +through the fiery scorching of the drought, and stood a faint chance +to grow; when I noticed on the green leaves a big green-and-black worm, +called, I believe, the celery-worm: but I don't know who called him; I +am sure I did not. It was almost ludicrous that he should turn up here, +just at the end of the season, when I supposed that my war with the +living animals was over. Yet he was, no doubt, predestinated; for he +went to work as cheerfully as if he had arrived in June, when everything +was fresh and vigorous. It beats me--Nature does. I doubt not, that, +if I were to leave my garden now for a week, it would n't know me on my +return. The patch I scratched over for the turnips, and left as clean as +earth, is already full of ambitious “pusley,” which grows with all the +confidence of youth and the skill of old age. It beats the serpent as an +emblem of immortality. While all the others of us in the garden rest and +sit in comfort a moment, upon the summit of the summer, it is as rampant +and vicious as ever. It accepts no armistice. + + + + +FIFTEENTH WEEK + +It is said that absence conquers all things, love included; but it has a +contrary effect on a garden. I was absent for two or three weeks. I left +my garden a paradise, as paradises go in this protoplastic world; and +when I returned, the trail of the serpent was over it all, so to speak. +(This is in addition to the actual snakes in it, which are large enough +to strangle children of average size.) I asked Polly if she had seen to +the garden while I was away, and she said she had. I found that all the +melons had been seen to, and the early grapes and pears. The green worm +had also seen to about half the celery; and a large flock of apparently +perfectly domesticated chickens were roaming over the ground, gossiping +in the hot September sun, and picking up any odd trifle that might +be left. On the whole, the garden could not have been better seen +to; though it would take a sharp eye to see the potato-vines amid the +rampant grass and weeds. + +The new strawberry-plants, for one thing, had taken advantage of my +absence. Every one of them had sent out as many scarlet runners as an +Indian tribe has. Some of them had blossomed; and a few had gone so +far as to bear ripe berries,--long, pear-shaped fruit, hanging like +the ear-pendants of an East Indian bride. I could not but admire +the persistence of these zealous plants, which seemed determined +to propagate themselves both by seeds and roots, and make sure of +immortality in some way. Even the Colfax variety was as ambitious as the +others. After having seen the declining letter of Mr. Colfax, I did not +suppose that this vine would run any more, and intended to root it out. +But one can never say what these politicians mean; and I shall let this +variety grow until after the next election, at least; although I hear +that the fruit is small, and rather sour. If there is any variety +of strawberries that really declines to run, and devotes itself to a +private life of fruit-bearing, I should like to get it. I may mention +here, since we are on politics, that the Doolittle raspberries had +sprawled all over the strawberry-bed's: so true is it that politics +makes strange bedfellows. + +But another enemy had come into the strawberries, which, after all that +has been said in these papers, I am almost ashamed to mention. But does +the preacher in the pulpit, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, shrink +from speaking of sin? I refer, of course, to the greatest enemy of +mankind, “p-sl-y.” The ground was carpeted with it. I should think that +this was the tenth crop of the season; and it was as good as the first. +I see no reason why our northern soil is not as prolific as that of the +tropics, and will not produce as many crops in the year. The mistake we +make is in trying to force things that are not natural to it. I have no +doubt that, if we turn our attention to “pusley,” we can beat the world. + +I had no idea, until recently, how generally this simple and thrifty +plant is feared and hated. Far beyond what I had regarded as the bounds +of civilization, it is held as one of the mysteries of a fallen world; +accompanying the home missionary on his wanderings, and preceding the +footsteps of the Tract Society. I was not long ago in the Adirondacks. +We had built a camp for the night, in the heart of the woods, high up on +John's Brook and near the foot of Mount Marcy: I can see the lovely spot +now. It was on the bank of the crystal, rocky stream, at the foot of +high and slender falls, which poured into a broad amber basin. Out of +this basin we had just taken trout enough for our supper, which had been +killed, and roasted over the fire on sharp sticks, and eaten before they +had an opportunity to feel the chill of this deceitful world. We were +lying under the hut of spruce-bark, on fragrant hemlock-boughs, talking, +after supper. In front of us was a huge fire of birchlogs; and over it +we could see the top of the falls glistening in the moonlight; and the +roar of the falls, and the brawling of the stream near us, filled all +the ancient woods. It was a scene upon which one would think no thought +of sin could enter. We were talking with old Phelps, the guide. Old +Phelps is at once guide, philosopher, and friend. He knows the woods and +streams and mountains, and their savage inhabitants, as well as we know +all our rich relations and what they are doing; and in lonely bear-hunts +and sable-trappings he has thought out and solved most of the problems +of life. As he stands in his wood-gear, he is as grizzly as an old +cedar-tree; and he speaks in a high falsetto voice, which would be +invaluable to a boatswain in a storm at sea. + +We had been talking of all subjects about which rational men are +interested,--bears, panthers, trapping, the habits of trout, the tariff, +the internal revenue (to wit the injustice of laying such a tax on +tobacco, and none on dogs:--“There ain't no dog in the United States,” + says the guide, at the top of his voice, “that earns his living”), the +Adventists, the Gorner Grat, Horace Greeley, religion, the propagation +of seeds in the wilderness (as, for instance, where were the seeds lying +for ages that spring up into certain plants and flowers as soon as +a spot is cleared anywhere in the most remote forest; and why does +a growth of oak-trees always come up after a growth of pine has been +removed?)--in short, we had pretty nearly reached a solution of many +mysteries, when Phelps suddenly exclaimed with uncommon energy,-- “Wall, +there's one thing that beats me!” + +“What's that?” we asked with undisguised curiosity. + +“That's 'pusley'!” he replied, in the tone of a man who has come to +one door in life which is hopelessly shut, and from which he retires in +despair. + +“Where it comes from I don't know, nor what to do with it. It's in my +garden; and I can't get rid of it. It beats me.” + +About “pusley” the guide had no theory and no hope. A feeling of awe +came over me, as we lay there at midnight, hushed by the sound of the +stream and the rising wind in the spruce-tops. Then man can go nowhere +that “pusley” will not attend him. Though he camp on the Upper Au Sable, +or penetrate the forest where rolls the Allegash, and hear no sound save +his own allegations, he will not escape it. It has entered the happy +valley of Keene, although there is yet no church there, and only a +feeble school part of the year. Sin travels faster than they that ride +in chariots. I take my hoe, and begin; but I feel that I am warring +against something whose roots take hold on H. + +By the time a man gets to be eighty, he learns that he is compassed +by limitations, and that there has been a natural boundary set to his +individual powers. As he goes on in life, he begins to doubt his ability +to destroy all evil and to reform all abuses, and to suspect that there +will be much left to do after he has done. I stepped into my garden in +the spring, not doubting that I should be easily master of the weeds. I +have simply learned that an institution which is at least six thousand +years old, and I believe six millions, is not to be put down in one +season. + +I have been digging my potatoes, if anybody cares to know it. I planted +them in what are called “Early Rose,”--the rows a little less than three +feet apart; but the vines came to an early close in the drought. Digging +potatoes is a pleasant, soothing occupation, but not poetical. It is +good for the mind, unless they are too small (as many of mine are), +when it begets a want of gratitude to the bountiful earth. What small +potatoes we all are, compared with what we might be! We don't plow deep +enough, any of us, for one thing. I shall put in the plow next year, and +give the tubers room enough. I think they felt the lack of it this +year: many of them seemed ashamed to come out so small. There is great +pleasure in turning out the brown-jacketed fellows into the sunshine +of a royal September day, and seeing them glisten as they lie thickly +strewn on the warm soil. Life has few such moments. But then they must +be picked up. The picking-up, in this world, is always the unpleasant +part of it. + + + + +SIXTEENTH WEEK + +I do not hold myself bound to answer the question, Does gardening pay? +It is so difficult to define what is meant by paying. There is a popular +notion that, unless a thing pays, you had better let it alone; and I +may say that there is a public opinion that will not let a man or woman +continue in the indulgence of a fancy that does not pay. And public +opinion is stronger than the legislature, and nearly as strong as the +ten commandments: I therefore yield to popular clamor when I discuss the +profit of my garden. + +As I look at it, you might as well ask, Does a sunset pay? I know that a +sunset is commonly looked on as a cheap entertainment; but it is really +one of the most expensive. It is true that we can all have front seats, +and we do not exactly need to dress for it as we do for the opera; but +the conditions under which it is to be enjoyed are rather dear. Among +them I should name a good suit of clothes, including some trifling +ornament,--not including back hair for one sex, or the parting of it in +the middle for the other. I should add also a good dinner, well cooked +and digestible; and the cost of a fair education, extended, perhaps, +through generations in which sensibility and love of beauty grew. What +I mean is, that if a man is hungry and naked, and half a savage, or with +the love of beauty undeveloped in him, a sunset is thrown away on him: +so that it appears that the conditions of the enjoyment of a sunset are +as costly as anything in our civilization. + +Of course there is no such thing as absolute value in this world. You +can only estimate what a thing is worth to you. Does gardening in a city +pay? You might as well ask if it pays to keep hens, or a trotting-horse, +or to wear a gold ring, or to keep your lawn cut, or your hair cut. It +is as you like it. In a certain sense, it is a sort of profanation to +consider if my garden pays, or to set a money-value upon my delight in +it. I fear that you could not put it in money. Job had the right idea +in his mind when he asked, “Is there any taste in the white of an +egg?” Suppose there is not! What! shall I set a price upon the tender +asparagus or the crisp lettuce, which made the sweet spring a reality? +Shall I turn into merchandise the red strawberry, the pale green pea, +the high-flavored raspberry, the sanguinary beet, that love-plant the +tomato, and the corn which did not waste its sweetness on the desert +air, but, after flowing in a sweet rill through all our summer life, +mingled at last with the engaging bean in a pool of succotash? Shall +I compute in figures what daily freshness and health and delight the +garden yields, let alone the large crop of anticipation I gathered as +soon as the first seeds got above ground? I appeal to any gardening +man of sound mind, if that which pays him best in gardening is not +that which he cannot show in his trial-balance. Yet I yield to public +opinion, when I proceed to make such a balance; and I do it with the +utmost confidence in figures. + +I select as a representative vegetable, in order to estimate the cost of +gardening, the potato. In my statement, I shall not include the +interest on the value of the land. I throw in the land, because it would +otherwise have stood idle: the thing generally raised on city land is +taxes. I therefore make the following statement of the cost and income +of my potato-crop, a part of it estimated in connection with other +garden labor. I have tried to make it so as to satisfy the income-tax +collector:-- + + Plowing.......................................$0.50 + Seed..........................................$1.50 + Manure........................................ 8.00 + Assistance in planting and digging, 3 days.... 6.75 + Labor of self in planting, hoeing, digging, + picking up, 5 days at 17 cents........... 0.85 + ------ + Total Cost................$17.60 + + + Two thousand five hundred mealy potatoes, + at 2 cents..............................$50.00 + Small potatoes given to neighbor's pig........ .50 + + Total return..............$50.50 + + Balance, profit in cellar......$32.90 + + +Some of these items need explanation. I have charged nothing for my +own time waiting for the potatoes to grow. My time in hoeing, fighting +weeds, etc., is put in at five days: it may have been a little more. Nor +have I put in anything for cooling drinks while hoeing. I leave this out +from principle, because I always recommend water to others. I had some +difficulty in fixing the rate of my own wages. It was the first time +I had an opportunity of paying what I thought labor was worth; and I +determined to make a good thing of it for once. I figured it right +down to European prices,--seventeen cents a day for unskilled labor. Of +course, I boarded myself. I ought to say that I fixed the wages after +the work was done, or I might have been tempted to do as some masons did +who worked for me at four dollars a day. They lay in the shade and slept +the sleep of honest toil full half the time, at least all the time I +was away. I have reason to believe that when the wages of mechanics are +raised to eight and ten dollars a day, the workmen will not come at all: +they will merely send their cards. + +I do not see any possible fault in the above figures. I ought to say +that I deferred putting a value on the potatoes until I had footed up +the debit column. This is always the safest way to do. I had twenty-five +bushels. I roughly estimated that there are one hundred good ones to the +bushel. Making my own market price, I asked two cents apiece for them. +This I should have considered dirt cheap last June, when I was going +down the rows with the hoe. If any one thinks that two cents each is +high, let him try to raise them. + +Nature is “awful smart.” I intend to be complimentary in saying so. She +shows it in little things. I have mentioned my attempt to put in a few +modest turnips, near the close of the season. I sowed the seeds, by the +way, in the most liberal manner. Into three or four short rows I presume +I put enough to sow an acre; and they all came up,--came up as thick as +grass, as crowded and useless as babies in a Chinese village. Of course, +they had to be thinned out; that is, pretty much all pulled up; and +it took me a long time; for it takes a conscientious man some time to +decide which are the best and healthiest plants to spare. After all, I +spared too many. That is the great danger everywhere in this world (it +may not be in the next): things are too thick; we lose all in grasping +for too much. The Scotch say, that no man ought to thin out his own +turnips, because he will not sacrifice enough to leave room for the +remainder to grow: he should get his neighbor, who does not care for the +plants, to do it. But this is mere talk, and aside from the point: if +there is anything I desire to avoid in these agricultural papers, it +is digression. I did think that putting in these turnips so late in the +season, when general activity has ceased, and in a remote part of the +garden, they would pass unnoticed. But Nature never even winks, as I can +see. The tender blades were scarcely out of the ground when she sent a +small black fly, which seemed to have been born and held in reserve for +this purpose,--to cut the leaves. They speedily made lace-work of the +whole bed. Thus everything appears to have its special enemy,--except, +perhaps, p----y: nothing ever troubles that. + +Did the Concord Grape ever come to more luscious perfection than this +year? or yield so abundantly? The golden sunshine has passed into +them, and distended their purple skins almost to bursting. Such heavy +clusters! such bloom! such sweetness! such meat and drink in their +round globes! What a fine fellow Bacchus would have been, if he had only +signed the pledge when he was a young man! I have taken off clusters +that were as compact and almost as large as the Black Hamburgs. It is +slow work picking them. I do not see how the gatherers for the vintage +ever get off enough. It takes so long to disentangle the bunches from +the leaves and the interlacing vines and the supporting tendrils; and +then I like to hold up each bunch and look at it in the sunlight, and +get the fragrance and the bloom of it, and show it to Polly, who is +making herself useful, as taster and companion, at the foot of the +ladder, before dropping it into the basket. But we have other company. +The robin, the most knowing and greedy bird out of paradise (I trust +he will always be kept out), has discovered that the grape-crop is +uncommonly good, and has come back, with his whole tribe and family, +larger than it was in pea-time. He knows the ripest bunches as well as +anybody, and tries them all. If he would take a whole bunch here and +there, say half the number, and be off with it, I should not so much +care. But he will not. He pecks away at all the bunches, and spoils as +many as he can. It is time he went south. + +There is no prettier sight, to my eye, than a gardener on a ladder in +his grape-arbor, in these golden days, selecting the heaviest clusters +of grapes, and handing them down to one and another of a group of +neighbors and friends, who stand under the shade of the leaves, flecked +with the sunlight, and cry, “How sweet!” “What nice ones!” and the +like,--remarks encouraging to the man on the ladder. It is great +pleasure to see people eat grapes. + +Moral Truth.--I have no doubt that grapes taste best in other people's +mouths. It is an old notion that it is easier to be generous than to +be stingy. I am convinced that the majority of people would be generous +from selfish motives, if they had the opportunity. + +Philosophical Observation.--Nothing shows one who his friends are like +prosperity and ripe fruit. I had a good friend in the country, whom I +almost never visited except in cherry-time. By your fruits you shall +know them. + + + + + +SEVENTEENTH WEEK + +I like to go into the garden these warm latter days, and muse. To muse +is to sit in the sun, and not think of anything. I am not sure but +goodness comes out of people who bask in the sun, as it does out of a +sweet apple roasted before the fire. The late September and October sun +of this latitude is something like the sun of extreme Lower Italy: you +can stand a good deal of it, and apparently soak a winter supply into +the system. If one only could take in his winter fuel in this way! The +next great discovery will, very likely, be the conservation of sunlight. +In the correlation of forces, I look to see the day when the superfluous +sunshine will be utilized; as, for instance, that which has burned up my +celery this year will be converted into a force to work the garden. + +This sitting in the sun amid the evidences of a ripe year is the easiest +part of gardening I have experienced. But what a combat has gone on +here! What vegetable passions have run the whole gamut of ambition, +selfishness, greed of place, fruition, satiety, and now rest here in the +truce of exhaustion! What a battle-field, if one may look upon it +so! The corn has lost its ammunition, and stacked arms in a slovenly, +militia sort of style. The ground vines are torn, trampled, and +withered; and the ungathered cucumbers, worthless melons, and golden +squashes lie about like the spent bombs and exploded shells of a +battle-field. So the cannon-balls lay on the sandy plain before Fort +Fisher after the capture. So the great grassy meadow at Munich, any +morning during the October Fest, is strewn with empty beermugs. History +constantly repeats itself. There is a large crop of moral reflections in +my garden, which anybody is at liberty to gather who passes this way. + +I have tried to get in anything that offered temptation to sin. There +would be no thieves if there was nothing to steal; and I suppose, in the +thieves' catechism, the provider is as bad as the thief; and, probably, +I am to blame for leaving out a few winter pears, which some predatory +boy carried off on Sunday. At first I was angry, and said I should like +to have caught the urchin in the act; but, on second thought, I was glad +I did not. The interview could not have been pleasant: I shouldn't have +known what to do with him. The chances are, that he would have escaped +away with his pockets full, and jibed at me from a safe distance. And, +if I had got my hands on him, I should have been still more embarrassed. +If I had flogged him, he would have got over it a good deal sooner than +I should. That sort of boy does not mind castigation any more than +he does tearing his trousers in the briers. If I had treated him with +kindness, and conciliated him with grapes, showing him the enormity of +his offense, I suppose he would have come the next night, and taken the +remainder of the grapes. The truth is, that the public morality is lax +on the subject of fruit. If anybody puts arsenic or gunpowder into his +watermelons, he is universally denounced as a stingy old murderer by the +community. A great many people regard growing fruit as lawful prey, who +would not think of breaking into your cellar to take it. I found a man +once in my raspberry-bushes, early in the season, when we were waiting +for a dishful to ripen. Upon inquiring what he was about, he said he was +only eating some; and the operation seemed to be so natural and simple, +that I disliked to disturb him. And I am not very sure that one has a +right to the whole of an abundant crop of fruit until he has gathered +it. At least, in a city garden, one might as well conform his theory to +the practice of the community. + +As for children (and it sometimes looks as if the chief products of +my garden were small boys and hens), it is admitted that they are +barbarians. There is no exception among them to this condition of +barbarism. This is not to say that they are not attractive; for they +have the virtues as well as the vices of a primitive people. It is held +by some naturalists that the child is only a zoophyte, with a stomach, +and feelers radiating from it in search of something to fill it. It is +true that a child is always hungry all over: but he is also curious +all over; and his curiosity is excited about as early as his hunger. He +immediately begins to put out his moral feelers into the unknown and the +infinite to discover what sort of an existence this is into which he has +come. His imagination is quite as hungry as his stomach. And again and +again it is stronger than his other appetites. You can easily engage +his imagination in a story which will make him forget his dinner. He +is credulous and superstitious, and open to all wonder. In this, he is +exactly like the savage races. Both gorge themselves on the marvelous; +and all the unknown is marvelous to them. I know the general impression +is that children must be governed through their stomachs. I think they +can be controlled quite as well through their curiosity; that being the +more craving and imperious of the two. I have seen children follow about +a person who told them stories, and interested them with his charming +talk, as greedily as if his pockets had been full of bon-bons. + +Perhaps this fact has no practical relation to gardening; but it occurs +to me that, if I should paper the outside of my high board fence with +the leaves of “The Arabian Nights,” it would afford me a good deal of +protection,--more, in fact, than spikes in the top, which tear trousers +and encourage profanity, but do not save much fruit. A spiked fence is +a challenge to any boy of spirit. But if the fence were papered with +fairy-tales, would he not stop to read them until it was too late for +him to climb into the garden? I don't know. Human nature is vicious. The +boy might regard the picture of the garden of the Hesperides only as +an advertisement of what was over the fence. I begin to find that the +problem of raising fruit is nothing to that of getting it after it has +matured. So long as the law, just in many respects, is in force against +shooting birds and small boys, the gardener may sow in tears and reap in +vain. + +The power of a boy is, to me, something fearful. Consider what he can +do. You buy and set out a choice pear-tree; you enrich the earth for +it; you train and trim it, and vanquish the borer, and watch its slow +growth. At length it rewards your care by producing two or three pears, +which you cut up and divide in the family, declaring the flavor of the +bit you eat to be something extraordinary. The next year, the little +tree blossoms full, and sets well; and in the autumn has on its slender, +drooping limbs half a bushel of fruit, daily growing more delicious in +the sun. You show it to your friends, reading to them the French name, +which you can never remember, on the label; and you take an honest pride +in the successful fruit of long care. That night your pears shall be +required of you by a boy! Along comes an irresponsible urchin, who has +not been growing much longer than the tree, with not twenty-five cents +worth of clothing on him, and in five minutes takes off every pear, and +retires into safe obscurity. In five minutes the remorseless boy has +undone your work of years, and with the easy nonchalance, I doubt not, +of any agent of fate, in whose path nothing is sacred or safe. + +And it is not of much consequence. The boy goes on his way,--to +Congress, or to State Prison: in either place he will be accused of +stealing, perhaps wrongfully. You learn, in time, that it is better to +have had pears and lost them than not to have had pears at all. You +come to know that the least (and rarest) part of the pleasure of raising +fruit is the vulgar eating it. You recall your delight in conversing +with the nurseryman, and looking at his illustrated catalogues, where +all the pears are drawn perfect in form, and of extra size, and at that +exact moment between ripeness and decay which it is so impossible to +hit in practice. Fruit cannot be raised on this earth to taste as you +imagine those pears would taste. For years you have this pleasure, +unalloyed by any disenchanting reality. How you watch the tender twigs +in spring, and the freshly forming bark, hovering about the healthy +growing tree with your pruning-knife many a sunny morning! That is +happiness. Then, if you know it, you are drinking the very wine of life; +and when the sweet juices of the earth mount the limbs, and flow down +the tender stem, ripening and reddening the pendent fruit, you feel that +you somehow stand at the source of things, and have no unimportant share +in the processes of Nature. Enter at this moment boy the destroyer, +whose office is that of preserver as well; for, though he removes the +fruit from your sight, it remains in your memory immortally ripe +and desirable. The gardener needs all these consolations of a high +philosophy. + + + + +EIGHTEENTH WEEK + +Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might have +turned out so differently! If Ravaillac had not been imprisoned for +debt, he would not have stabbed Henry of Navarre. If William of Orange +had escaped assassination by Philip's emissaries; if France had followed +the French Calvin, and embraced Protestant Calvinism, as it came very +near doing towards the end of the sixteenth century; if the Continental +ammunition had not given out at Bunker's Hill; if Blucher had not “come +up” at Waterloo,--the lesson is, that things do not come up unless they +are planted. When you go behind the historical scenery, you find there +is a rope and pulley to effect every transformation which has astonished +you. It was the rascality of a minister and a contractor five years +before that lost the battle; and the cause of the defeat was worthless +ammunition. I should like to know how many wars have been caused by fits +of indigestion, and how many more dynasties have been upset by the love +of woman than by the hate of man. It is only because we are ill informed +that anything surprises us; and we are disappointed because we expect +that for which we have not provided. + +I had too vague expectations of what my garden would do of itself. A +garden ought to produce one everything,--just as a business ought to +support a man, and a house ought to keep itself. We had a convention +lately to resolve that the house should keep itself; but it won't. There +has been a lively time in our garden this summer; but it seems to me +there is very little to show for it. It has been a terrible campaign; +but where is the indemnity? Where are all “sass” and Lorraine? It is +true that we have lived on the country; but we desire, besides, the +fruits of the war. There are no onions, for one thing. I am quite +ashamed to take people into my garden, and have them notice the absence +of onions. It is very marked. In onion is strength; and a garden without +it lacks flavor. The onion in its satin wrappings is among the most +beautiful of vegetables; and it is the only one that represents the +essence of things. It can almost be said to have a soul. You take off +coat after coat, and the onion is still there; and, when the last one is +removed, who dare say that the onion itself is destroyed, though you can +weep over its departed spirit? If there is any one thing on this fallen +earth that the angels in heaven weep over--more than another, it is the +onion. + +I know that there is supposed to be a prejudice against the onion; but I +think there is rather a cowardice in regard to it. I doubt not that all +men and women love the onion; but few confess their love. Affection for +it is concealed. Good New-Englanders are as shy of owning it as they +are of talking about religion. Some people have days on which they eat +onions,--what you might call “retreats,” or their “Thursdays.” The act +is in the nature of a religious ceremony, an Eleusinian mystery; not a +breath of it must get abroad. On that day they see no company; they +deny the kiss of greeting to the dearest friend; they retire within +themselves, and hold communion with one of the most pungent and +penetrating manifestations of the moral vegetable world. Happy is said +to be the family which can eat onions together. They are, for the time +being, separate from the world, and have a harmony of aspiration. There +is a hint here for the reformers. Let them become apostles of the onion; +let them eat, and preach it to their fellows, and circulate tracts of it +in the form of seeds. In the onion is the hope of universal brotherhood. +If all men will eat onions at all times, they will come into a universal +sympathy. Look at Italy. I hope I am not mistaken as to the cause of her +unity. It was the Reds who preached the gospel which made it possible. +All the Reds of Europe, all the sworn devotees of the mystic Mary Ann, +eat of the common vegetable. Their oaths are strong with it. It is the +food, also, of the common people of Italy. All the social atmosphere of +that delicious land is laden with it. Its odor is a practical democracy. +In the churches all are alike: there is one faith, one smell. The +entrance of Victor Emanuel into Rome is only the pompous proclamation of +a unity which garlic had already accomplished; and yet we, who boast of +our democracy, eat onions in secret. + +I now see that I have left out many of the most moral elements. Neither +onions, parsnips, carrots, nor cabbages are here. I have never seen a +garden in the autumn before, without the uncouth cabbage in it; but my +garden gives the impression of a garden without a head. The cabbage is +the rose of Holland. I admire the force by which it compacts its crisp +leaves into a solid head. The secret of it would be priceless to the +world. We should see less expansive foreheads with nothing within. +Even the largest cabbages are not always the best. But I mention these +things, not from any sympathy I have with the vegetables named, but +to show how hard it is to go contrary to the expectations of society. +Society expects every man to have certain things in his garden. Not to +raise cabbage is as if one had no pew in church. Perhaps we shall come +some day to free churches and free gardens; when I can show my neighbor +through my tired garden, at the end of the season, when skies are +overcast, and brown leaves are swirling down, and not mind if he does +raise his eyebrows when he observes, “Ah! I see you have none of this, +and of that.” At present we want the moral courage to plant only what +we need; to spend only what will bring us peace, regardless of what is +going on over the fence. We are half ruined by conformity; but we should +be wholly ruined without it; and I presume I shall make a garden next +year that will be as popular as possible. + +And this brings me to what I see may be a crisis in life. I begin +to feel the temptation of experiment. Agriculture, horticulture, +floriculture,--these are vast fields, into which one may wander away, +and never be seen more. It seemed to me a very simple thing, this +gardening; but it opens up astonishingly. It is like the infinite +possibilities in worsted-work. Polly sometimes says to me, “I wish you +would call at Bobbin's, and match that skein of worsted for me, when you +are in town.” Time was, I used to accept such a commission with alacrity +and self-confidence. I went to Bobbin's, and asked one of his young men, +with easy indifference, to give me some of that. The young man, who is +as handsome a young man as ever I looked at, and who appears to own the +shop, and whose suave superciliousness would be worth everything to a +cabinet minister who wanted to repel applicants for place, says, “I have +n't an ounce: I have sent to Paris, and I expect it every day. I have +a good deal of difficulty in getting that shade in my assortment.” To +think that he is in communication with Paris, and perhaps with Persia! +Respect for such a being gives place to awe. I go to another shop, +holding fast to my scarlet clew. There I am shown a heap of stuff, with +more colors and shades than I had supposed existed in all the world. +What a blaze of distraction! I have been told to get as near the shade +as I could; and so I compare and contrast, till the whole thing seems to +me about of one color. But I can settle my mind on nothing. The affair +assumes a high degree of importance. I am satisfied with nothing but +perfection. I don't know what may happen if the shade is not matched. I +go to another shop, and another, and another. At last a pretty girl, who +could make any customer believe that green is blue, matches the shade in +a minute. I buy five cents worth. That was the order. Women are the +most economical persons that ever were. I have spent two hours in this +five-cent business; but who shall say they were wasted, when I take the +stuff home, and Polly says it is a perfect match, and looks so pleased, +and holds it up with the work, at arm's length, and turns her head one +side, and then takes her needle, and works it in? Working in, I can see, +my own obligingness and amiability with every stitch. Five cents is dirt +cheap for such a pleasure. + +The things I may do in my garden multiply on my vision. How fascinating +have the catalogues of the nurserymen become! Can I raise all those +beautiful varieties, each one of which is preferable to the other? +Shall I try all the kinds of grapes, and all the sorts of pears? I have +already fifteen varieties of strawberries (vines); and I have no idea +that I have hit the right one. Must I subscribe to all the magazines and +weekly papers which offer premiums of the best vines? Oh, that all +the strawberries were rolled into one, that I could inclose all its +lusciousness in one bite! Oh for the good old days when a strawberry +was a strawberry, and there was no perplexity about it! There are more +berries now than churches; and no one knows what to believe. I have seen +gardens which were all experiment, given over to every new thing, and +which produced little or nothing to the owners, except the pleasure of +expectation. People grow pear-trees at great expense of time and money, +which never yield them more than four pears to the tree. The fashions +of ladies' bonnets are nothing to the fashions of nurserymen. He who +attempts to follow them has a business for life; but his life may be +short. If I enter upon this wide field of horticultural experiment, +I shall leave peace behind; and I may expect the ground to open, and +swallow me and all my fortune. May Heaven keep me to the old roots and +herbs of my forefathers! Perhaps in the world of modern reforms this is +not possible; but I intend now to cultivate only the standard things, +and learn to talk knowingly of the rest. Of course, one must keep up +a reputation. I have seen people greatly enjoy themselves, and elevate +themselves in their own esteem, in a wise and critical talk about all +the choice wines, while they were sipping a decoction, the original cost +of which bore no relation to the price of grapes. + + + + +NINETEENTH WEEK + +The closing scenes are not necessarily funereal. A garden should be +got ready for winter as well as for summer. When one goes into +winter-quarters, he wants everything neat and trim. Expecting high +winds, we bring everything into close reef. Some men there are who never +shave (if they are so absurd as ever to shave), except when they go +abroad, and who do not take care to wear polished boots in the bosoms of +their families. I like a man who shaves (next to one who does n't shave) +to satisfy his own conscience, and not for display, and who dresses as +neatly at home as he does anywhere. Such a man will be likely to put his +garden in complete order before the snow comes, so that its last days +shall not present a scene of melancholy ruin and decay. + +I confess that, after such an exhausting campaign, I felt a great +temptation to retire, and call it a drawn engagement. But better +counsels prevailed. I determined that the weeds should not sleep on the +field of battle. I routed them out, and leveled their works. I am master +of the situation. If I have made a desert, I at least have peace; but +it is not quite a desert. The strawberries, the raspberries, the celery, +the turnips, wave green above the clean earth, with no enemy in sight. +In these golden October days no work is more fascinating than this +getting ready for spring. The sun is no longer a burning enemy, but a +friend, illuminating all the open space, and warming the mellow soil. +And the pruning and clearing away of rubbish, and the fertilizing, go on +with something of the hilarity of a wake, rather than the despondency of +other funerals. When the wind begins to come out of the northwest of set +purpose, and to sweep the ground with low and searching fierceness, very +different from the roistering, jolly bluster of early fall, I have put +the strawberries under their coverlet of leaves, pruned the grape-vines +and laid them under the soil, tied up the tender plants, given the fruit +trees a good, solid meal about the roots; and so I turn away, writing +Resurgam on the gatepost. And Calvin, aware that the summer is past and +the harvest is ended, and that a mouse in the kitchen is worth two birds +gone south, scampers away to the house with his tail in the air. + +And yet I am not perfectly at rest in my mind. I know that this is only +a truce until the parties recover their exhausted energies. All winter +long the forces of chemistry will be mustering under ground, repairing +the losses, calling up the reserves, getting new strength from my +surface-fertilizing bounty, and making ready for the spring campaign. +They will open it before I am ready: while the snow is scarcely melted, +and the ground is not passable, they will begin to move on my works; and +the fight will commence. Yet how deceitfully it will open to the music +of birds and the soft enchantment of the spring mornings! I shall even +be permitted to win a few skirmishes: the secret forces will even wait +for me to plant and sow, and show my full hand, before they come on in +heavy and determined assault. There are already signs of an internecine +fight with the devil-grass, which has intrenched itself in a +considerable portion of my garden-patch. It contests the ground inch by +inch; and digging it out is very much such labor as eating a piece of +choke-cherry pie with the stones all in. It is work, too, that I know +by experience I shall have to do alone. Every man must eradicate his own +devil-grass. The neighbors who have leisure to help you in grape-picking +time are all busy when devil-grass is most aggressive. My neighbors' +visits are well timed: it is only their hens which have seasons for +their own. + +I am told that abundant and rank weeds are signs of a rich soil; but +I have noticed that a thin, poor soil grows little but weeds. I am +inclined to think that the substratum is the same, and that the only +choice in this world is what kind of weeds you will have. I am not much +attracted by the gaunt, flavorless mullein, and the wiry thistle of +upland country pastures, where the grass is always gray, as if the world +were already weary and sick of life. The awkward, uncouth wickedness of +remote country-places, where culture has died out after the first crop, +is about as disagreeable as the ranker and richer vice of city life, +forced by artificial heat and the juices of an overfed civilization. +There is no doubt that, on the whole, the rich soil is the best: the +fruit of it has body and flavor. To what affluence does a woman (to +take an instance, thank Heaven, which is common) grow, with favoring +circumstances, under the stimulus of the richest social and intellectual +influences! I am aware that there has been a good deal said in poetry +about the fringed gentian and the harebell of rocky districts and +waysides, and I know that it is possible for maidens to bloom in very +slight soil into a wild-wood grace and beauty; yet, the world through, +they lack that wealth of charms, that tropic affluence of both person +and mind, which higher and more stimulating culture brings,--the passion +as well as the soul glowing in the Cloth-of-Gold rose. Neither persons +nor plants are ever fully themselves until they are cultivated to +their highest. I, for one, have no fear that society will be too much +enriched. The only question is about keeping down the weeds; and I +have learned by experience, that we need new sorts of hoes, and more +disposition to use them. + +Moral Deduction.--The difference between soil and society is evident. We +bury decay in the earth; we plant in it the perishing; we feed it with +offensive refuse: but nothing grows out of it that is not clean; it +gives us back life and beauty for our rubbish. Society returns us what +we give it. + +Pretending to reflect upon these things, but in reality watching the +blue-jays, who are pecking at the purple berries of the woodbine on the +south gable, I approach the house. Polly is picking up chestnuts on the +sward, regardless of the high wind which rattles them about her head and +upon the glass roof of her winter-garden. The garden, I see, is filled +with thrifty plants, which will make it always summer there. The callas +about the fountain will be in flower by Christmas: the plant appears +to keep that holiday in her secret heart all summer. I close the outer +windows as we go along, and congratulate myself that we are ready for +winter. For the winter-garden I have no responsibility: Polly has entire +charge of it. I am only required to keep it heated, and not too hot +either; to smoke it often for the death of the bugs; to water it once +a day; to move this and that into the sun and out of the sun pretty +constantly: but she does all the work. We never relinquish that theory. + +As we pass around the house, I discover a boy in the ravine filling a +bag with chestnuts and hickorynuts. They are not plenty this year; and +I suggest the propriety of leaving some for us. The boy is a little +slow to take the idea: but he has apparently found the picking poor, and +exhausted it; for, as he turns away down the glen, he hails me with, + +“Mister, I say, can you tell me where I can find some walnuts?” + +The coolness of this world grows upon me. It is time to go in and light +a wood-fire on the hearth. + + + + + + +CALVIN + + + + +NOTE.--The following brief Memoir of one of the characters in this book +is added by his friend, in the hope that the record of an exemplary fife +in an humble sphere may be of some service to the world. + + HARTFORD, January, 1880. + + + + +CALVIN + +A STUDY OF CHARACTER + + +Calvin is dead. His life, long to him, but short for the rest of us, was +not marked by startling adventures, but his character was so uncommon +and his qualities were so worthy of imitation, that I have been asked +by those who personally knew him to set down my recollections of his +career. + +His origin and ancestry were shrouded in mystery; even his age was a +matter of pure conjecture. Although he was of the Maltese race, I have +reason to suppose that he was American by birth as he certainly was in +sympathy. Calvin was given to me eight years ago by Mrs. Stowe, but she +knew nothing of his age or origin. He walked into her house one day +out of the great unknown and became at once at home, as if he had been +always a friend of the family. He appeared to have artistic and literary +tastes, and it was as if he had inquired at the door if that was the +residence of the author of “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” and, upon being assured +that it was, bad decided to dwell there. This is, of course, fanciful, +for his antecedents were wholly unknown, but in his time he could hardly +have been in any household where he would not have heard “Uncle Tom's +Cabin” talked about. When he came to Mrs. Stowe, he was as large as he +ever was, and apparently as old as he ever became. Yet there was in him +no appearance of age; he was in the happy maturity of all his powers, +and you would rather have said that in that maturity he had found the +secret of perpetual youth. And it was as difficult to believe that +he would ever be aged as it was to imagine that he had ever been in +immature youth. There was in him a mysterious perpetuity. + +After some years, when Mrs. Stowe made her winter home in Florida, +Calvin came to live with us. From the first moment, he fell into the +ways of the house and assumed a recognized position in the family,--I +say recognized, because after he became known he was always inquired for +by visitors, and in the letters to the other members of the family he +always received a message. Although the least obtrusive of beings, his +individuality always made itself felt. + +His personal appearance had much to do with this, for he was of royal +mould, and had an air of high breeding. He was large, but he had nothing +of the fat grossness of the celebrated Angora family; though powerful, +he was exquisitely proportioned, and as graceful in every movement as a +young leopard. When he stood up to open a door--he opened all the doors +with old-fashioned latches--he was portentously tall, and when stretched +on the rug before the fire he seemed too long for this world--as indeed +he was. His coat was the finest and softest I have ever seen, a shade +of quiet Maltese; and from his throat downward, underneath, to the white +tips of his feet, he wore the whitest and most delicate ermine; and no +person was ever more fastidiously neat. In his finely formed head you +saw something of his aristocratic character; the ears were small and +cleanly cut, there was a tinge of pink in the nostrils, his face +was handsome, and the expression of his countenance exceedingly +intelligent--I should call it even a sweet expression, if the term were +not inconsistent with his look of alertness and sagacity. + +It is difficult to convey a just idea of his gayety in connection with +his dignity and gravity, which his name expressed. As we know nothing +of his family, of course it will be understood that Calvin was his +Christian name. He had times of relaxation into utter playfulness, +delighting in a ball of yarn, catching sportively at stray ribbons +when his mistress was at her toilet, and pursuing his own tail, with +hilarity, for lack of anything better. He could amuse himself by the +hour, and he did not care for children; perhaps something in his past +was present to his memory. He had absolutely no bad habits, and his +disposition was perfect. I never saw him exactly angry, though I have +seen his tail grow to an enormous size when a strange cat appeared +upon his lawn. He disliked cats, evidently regarding them as feline and +treacherous, and he had no association with them. Occasionally there +would be heard a night concert in the shrubbery. Calvin would ask to +have the door opened, and then you would hear a rush and a “pestzt,” and +the concert would explode, and Calvin would quietly come in and resume +his seat on the hearth. There was no trace of anger in his manner, but +he would n't have any of that about the house. He had the rare virtue +of magnanimity. Although he had fixed notions about his own rights, and +extraordinary persistency in getting them, he never showed temper at a +repulse; he simply and firmly persisted till he had what he wanted. +His diet was one point; his idea was that of the scholars about +dictionaries,--to “get the best.” He knew as well as any one what was in +the house, and would refuse beef if turkey was to be had; and if there +were oysters, he would wait over the turkey to see if the oysters would +not be forthcoming. And yet he was not a gross gourmand; he would eat +bread if he saw me eating it, and thought he was not being imposed on. +His habits of feeding, also, were refined; he never used a knife, and he +would put up his hand and draw the fork down to his mouth as gracefully +as a grown person. Unless necessity compelled, he would not eat in the +kitchen, but insisted upon his meals in the dining-room, and would +wait patiently, unless a stranger were present; and then he was sure to +importune the visitor, hoping that the latter was ignorant of the rule +of the house, and would give him something. They used to say that he +preferred as his table-cloth on the floor a certain well-known church +journal; but this was said by an Episcopalian. So far as I know, he had +no religious prejudices, except that he did not like the association +with Romanists. He tolerated the servants, because they belonged to the +house, and would sometimes linger by the kitchen stove; but the moment +visitors came in he arose, opened the door, and marched into the +drawing-room. Yet he enjoyed the company of his equals, and never +withdrew, no matter how many callers--whom he recognized as of his +society--might come into the drawing-room. Calvin was fond of company, +but he wanted to choose it; and I have no doubt that his was an +aristocratic fastidiousness rather than one of faith. It is so with most +people. + +The intelligence of Calvin was something phenomenal, in his rank of +life. He established a method of communicating his wants, and even some +of his sentiments; and he could help himself in many things. There was +a furnace register in a retired room, where he used to go when he wished +to be alone, that he always opened when he desired more heat; but he +never shut it, any more than he shut the door after himself. He could +do almost everything but speak; and you would declare sometimes that you +could see a pathetic longing to do that in his intelligent face. I have +no desire to overdraw his qualities, but if there was one thing in him +more noticeable than another, it was his fondness for nature. He could +content himself for hours at a low window, looking into the ravine and +at the great trees, noting the smallest stir there; he delighted, above +all things, to accompany me walking about the garden, hearing the birds, +getting the smell of the fresh earth, and rejoicing in the sunshine. +He followed me and gamboled like a dog, rolling over on the turf and +exhibiting his delight in a hundred ways. If I worked, he sat and +watched me, or looked off over the bank, and kept his ear open to the +twitter in the cherry-trees. When it stormed, he was sure to sit at the +window, keenly watching the rain or the snow, glancing up and down at +its falling; and a winter tempest always delighted him. I think he was +genuinely fond of birds, but, so far as I know, he usually confined +himself to one a day; he never killed, as some sportsmen do, for the +sake of killing, but only as civilized people do,--from necessity. +He was intimate with the flying-squirrels who dwell in the +chestnut-trees,--too intimate, for almost every day in the summer he +would bring in one, until he nearly discouraged them. He was, indeed, +a superb hunter, and would have been a devastating one, if his bump of +destructiveness had not been offset by a bump of moderation. There was +very little of the brutality of the lower animals about him; I don't +think he enjoyed rats for themselves, but he knew his business, and for +the first few months of his residence with us he waged an awful campaign +against the horde, and after that his simple presence was sufficient to +deter them from coming on the premises. Mice amused him, but he usually +considered them too small game to be taken seriously; I have seen +him play for an hour with a mouse, and then let him go with a royal +condescension. In this whole, matter of “getting a living,” Calvin was a +great contrast to the rapacity of the age in which he lived. + +I hesitate a little to speak of his capacity for friendship and the +affectionateness of his nature, for I know from his own reserve that he +would not care to have it much talked about. We understood each other +perfectly, but we never made any fuss about it; when I spoke his name +and snapped my fingers, he came to me; when I returned home at night, he +was pretty sure to be waiting for me near the gate, and would rise +and saunter along the walk, as if his being there were purely +accidental,--so shy was he commonly of showing feeling; and when I +opened the door, he never rushed in, like a cat, but loitered, and +lounged, as if he had no intention of going in, but would condescend to. +And yet, the fact was, he knew dinner was ready, and he was bound to be +there. He kept the run of dinner-time. It happened sometimes, during our +absence in the summer, that dinner would be early, and Calvin, walking +about the grounds, missed it and came in late. But he never made a +mistake the second day. There was one thing he never did,--he never +rushed through an open doorway. He never forgot his dignity. If he had +asked to have the door opened, and was eager to go out, he always went +deliberately; I can see him now standing on the sill, looking about at +the sky as if he was thinking whether it were worth while to take an +umbrella, until he was near having his tail shut in. + +His friendship was rather constant than demonstrative. When we returned +from an absence of nearly two years, Calvin welcomed us with evident +pleasure, but showed his satisfaction rather by tranquil happiness than +by fuming about. He had the faculty of making us glad to get home. It +was his constancy that was so attractive. He liked companionship, but he +wouldn't be petted, or fussed over, or sit in any one's lap a moment; he +always extricated himself from such familiarity with dignity and with no +show of temper. If there was any petting to be done, however, he +chose to do it. Often he would sit looking at me, and then, moved by a +delicate affection, come and pull at my coat and sleeve until he could +touch my face with his nose, and then go away contented. He had a habit +of coming to my study in the morning, sitting quietly by my side or on +the table for hours, watching the pen run over the paper, occasionally +swinging his tail round for a blotter, and then going to sleep among the +papers by the inkstand. Or, more rarely, he would watch the writing from +a perch on my shoulder. Writing always interested him, and, until he +understood it, he wanted to hold the pen. + +He always held himself in a kind of reserve with his friend, as if he +had said, “Let us respect our personality, and not make a 'mess' of +friendship.” He saw, with Emerson, the risk of degrading it to trivial +conveniency. “Why insist on rash personal relations with your friend?” + “Leave this touching and clawing.” Yet I would not give an unfair notion +of his aloofness, his fine sense of the sacredness of the me and +the not-me. And, at the risk of not being believed, I will relate an +incident, which was often repeated. Calvin had the practice of passing +a portion of the night in the contemplation of its beauties, and would +come into our chamber over the roof of the conservatory through the open +window, summer and winter, and go to sleep on the foot of my bed. He +would do this always exactly in this way; he never was content to stay +in the chamber if we compelled him to go upstairs and through the door. +He had the obstinacy of General Grant. But this is by the way. In the +morning, he performed his toilet and went down to breakfast with the +rest of the family. Now, when the mistress was absent from home, and at +no other time, Calvin would come in the morning, when the bell rang, to +the head of the bed, put up his feet and look into my face, follow me +about when I rose, “assist” at the dressing, and in many purring ways +show his fondness, as if he had plainly said, “I know that she has gone +away, but I am here.” Such was Calvin in rare moments. + +He had his limitations. Whatever passion he had for nature, he had no +conception of art. There was sent to him once a fine and very expressive +cat's head in bronze, by Fremiet. I placed it on the floor. He regarded +it intently, approached it cautiously and crouchingly, touched it with +his nose, perceived the fraud, turned away abruptly, and never would +notice it afterward. On the whole, his life was not only a successful +one, but a happy one. He never had but one fear, so far as I know: he +had a mortal and a reasonable terror of plumbers. He would never stay in +the house when they were here. No coaxing could quiet him. Of course he +did n't share our fear about their charges, but he must have had some +dreadful experience with them in that portion of his life which is +unknown to us. A plumber was to him the devil, and I have no doubt that, +in his scheme, plumbers were foreordained to do him mischief. + +In speaking of his worth, it has never occurred to me to estimate Calvin +by the worldly standard. I know that it is customary now, when any +one dies, to ask how much he was worth, and that no obituary in the +newspapers is considered complete without such an estimate. The plumbers +in our house were one day overheard to say that, “They say that she says +that he says that he wouldn't take a hundred dollars for him.” It is +unnecessary to say that I never made such a remark, and that, so far as +Calvin was concerned, there was no purchase in money. + +As I look back upon it, Calvin's life seems to me a fortunate one, for +it was natural and unforced. He ate when he was hungry, slept when he +was sleepy, and enjoyed existence to the very tips of his toes and the +end of his expressive and slow-moving tail. He delighted to roam about +the garden, and stroll among the trees, and to lie on the green grass +and luxuriate in all the sweet influences of summer. You could never +accuse him of idleness, and yet he knew the secret of repose. The poet +who wrote so prettily of him that his little life was rounded with a +sleep, understated his felicity; it was rounded with a good many. His +conscience never seemed to interfere with his slumbers. In fact, he had +good habits and a contented mind. I can see him now walk in at the study +door, sit down by my chair, bring his tail artistically about his feet, +and look up at me with unspeakable happiness in his handsome face. I +often thought that he felt the dumb limitation which denied him the +power of language. But since he was denied speech, he scorned the +inarticulate mouthings of the lower animals. The vulgar mewing and +yowling of the cat species was beneath him; he sometimes uttered a +sort of articulate and well-bred ejaculation, when he wished to call +attention to something that he considered remarkable, or to some want of +his, but he never went whining about. He would sit for hours at a closed +window, when he desired to enter, without a murmur, and when it was +opened, he never admitted that he had been impatient by “bolting” in. +Though speech he had not, and the unpleasant kind of utterance given to +his race he would not use, he had a mighty power of purr to express his +measureless content with congenial society. There was in him a musical +organ with stops of varied power and expression, upon which I have no +doubt he could have performed Scarlatti's celebrated cat's-fugue. + +Whether Calvin died of old age, or was carried off by one of the +diseases incident to youth, it is impossible to say; for his departure +was as quiet as his advent was mysterious. I only know that he appeared +to us in this world in his perfect stature and beauty, and that after a +time, like Lohengrin, he withdrew. In his illness there was nothing more +to be regretted than in all his blameless life. I suppose there never +was an illness that had more of dignity, and sweetness and resignation +in it. It came on gradually, in a kind of listlessness and want of +appetite. An alarming symptom was his preference for the warmth of a +furnace-register to the lively sparkle of the open woodfire. Whatever +pain he suffered, he bore it in silence, and seemed only anxious not to +obtrude his malady. We tempted him with the delicacies of the season, +but it soon became impossible for him to eat, and for two weeks he +ate or drank scarcely anything. Sometimes he made an effort to take +something, but it was evident that he made the effort to please us. The +neighbors--and I am convinced that the advice of neighbors is never good +for anything--suggested catnip. He would n't even smell it. We had the +attendance of an amateur practitioner of medicine, whose real office +was the cure of souls, but nothing touched his case. He took what was +offered, but it was with the air of one to whom the time for pellets was +passed. He sat or lay day after day almost motionless, never once making +a display of those vulgar convulsions or contortions of pain which are +so disagreeable to society. His favorite place was on the brightest +spot of a Smyrna rug by the conservatory, where the sunlight fell and +he could hear the fountain play. If we went to him and exhibited our +interest in his condition, he always purred in recognition of our +sympathy. And when I spoke his name, he looked up with an expression +that said, “I understand it, old fellow, but it's no use.” He was to all +who came to visit him a model of calmness and patience in affliction. + +I was absent from home at the last, but heard by daily postal-card of +his failing condition; and never again saw him alive. One sunny morning, +he rose from his rug, went into the conservatory (he was very thin +then), walked around it deliberately, looking at all the plants he knew, +and then went to the bay-window in the dining-room, and stood a long +time looking out upon the little field, now brown and sere, and toward +the garden, where perhaps the happiest hours of his life had been spent. +It was a last look. He turned and walked away, laid himself down upon +the bright spot in the rug, and quietly died. + +It is not too much to say that a little shock went through the +neighborhood when it was known that Calvin was dead, so marked was his +individuality; and his friends, one after another, came in to see him. +There was no sentimental nonsense about his obsequies; it was felt +that any parade would have been distasteful to him. John, who acted +as undertaker, prepared a candle-box for him and I believe assumed +a professional decorum; but there may have been the usual levity +underneath, for I heard that he remarked in the kitchen that it was the +“driest wake he ever attended.” Everybody, however, felt a fondness for +Calvin, and regarded him with a certain respect. Between him and Bertha +there existed a great friendship, and she apprehended his nature; she +used to say that sometimes she was afraid of him, he looked at her so +intelligently; she was never certain that he was what he appeared to be. + +When I returned, they had laid Calvin on a table in an upper chamber by +an open window. It was February. He reposed in a candle-box, lined about +the edge with evergreen, and at his head stood a little wine-glass +with flowers. He lay with his head tucked down in his arms,--a favorite +position of his before the fire,--as if asleep in the comfort of his +soft and exquisite fur. It was the involuntary exclamation of those who +saw him, “How natural he looks!” As for myself, I said nothing. John +buried him under the twin hawthorn-trees,--one white and the other +pink,--in a spot where Calvin was fond of lying and listening to the hum +of summer insects and the twitter of birds. + +Perhaps I have failed to make appear the individuality of character +that was so evident to those who knew him. At any rate, I have set down +nothing concerning him, but the literal truth. He was always a mystery. +I did not know whence he came; I do not know whither he has gone. I +would not weave one spray of falsehood in the wreath I lay upon his +grave. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer in a Garden and Calvin A Study +Of Character, by Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER IN A GARDEN *** + +***** This file should be named 3135-0.txt or 3135-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/3/3135/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/3135-0.zip b/3135-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..629b1f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3135-0.zip diff --git a/3135-h.zip b/3135-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3768a5e --- /dev/null +++ b/3135-h.zip diff --git a/3135-h/3135-h.htm b/3135-h/3135-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90809d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/3135-h/3135-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3762 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Summer in a Garden, and Calvin by Charles Dudley Warner + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer in a Garden, and Calvin, +A Study Of Character, by Charles Dudley Warner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Summer in a Garden, and Calvin, A Study Of Character + +Author: Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: August 22, 2006 [EBook #3135] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER IN A GARDEN *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + SUMMER IN A GARDEN + </h1> + <h3> + and + </h3> + <h1> + CALVIN, <br /> + </h1> + <h2> + A STUDY OF CHARACTER + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Charles Dudley Warner + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0010}.jpg" alt="{0010}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0010}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> INTRODUCTORY LETTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> BY WAY OF DEDICATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> PRELIMINARY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> FIRST WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> SECOND WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THIRD WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> FOURTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> FIFTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> SIXTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> SEVENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> EIGHTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> NINTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> TENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> ELEVENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> TWELFTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> THIRTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> FOURTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> FIFTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> SIXTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> SEVENTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> EIGHTEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> NINETEENTH WEEK </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> <b>CALVIN</b> </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTORY LETTER + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR MR. FIELDS,—I did promise to write an Introduction to these + charming papers but an Introduction,—what is it?—a sort of + pilaster, put upon the face of a building for looks' sake, and usually + flat,—very flat. Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, which is, as + I understand it, a cruel device of architecture, representing a man or a + woman, obliged to hold up upon his or her head or shoulders a structure + which they did not build, and which could stand just as well without as + with them. But an Introduction is more apt to be a pillar, such as one may + see in Baalbec, standing up in the air all alone, with nothing on it, and + with nothing for it to do. + </p> + <p> + But an Introductory Letter is different. There is in that no formality, no + assumption of function, no awkward propriety or dignity to be sustained. A + letter at the opening of a book may be only a footpath, leading the + curious to a favorable point of observation, and then leaving them to + wander as they will. + </p> + <p> + Sluggards have been sent to the ant for wisdom; but writers might better + be sent to the spider, not because he works all night, and watches all + day, but because he works unconsciously. He dare not even bring his work + before his own eyes, but keeps it behind him, as if too much knowledge of + what one is doing would spoil the delicacy and modesty of one's work. + </p> + <p> + Almost all graceful and fanciful work is born like a dream, that comes + noiselessly, and tarries silently, and goes as a bubble bursts. And yet + somewhere work must come in,—real, well-considered work. + </p> + <p> + Inness (the best American painter of Nature in her moods of real human + feeling) once said, “No man can do anything in art, unless he has + intuitions; but, between whiles, one must work hard in collecting the + materials out of which intuitions are made.” The truth could not be hit + off better. Knowledge is the soil, and intuitions are the flowers which + grow up out of it. The soil must be well enriched and worked. + </p> + <p> + It is very plain, or will be to those who read these papers, now gathered + up into this book, as into a chariot for a race, that the author has long + employed his eyes, his ears, and his understanding, in observing and + considering the facts of Nature, and in weaving curious analogies. Being + an editor of one of the oldest daily news-papers in New England, and + obliged to fill its columns day after day (as the village mill is obliged + to render every day so many sacks of flour or of meal to its hungry + customers), it naturally occurred to him, “Why not write something which I + myself, as well as my readers, shall enjoy? The market gives them facts + enough; politics, lies enough; art, affectations enough; criminal news, + horrors enough; fashion, more than enough of vanity upon vanity, and + vexation of purse. Why should they not have some of those wandering and + joyous fancies which solace my hours?” + </p> + <p> + The suggestion ripened into execution. Men and women read, and wanted + more. These garden letters began to blossom every week; and many hands + were glad to gather pleasure from them. A sign it was of wisdom. In our + feverish days it is a sign of health or of convalescence that men love + gentle pleasure, and enjoyments that do not rush or roar, but distill as + the dew. + </p> + <p> + The love of rural life, the habit of finding enjoyment in familiar things, + that susceptibility to Nature which keeps the nerve gently thrilled in her + homliest nooks and by her commonest sounds, is worth a thousand fortunes + of money, or its equivalents. + </p> + <p> + Every book which interprets the secret lore of fields and gardens, every + essay that brings men nearer to the understanding of the mysteries which + every tree whispers, every brook murmurs, every weed, even, hints, is a + contribution to the wealth and the happiness of our kind. And if the lines + of the writer shall be traced in quaint characters, and be filled with a + grave humor, or break out at times into merriment, all this will be no + presumption against their wisdom or his goodness. Is the oak less strong + and tough because the mosses and weather-stains stick in all manner of + grotesque sketches along its bark? Now, truly, one may not learn from this + little book either divinity or horticulture; but if he gets a pure + happiness, and a tendency to repeat the happiness from the simple stores + of Nature, he will gain from our friend's garden what Adam lost in his, + and what neither philosophy nor divinity has always been able to restore. + </p> + <p> + Wherefore, thanking you for listening to a former letter, which begged you + to consider whether these curious and ingenious papers, that go winding + about like a half-trodden path between the garden and the field, might not + be given in book-form to your million readers, I remain, yours to command + in everything but the writing of an Introduction, + </p> + <p> + HENRY WARD BEECHER. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BY WAY OF DEDICATION + </h2> + <p> + MY DEAR POLLY,—When a few of these papers had appeared in “The + Courant,” I was encouraged to continue them by hearing that they had at + least one reader who read them with the serious mind from which alone + profit is to be expected. It was a maiden lady, who, I am sure, was no + more to blame for her singleness than for her age; and she looked to these + honest sketches of experience for that aid which the professional + agricultural papers could not give in the management of the little bit of + garden which she called her own. She may have been my only disciple; and I + confess that the thought of her yielding a simple faith to what a + gainsaying world may have regarded with levity has contributed much to + give an increased practical turn to my reports of what I know about + gardening. The thought that I had misled a lady, whose age is not her only + singularity, who looked to me for advice which should be not at all the + fanciful product of the Garden of Gull, would give me great pain. I trust + that her autumn is a peaceful one, and undisturbed by either the humorous + or the satirical side of Nature. + </p> + <p> + You know that this attempt to tell the truth about one of the most + fascinating occupations in the world has not been without its dangers. I + have received anonymous letters. Some of them were murderously spelled; + others were missives in such elegant phrase and dress, that danger was + only to be apprehended in them by one skilled in the mysteries of medieval + poisoning, when death flew on the wings of a perfume. One lady, whose + entreaty that I should pause had something of command in it, wrote that my + strictures on “pusley” had so inflamed her husband's zeal, that, in her + absence in the country, he had rooted up all her beds of portulaca (a sort + of cousin of the fat weed), and utterly cast it out. It is, however, to be + expected, that retributive justice would visit the innocent as well as the + guilty of an offending family. This is only another proof of the wide + sweep of moral forces. I suppose that it is as necessary in the vegetable + world as it is elsewhere to avoid the appearance of evil. + </p> + <p> + In offering you the fruit of my garden, which has been gathered from week + to week, without much reference to the progress of the crops or the + drought, I desire to acknowledge an influence which has lent half the + charm to my labor. If I were in a court of justice, or injustice, under + oath, I should not like to say, that, either in the wooing days of spring, + or under the suns of the summer solstice, you had been, either with hoe, + rake, or miniature spade, of the least use in the garden; but your + suggestions have been invaluable, and, whenever used, have been paid for. + Your horticultural inquiries have been of a nature to astonish the + vegetable world, if it listened, and were a constant inspiration to + research. There was almost nothing that you did not wish to know; and + this, added to what I wished to know, made a boundless field for + discovery. What might have become of the garden, if your advice had been + followed, a good Providence only knows; but I never worked there without a + consciousness that you might at any moment come down the walk, under the + grape-arbor, bestowing glances of approval, that were none the worse for + not being critical; exercising a sort of superintendence that elevated + gardening into a fine art; expressing a wonder that was as complimentary + to me as it was to Nature; bringing an atmosphere which made the garden a + region of romance, the soil of which was set apart for fruits native to + climes unseen. It was this bright presence that filled the garden, as it + did the summer, with light, and now leaves upon it that tender play of + color and bloom which is called among the Alps the after-glow. + </p> + <p> + NOOK FARM, HARTFORD, October, 1870 + </p> + <p> + C. D. W. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PRELIMINARY + </h2> + <p> + The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions, as it is the latest. + Mud-pies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So long as we are + dirty, we are pure. Fondness for the ground comes back to a man after he + has run the round of pleasure and business, eaten dirt, and sown + wild-oats, drifted about the world, and taken the wind of all its moods. + The love of digging in the ground (or of looking on while he pays another + to dig) is as sure to come back to him as he is sure, at last, to go under + the ground, and stay there. To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a + hoe, to plant seeds and watch, their renewal of life, this is the + commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do. + When Cicero writes of the pleasures of old age, that of agriculture is + chief among them: + </p> + <p> + “Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus ego incredibiliter delector: + quae nec ulla impediuntur senectute, et mihi ad sapientis vitam proxime + videntur accedere.” (I am driven to Latin because New York editors have + exhausted the English language in the praising of spring, and especially + of the month of May.) + </p> + <p> + Let us celebrate the soil. Most men toil that they may own a piece of it; + they measure their success in life by their ability to buy it. It is alike + the passion of the parvenu and the pride of the aristocrat. Broad acres + are a patent of nobility; and no man but feels more, of a man in the world + if he have a bit of ground that he can call his own. However small it is + on the surface, it is four thousand miles deep; and that is a very + handsome property. And there is a great pleasure in working in the soil, + apart from the ownership of it. The man who has planted a garden feels + that he has done something for the good of the World. He belongs to the + producers. It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's toil, if it be + nothing more than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn. One cultivates a + lawn even with great satisfaction; for there is nothing more beautiful + than grass and turf in our latitude. The tropics may have their delights, + but they have not turf: and the world without turf is a dreary desert. The + original Garden of Eden could not have had such turf as one sees in + England. The Teutonic races all love turf: they emigrate in the line of + its growth. + </p> + <p> + To dig in the mellow soil-to dig moderately, for all pleasure should be + taken sparingly—is a great thing. One gets strength out of the + ground as often as one really touches it with a hoe. Antaeus (this is a + classical article) was no doubt an agriculturist; and such a prize-fighter + as Hercules could n't do anything with him till he got him to lay down his + spade, and quit the soil. It is not simply beets and potatoes and corn and + string-beans that one raises in his well-hoed garden: it is the average of + human life. There is life in the ground; it goes into the seeds; and it + also, when it is stirred up, goes into the man who stirs it. The hot sun + on his back as he bends to his shovel and hoe, or contemplatively rakes + the warm and fragrant loam, is better than much medicine. The buds are + coming out on the bushes round about; the blossoms of the fruit trees + begin to show; the blood is running up the grapevines in streams; you can + smell the Wild flowers on the near bank; and the birds are flying and + glancing and singing everywhere. To the open kitchen door comes the busy + housewife to shake a white something, and stands a moment to look, quite + transfixed by the delightful sights and sounds. Hoeing in the garden on a + bright, soft May day, when you are not obliged to, is nearly equal to the + delight of going trouting. + </p> + <p> + Blessed be agriculture! if one does not have too much of it. All + literature is fragrant with it, in a gentlemanly way. At the foot of the + charming olive-covered hills of Tivoli, Horace (not he of Chappaqua) had a + sunny farm: it was in sight of Hadrian's villa, who did landscape + gardening on an extensive scale, and probably did not get half as much + comfort out of it as Horace did from his more simply tilled acres. We + trust that Horace did a little hoeing and farming himself, and that his + verse is not all fraudulent sentiment. In order to enjoy agriculture, you + do not want too much of it, and you want to be poor enough to have a + little inducement to work moderately yourself. Hoe while it is spring, and + enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not turn + out well. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIRST WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Under this modest title, I purpose to write a series of papers, some of + which will be like many papers of garden-seeds, with nothing vital in + them, on the subject of gardening; holding that no man has any right to + keep valuable knowledge to himself, and hoping that those who come after + me, except tax-gatherers and that sort of person, will find profit in the + perusal of my experience. As my knowledge is constantly increasing, there + is likely to be no end to these papers. They will pursue no orderly system + of agriculture or horticulture, but range from topic to topic, according + to the weather and the progress of the weeds, which may drive me from one + corner of the garden to the other. + </p> + <p> + The principal value of a private garden is not understood. It is not to + give the possessor vegetables or fruit (that can be better and cheaper + done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him patience and philosophy + and the higher virtues, hope deferred and expectations blighted, leading + directly to resignation and sometimes to alienation. The garden thus + becomes a moral agent, a test of character, as it was in the beginning. I + shall keep this central truth in mind in these articles. I mean to have a + moral garden, if it is not a productive one,—one that shall teach, O + my brothers! O my sisters! the great lessons of life. + </p> + <p> + The first pleasant thing about a garden in this latitude is, that you + never know when to set it going. If you want anything to come to maturity + early, you must start it in a hot-house. If you put it out early, the + chances are all in favor of getting it nipped with frost; for the + thermometer will be 90 deg. one day, and go below 32 deg. the night of the + day following. And, if you do not set out plants or sow seeds early, you + fret continually; knowing that your vegetables will be late, and that, + while Jones has early peas, you will be watching your slow-forming pods. + This keeps you in a state of mind. When you have planted anything early, + you are doubtful whether to desire to see it above ground, or not. If a + hot day comes, you long to see the young plants; but, when a cold north + wind brings frost, you tremble lest the seeds have burst their bands. Your + spring is passed in anxious doubts and fears, which are usually realized; + and so a great moral discipline is worked out for you. + </p> + <p> + Now, there is my corn, two or three inches high this 18th of May, and + apparently having no fear of a frost. I was hoeing it this morning for the + first time,—it is not well usually to hoe corn until about the 18th + of May,—when Polly came out to look at the Lima beans. She seemed to + think the poles had come up beautifully. I thought they did look well: + they are a fine set of poles, large and well grown, and stand straight. + They were inexpensive, too. The cheapness came about from my cutting them + on another man's land, and he did not know it. I have not examined this + transaction in the moral light of gardening; but I know people in this + country take great liberties at the polls. Polly noticed that the beans + had not themselves come up in any proper sense, but that the dirt had got + off from them, leaving them uncovered. She thought it would be well to + sprinkle a slight layer of dirt over them; and I, indulgently, consented. + It occurred to me, when she had gone, that beans always come up that way,—wrong + end first; and that what they wanted was light, and not dirt. + </p> + <p> + Observation.—Woman always did, from the first, make a muss in a + garden. + </p> + <p> + I inherited with my garden a large patch of raspberries. Splendid berry + the raspberry, when the strawberry has gone. This patch has grown into + such a defiant attitude, that you could not get within several feet of it. + Its stalks were enormous in size, and cast out long, prickly arms in all + directions; but the bushes were pretty much all dead. I have walked into + them a good deal with a pruning-knife; but it is very much like fighting + original sin. The variety is one that I can recommend. I think it is + called Brinckley's Orange. It is exceedingly prolific, and has enormous + stalks. The fruit is also said to be good; but that does not matter so + much, as the plant does not often bear in this region. The stalks seem to + be biennial institutions; and as they get about their growth one year, and + bear the next year, and then die, and the winters here nearly always kill + them, unless you take them into the house (which is inconvenient if you + have a family of small children), it is very difficult to induce the plant + to flower and fruit. This is the greatest objection there is to this sort + of raspberry. I think of keeping these for discipline, and setting out + some others, more hardy sorts, for fruit. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SECOND WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Next to deciding when to start your garden, the most important matter is, + what to put in it. It is difficult to decide what to order for dinner on a + given day: how much more oppressive is it to order in a lump an endless + vista of dinners, so to speak! For, unless your garden is a boundless + prairie (and mine seems to me to be that when I hoe it on hot days), you + must make a selection, from the great variety of vegetables, of those you + will raise in it; and you feel rather bound to supply your own table from + your own garden, and to eat only as you have sown. + </p> + <p> + I hold that no man has a right (whatever his sex, of course) to have a + garden to his own selfish uses. He ought not to please himself, but every + man to please his neighbor. I tried to have a garden that would give + general moral satisfaction. It seemed to me that nobody could object to + potatoes (a most useful vegetable); and I began to plant them freely. But + there was a chorus of protest against them. “You don't want to take up + your ground with potatoes,” the neighbors said; “you can buy potatoes” + (the very thing I wanted to avoid doing is buying things). “What you want + is the perishable things that you cannot get fresh in the market.”—“But + what kind of perishable things?” A horticulturist of eminence wanted me to + sow lines of straw-berries and raspberries right over where I had put my + potatoes in drills. I had about five hundred strawberry-plants in another + part of my garden; but this fruit-fanatic wanted me to turn my whole patch + into vines and runners. I suppose I could raise strawberries enough for + all my neighbors; and perhaps I ought to do it. I had a little space + prepared for melons,—muskmelons,—which I showed to an + experienced friend. + </p> + <p> + “You are not going to waste your ground on muskmelons?” he asked. “They + rarely ripen in this climate thoroughly, before frost.” He had tried for + years without luck. I resolved to not go into such a foolish experiment. + But, the next day, another neighbor happened in. “Ah! I see you are going + to have melons. My family would rather give up anything else in the garden + than musk-melons,—of the nutmeg variety. They are the most grateful + things we have on the table.” So there it was. There was no compromise: it + was melons, or no melons, and somebody offended in any case. I half + resolved to plant them a little late, so that they would, and they would + n't. But I had the same difficulty about string-beans (which I detest), + and squash (which I tolerate), and parsnips, and the whole round of green + things. + </p> + <p> + I have pretty much come to the conclusion that you have got to put your + foot down in gardening. If I had actually taken counsel of my friends, I + should not have had a thing growing in the garden to-day but weeds. And + besides, while you are waiting, Nature does not wait. Her mind is made up. + She knows just what she will raise; and she has an infinite variety of + early and late. The most humiliating thing to me about a garden is the + lesson it teaches of the inferiority of man. Nature is prompt, decided, + inexhaustible. She thrusts up her plants with a vigor and freedom that I + admire; and the more worthless the plant, the more rapid and splendid its + growth. She is at it early and late, and all night; never tiring, nor + showing the least sign of exhaustion. + </p> + <p> + “Eternal gardening is the price of liberty,” is a motto that I should put + over the gateway of my garden, if I had a gate. And yet it is not wholly + true; for there is no liberty in gardening. The man who undertakes a + garden is relentlessly pursued. He felicitates himself that, when he gets + it once planted, he will have a season of rest and of enjoyment in the + sprouting and growing of his seeds. It is a green anticipation. He has + planted a seed that will keep him awake nights; drive rest from his bones, + and sleep from his pillow. Hardly is the garden planted, when he must + begin to hoe it. The weeds have sprung up all over it in a night. They + shine and wave in redundant life. The docks have almost gone to seed; and + their roots go deeper than conscience. Talk about the London Docks!—the + roots of these are like the sources of the Aryan race. And the weeds are + not all. I awake in the morning (and a thriving garden will wake a person + up two hours before he ought to be out of bed) and think of the + tomato-plants,—the leaves like fine lace-work, owing to black bugs + that skip around, and can't be caught. Somebody ought to get up before the + dew is off (why don't the dew stay on till after a reasonable breakfast?) + and sprinkle soot on the leaves. I wonder if it is I. Soot is so much + blacker than the bugs, that they are disgusted, and go away. You can't get + up too early, if you have a garden. You must be early due yourself, if you + get ahead of the bugs. I think, that, on the whole, it would be best to + sit up all night, and sleep daytimes. Things appear to go on in the night + in the garden uncommonly. It would be less trouble to stay up than it is + to get up so early. + </p> + <p> + I have been setting out some new raspberries, two sorts,—a silver + and a gold color. How fine they will look on the table next year in a + cut-glass dish, the cream being in a ditto pitcher! I set them four and + five feet apart. I set my strawberries pretty well apart also. The reason + is, to give room for the cows to run through when they break into the + garden,—as they do sometimes. A cow needs a broader track than a + locomotive; and she generally makes one. I am sometimes astonished, to see + how big a space in, a flower-bed her foot will cover. The raspberries are + called Doolittle and Golden Cap. I don't like the name of the first + variety, and, if they do much, shall change it to Silver Top. You never + can tell what a thing named Doolittle will do. The one in the Senate + changed color, and got sour. They ripen badly,—either mildew, or rot + on the bush. They are apt to Johnsonize,—rot on the stem. I shall + watch the Doolittles. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THIRD WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I believe that I have found, if not original sin, at least vegetable total + depravity in my garden; and it was there before I went into it. It is the + bunch, or joint, or snakegrass,—whatever it is called. As I do not + know the names of all the weeds and plants, I have to do as Adam did in + his garden,—name things as I find them. This grass has a slender, + beautiful stalk: and when you cut it down, or pull up a long root of it, + you fancy it is got rid of; but in a day or two it will come up in the + same spot in half a dozen vigorous blades. Cutting down and pulling up is + what it thrives on. Extermination rather helps it. If you follow a slender + white root, it will be found to run under the ground until it meets + another slender white root; and you will soon unearth a network of them, + with a knot somewhere, sending out dozens of sharp-pointed, healthy + shoots, every joint prepared to be an independent life and plant. The only + way to deal with it is to take one part hoe and two parts fingers, and + carefully dig it out, not leaving a joint anywhere. It will take a little + time, say all summer, to dig out thoroughly a small patch; but if you once + dig it out, and keep it out, you will have no further trouble. + </p> + <p> + I have said it was total depravity. Here it is. If you attempt to pull up + and root out any sin in you, which shows on the surface,—if it does + not show, you do not care for it,—you may have noticed how it runs + into an interior network of sins, and an ever-sprouting branch of them + roots somewhere; and that you cannot pull out one without making a general + internal disturbance, and rooting up your whole being. I suppose it is + less trouble to quietly cut them off at the top—say once a week, on + Sunday, when you put on your religious clothes and face so that no one + will see them, and not try to eradicate the network within. + </p> + <p> + Remark.—This moral vegetable figure is at the service of any + clergyman who will have the manliness to come forward and help me at a + day's hoeing on my potatoes. None but the orthodox need apply. + </p> + <p> + I, however, believe in the intellectual, if not the moral, qualities of + vegetables, and especially weeds. There was a worthless vine that (or who) + started up about midway between a grape-trellis and a row of bean-poles, + some three feet from each, but a little nearer the trellis. When it came + out of the ground, it looked around to see what it should do. The trellis + was already occupied. The bean-pole was empty. There was evidently a + little the best chance of light, air, and sole proprietorship on the pole. + And the vine started for the pole, and began to climb it with + determination. Here was as distinct an act of choice, of reason, as a boy + exercises when he goes into a forest, and, looking about, decides which + tree he will climb. And, besides, how did the vine know enough to travel + in exactly the right direction, three feet, to find what it wanted? This + is intellect. The weeds, on the other hand, have hateful moral qualities. + To cut down a weed is, therefore, to do a moral action. I feel as if I + were destroying sin. My hoe becomes an instrument of retributive justice. + I am an apostle of Nature. This view of the matter lends a dignity to the + art of hoeing which nothing else does, and lifts it into the region of + ethics. Hoeing becomes, not a pastime, but a duty. And you get to regard + it so, as the days and the weeds lengthen. + </p> + <p> + Observation.—Nevertheless, what a man needs in gardening is a + cast-iron back,—with a hinge in it. The hoe is an ingenious + instrument, calculated to call out a great deal of strength at a great + disadvantage. + </p> + <p> + The striped bug has come, the saddest of the year. He is a moral + double-ender, iron-clad at that. He is unpleasant in two ways. He burrows + in the ground so that you cannot find him, and he flies away so that you + cannot catch him. He is rather handsome, as bugs go, but utterly + dastardly, in that he gnaws the stem of the plant close to the ground, and + ruins it without any apparent advantage to himself. I find him on the + hills of cucumbers (perhaps it will be a cholera-year, and we shall not + want any), the squashes (small loss), and the melons (which never ripen). + The best way to deal with the striped bug is to sit down by the hills, and + patiently watch for him. If you are spry, you can annoy him. This, + however, takes time. It takes all day and part of the night. For he flieth + in darkness, and wasteth at noonday. If you get up before the dew is off + the plants,—it goes off very early,—you can sprinkle soot on + the plant (soot is my panacea: if I can get the disease of a plant reduced + to the necessity of soot, I am all right) and soot is unpleasant to the + bug. But the best thing to do is to set a toad to catch the bugs. The toad + at once establishes the most intimate relations with the bug. It is a + pleasure to see such unity among the lower animals. The difficulty is to + make the toad stay and watch the hill. +</p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0010}.jpg" alt="{0010}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0010}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + +<p> +If you know your toad, it is all + right. If you do not, you must build a tight fence round the plants, which + the toad cannot jump over. This, however, introduces a new element. I find + that I have a zoological garden on my hands. It is an unexpected result of + my little enterprise, which never aspired to the completeness of the Paris + “Jardin des Plantes.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOURTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Orthodoxy is at a low ebb. Only two clergymen accepted my offer to come + and help hoe my potatoes for the privilege of using my vegetable + total-depravity figure about the snake-grass, or quack-grass as some call + it; and those two did not bring hoes. There seems to be a lack of + disposition to hoe among our educated clergy. I am bound to say that these + two, however, sat and watched my vigorous combats with the weeds, and + talked most beautifully about the application of the snake-grass figure. + As, for instance, when a fault or sin showed on the surface of a man, + whether, if you dug down, you would find that it ran back and into the + original organic bunch of original sin within the man. The only other + clergyman who came was from out of town,—a half Universalist, who + said he wouldn't give twenty cents for my figure. He said that the + snake-grass was not in my garden originally, that it sneaked in under the + sod, and that it could be entirely rooted out with industry and patience. + I asked the Universalist-inclined man to take my hoe and try it; but he + said he had n't time, and went away. + </p> + <p> + But, jubilate, I have got my garden all hoed the first time! I feel as if + I had put down the rebellion. Only there are guerrillas left here and + there, about the borders and in corners, unsubdued,—Forrest docks, + and Quantrell grass, and Beauregard pig-weeds. This first hoeing is a + gigantic task: it is your first trial of strength with the never-sleeping + forces of Nature. Several times, in its progress, I was tempted to do as + Adam did, who abandoned his garden on account of the weeds. (How much my + mind seems to run upon Adam, as if there had been only two really moral + gardens,—Adam's and mine!) The only drawback to my rejoicing over + the finishing of the first hoeing is, that the garden now wants hoeing the + second time. I suppose, if my garden were planted in a perfect circle, and + I started round it with a hoe, I should never see an opportunity to rest. + The fact is, that gardening is the old fable of perpetual labor; and I, + for one, can never forgive Adam Sisyphus, or whoever it was, who let in + the roots of discord. I had pictured myself sitting at eve, with my + family, in the shade of twilight, contemplating a garden hoed. Alas! it is + a dream not to be realized in this world. + </p> + <p> + My mind has been turned to the subject of fruit and shade trees in a + garden. There are those who say that trees shade the garden too much, and + interfere with the growth of the vegetables. There may be something in + this: but when I go down the potato rows, the rays of the sun glancing + upon my shining blade, the sweat pouring from my face, I should be + grateful for shade. What is a garden for? The pleasure of man. I should + take much more pleasure in a shady garden. Am I to be sacrificed, broiled, + roasted, for the sake of the increased vigor of a few vegetables? The + thing is perfectly absurd. If I were rich, I think I would have my garden + covered with an awning, so that it would be comfortable to work in it. It + might roll up and be removable, as the great awning of the Roman Coliseum + was,—not like the Boston one, which went off in a high wind. Another + very good way to do, and probably not so expensive as the awning, would be + to have four persons of foreign birth carry a sort of canopy over you as + you hoed. And there might be a person at each end of the row with some + cool and refreshing drink. Agriculture is still in a very barbarous stage. + I hope to live yet to see the day when I can do my gardening, as tragedy + is done, to slow and soothing music, and attended by some of the comforts + I have named. These things come so forcibly into my mind sometimes as I + work, that perhaps, when a wandering breeze lifts my straw hat, or a bird + lights on a near currant-bush, and shakes out a full-throated summer song, + I almost expect to find the cooling drink and the hospitable entertainment + at the end of the row. But I never do. There is nothing to be done but to + turn round, and hoe back to the other end. + </p> + <p> + Speaking of those yellow squash-bugs, I think I disheartened them by + covering the plants so deep with soot and wood-ashes that they could not + find them; and I am in doubt if I shall ever see the plants again. But I + have heard of another defense against the bugs. Put a fine wire-screen + over each hill, which will keep out the bugs and admit the rain. I should + say that these screens would not cost much more than the melons you would + be likely to get from the vines if you bought them; but then think of the + moral satisfaction of watching the bugs hovering over the screen, seeing, + but unable to reach the tender plants within. That is worth paying for. + </p> + <p> + I left my own garden yesterday, and went over to where Polly was getting + the weeds out of one of her flower-beds. She was working away at the bed + with a little hoe. Whether women ought to have the ballot or not (and I + have a decided opinion on that point, which I should here plainly give, + did I not fear that it would injure my agricultural influence), 'I am + compelled to say that this was rather helpless hoeing. It was patient, + conscientious, even pathetic hoeing; but it was neither effective nor + finished. When completed, the bed looked somewhat as if a hen had + scratched it: there was that touching unevenness about it. I think no one + could look at it and not be affected. To be sure, Polly smoothed it off + with a rake, and asked me if it was n't nice; and I said it was. It was + not a favorable time for me to explain the difference between puttering + hoeing, and the broad, free sweep of the instrument, which kills the + weeds, spares the plants, and loosens the soil without leaving it in holes + and hills. But, after all, as life is constituted, I think more of Polly's + honest and anxious care of her plants than of the most finished gardening + in the world. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIFTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I left my garden for a week, just at the close of the dry spell. A season + of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the transformation was + wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly jumped forward. The + tomatoes which I left slender plants, eaten of bugs and debating whether + they would go backward or forward, had become stout and lusty, with thick + stems and dark leaves, and some of them had blossomed. The corn waved like + that which grows so rank out of the French-English mixture at Waterloo. + The squashes—I will not speak of the squashes. The most remarkable + growth was the asparagus. There was not a spear above ground when I went + away; and now it had sprung up, and gone to seed, and there were stalks + higher than my head. I am entirely aware of the value of words, and of + moral obligations. When I say that the asparagus had grown six feet in + seven days, I expect and wish to be believed. I am a little particular + about the statement; for, if there is any prize offered for asparagus at + the next agricultural fair, I wish to compete,—speed to govern. What + I claim is the fastest asparagus. As for eating purposes, I have seen + better. A neighbor of mine, who looked in at the growth of the bed, said, + “Well, he'd be ——-”: but I told him there was no use of + affirming now; he might keep his oath till I wanted it on the asparagus + affidavit. In order to have this sort of asparagus, you want to manure + heavily in the early spring, fork it in, and top-dress (that sounds + technical) with a thick layer of chloride of sodium: if you cannot get + that, common salt will do, and the neighbors will never notice whether it + is the orthodox Na. Cl. 58-5, or not. + </p> + <p> + I scarcely dare trust myself to speak of the weeds. They grow as if the + devil was in them. I know a lady, a member of the church, and a very good + sort of woman, considering the subject condition of that class, who says + that the weeds work on her to that extent, that, in going through her + garden, she has the greatest difficulty in keeping the ten commandments in + anything like an unfractured condition. I asked her which one, but she + said, all of them: one felt like breaking the whole lot. The sort of weed + which I most hate (if I can be said to hate anything which grows in my own + garden) is the “pusley,” a fat, ground-clinging, spreading, greasy thing, + and the most propagatious (it is not my fault if the word is not in the + dictionary) plant I know. I saw a Chinaman, who came over with a returned + missionary, and pretended to be converted, boil a lot of it in a pot, stir + in eggs, and mix and eat it with relish,—“Me likee he.” It will be a + good thing to keep the Chinamen on when they come to do our gardening. I + only fear they will cultivate it at the expense of the strawberries and + melons. Who can say that other weeds, which we despise, may not be the + favorite food of some remote people or tribe? We ought to abate our + conceit. It is possible that we destroy in our gardens that which is + really of most value in some other place. Perhaps, in like manner, our + faults and vices are virtues in some remote planet. I cannot see, however, + that this thought is of the slightest value to us here, any more than + weeds are. + </p> + <p> + There is another subject which is forced upon my notice. I like neighbors, + and I like chickens; but I do not think they ought to be united near a + garden. Neighbors' hens in your garden are an annoyance. Even if they did + not scratch up the corn, and peck the strawberries, and eat the tomatoes, + it is not pleasant to see them straddling about in their jerky, + high-stepping, speculative manner, picking inquisitively here and there. + It is of no use to tell the neighbor that his hens eat your tomatoes: it + makes no impression on him, for the tomatoes are not his. The best way is + to casually remark to him that he has a fine lot of chickens, pretty well + grown, and that you like spring chickens broiled. He will take them away + at once. + </p> + <p> + The neighbors' small children are also out of place in your garden, in + strawberry and currant time. I hope I appreciate the value of children. We + should soon come to nothing without them, though the Shakers have the best + gardens in the world. Without them the common school would languish. But + the problem is, what to do with them in a garden. For they are not good to + eat, and there is a law against making away with them. The law is not very + well enforced, it is true; for people do thin them out with constant + dosing, paregoric, and soothing-syrups, and scanty clothing. But I, for + one, feel that it would not be right, aside from the law, to take the + life, even of the smallest child, for the sake of a little fruit, more or + less, in the garden. I may be wrong; but these are my sentiments, and I am + not ashamed of them. When we come, as Bryant says in his “Iliad,” to leave + the circus of this life, and join that innumerable caravan which moves, it + will be some satisfaction to us, that we have never, in the way of + gardening, disposed of even the humblest child unnecessarily. My plan + would be to put them into Sunday-schools more thoroughly, and to give the + Sunday-schools an agricultural turn; teaching the children the sacredness + of neighbors' vegetables. I think that our Sunday-schools do not + sufficiently impress upon children the danger, from snakes and otherwise, + of going into the neighbors' gardens. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SIXTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Somebody has sent me a new sort of hoe, with the wish that I should speak + favorably of it, if I can consistently. I willingly do so, but with the + understanding that I am to be at liberty to speak just as courteously of + any other hoe which I may receive. If I understand religious morals, this + is the position of the religious press with regard to bitters and + wringing-machines. In some cases, the responsibility of such a + recommendation is shifted upon the wife of the editor or clergy-man. Polly + says she is entirely willing to make a certificate, accompanied with an + affidavit, with regard to this hoe; but her habit of sitting about the + garden walk, on an inverted flower-pot, while I hoe, some what destroys + the practical value of her testimony. + </p> + <p> + As to this hoe, I do not mind saying that it has changed my view of the + desirableness and value of human life. It has, in fact, made life a + holiday to me. It is made on the principle that man is an upright, + sensible, reasonable being, and not a groveling wretch. It does away with + the necessity of the hinge in the back. The handle is seven and a half + feet long. There are two narrow blades, sharp on both edges, which come + together at an obtuse angle in front; and as you walk along with this hoe + before you, pushing and pulling with a gentle motion, the weeds fall at + every thrust and withdrawal, and the slaughter is immediate and + widespread. When I got this hoe I was troubled with sleepless mornings, + pains in the back, kleptomania with regard to new weeders; when I went + into my garden I was always sure to see something. In this disordered + state of mind and body I got this hoe. The morning after a day of using it + I slept perfectly and late. I regained my respect for the eighth + commandment. After two doses of the hoe in the garden, the weeds entirely + disappeared. Trying it a third morning, I was obliged to throw it over the + fence in order to save from destruction the green things that ought to + grow in the garden. Of course, this is figurative language. What I mean + is, that the fascination of using this hoe is such that you are sorely + tempted to employ it upon your vegetables, after the weeds are laid low, + and must hastily withdraw it, to avoid unpleasant results. I make this + explanation, because I intend to put nothing into these agricultural + papers that will not bear the strictest scientific investigation; nothing + that the youngest child cannot understand and cry for; nothing that the + oldest and wisest men will not need to study with care. + </p> + <p> + I need not add that the care of a garden with this hoe becomes the merest + pastime. I would not be without one for a single night. The only danger + is, that you may rather make an idol of the hoe, and somewhat neglect your + garden in explaining it, and fooling about with it. I almost think that, + with one of these in the hands of an ordinary day-laborer, you might see + at night where he had been working. + </p> + <p> + Let us have peas. I have been a zealous advocate of the birds. I have + rejoiced in their multiplication. I have endured their concerts at four + o'clock in the morning without a murmur. Let them come, I said, and eat + the worms, in order that we, later, may enjoy the foliage and the fruits + of the earth. We have a cat, a magnificent animal, of the sex which votes + (but not a pole-cat),—so large and powerful that, if he were in the + army, he would be called Long Tom. He is a cat of fine disposition, the + most irreproachable morals I ever saw thrown away in a cat, and a splendid + hunter. He spends his nights, not in social dissipation, but in gathering + in rats, mice, flying-squirrels, and also birds. When he first brought me + a bird, I told him that it was wrong, and tried to convince him, while he + was eating it, that he was doing wrong; for he is a reasonable cat, and + understands pretty much everything except the binomial theorem and the + time down the cycloidal arc. But with no effect. The killing of birds went + on, to my great regret and shame. + </p> + <p> + The other day I went to my garden to get a mess of peas. I had seen, the + day before, that they were just ready to pick. How I had lined the ground, + planted, hoed, bushed them! The bushes were very fine,—seven feet + high, and of good wood. How I had delighted in the growing, the blowing, + the podding! What a touching thought it was that they had all podded for + me! When I went to pick them, I found the pods all split open, and the + peas gone. The dear little birds, who are so fond of the strawberries, had + eaten them all. Perhaps there were left as many as I planted: I did not + count them. I made a rapid estimate of the cost of the seed, the interest + of the ground, the price of labor, the value of the bushes, the anxiety of + weeks of watchfulness. I looked about me on the face of Nature. The wind + blew from the south so soft and treacherous! A thrush sang in the woods so + deceitfully! All Nature seemed fair. But who was to give me back my peas? + The fowls of the air have peas; but what has man? + </p> + <p> + I went into the house. I called Calvin. (That is the name of our cat, + given him on account of his gravity, morality, and uprightness. We never + familiarly call him John). I petted Calvin. I lavished upon him an + enthusiastic fondness. I told him that he had no fault; that the one + action that I had called a vice was an heroic exhibition of regard for my + interests. I bade him go and do likewise continually. I now saw how much + better instinct is than mere unguided reason. Calvin knew. If he had put + his opinion into English (instead of his native catalogue), it would have + been: “You need not teach your grandmother to suck eggs.” It was only the + round of Nature. The worms eat a noxious something in the ground. The + birds eat the worms. Calvin eats the birds. We eat—no, we do not eat + Calvin. There the chain stops. When you ascend the scale of being, and + come to an animal that is, like ourselves, inedible, you have arrived at a + result where you can rest. Let us respect the cat. He completes an edible + chain. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0073}.jpg" alt="{0073}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0073}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + I have little heart to discuss methods of raising peas. It occurs to me + that I can have an iron peabush, a sort of trellis, through which I could + discharge electricity at frequent intervals, and electrify the birds to + death when they alight: for they stand upon my beautiful brush in order to + pick out the peas. An apparatus of this kind, with an operator, would + cost, however, about as much as the peas. A neighbor suggests that I might + put up a scarecrow near the vines, which would keep the birds away. I am + doubtful about it: the birds are too much accustomed to seeing a person in + poor clothes in the garden to care much for that. Another neighbor + suggests that the birds do not open the pods; that a sort of blast, apt to + come after rain, splits the pods, and the birds then eat the peas. It may + be so. There seems to be complete unity of action between the blast and + the birds. But, good neighbors, kind friends, I desire that you will not + increase, by talk, a disappointment which you cannot assuage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SEVENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + A garden is an awful responsibility. You never know what you may be aiding + to grow in it. I heard a sermon, not long ago, in which the preacher said + that the Christian, at the moment of his becoming one, was as perfect a + Christian as he would be if he grew to be an archangel; that is, that he + would not change thereafter at all, but only develop. I do not know + whether this is good theology, or not; and I hesitate to support it by an + illustration from my garden, especially as I do not want to run the risk + of propagating error, and I do not care to give away these theological + comparisons to clergymen who make me so little return in the way of labor. + But I find, in dissecting a pea-blossom, that hidden in the center of it + is a perfect miniature pea-pod, with the peas all in it,—as perfect + a pea-pod as it will ever be, only it is as tiny as a chatelaine ornament. + Maize and some other things show the same precocity. This confirmation of + the theologic theory is startling, and sets me meditating upon the moral + possibilities of my garden. I may find in it yet the cosmic egg. + </p> + <p> + And, speaking of moral things, I am half determined to petition the + Ecumenical Council to issue a bull of excommunication against “pusley.” Of + all the forms which “error” has taken in this world, I think that is about + the worst. In the Middle Ages the monks in St. Bernard's ascetic community + at Clairvaux excommunicated a vineyard which a less rigid monk had planted + near, so that it bore nothing. In 1120 a bishop of Laon excommunicated the + caterpillars in his diocese; and, the following year, St. Bernard + excommunicated the flies in the Monastery of Foigny; and in 1510 the + ecclesiastical court pronounced the dread sentence against the rats of + Autun, Macon, and Lyons. These examples are sufficient precedents. It will + be well for the council, however, not to publish the bull either just + before or just after a rain; for nothing can kill this pestilent heresy + when the ground is wet. + </p> + <p> + It is the time of festivals. Polly says we ought to have one,—a + strawberry-festival. She says they are perfectly delightful: it is so nice + to get people together!—this hot weather. They create such a good + feeling! I myself am very fond of festivals. I always go,—when I can + consistently. Besides the strawberries, there are ice creams and cake and + lemonade, and that sort of thing: and one always feels so well the next + day after such a diet! But as social reunions, if there are good things to + eat, nothing can be pleasanter; and they are very profitable, if you have + a good object. I agreed that we ought to have a festival; but I did not + know what object to devote it to. We are not in need of an organ, nor of + any pulpit-cushions. I do not know that they use pulpit-cushions now as + much as they used to, when preachers had to have something soft to pound, + so that they would not hurt their fists. I suggested pocket handkerchiefs, + and flannels for next winter. But Polly says that will not do at all. You + must have some charitable object,—something that appeals to a vast + sense of something; something that it will be right to get up lotteries + and that sort of thing for. I suggest a festival for the benefit of my + garden; and this seems feasible. In order to make everything pass off + pleasantly, invited guests will bring or send their own strawberries and + cream, which I shall be happy to sell to them at a slight advance. There + are a great many improvements which the garden needs; among them a + sounding-board, so that the neighbors' children can hear when I tell them + to get a little farther off from the currant-bushes. I should also like a + selection from the ten commandments, in big letters, posted up + conspicuously, and a few traps, that will detain, but not maim, for the + benefit of those who cannot read. But what is most important is, that the + ladies should crochet nets to cover over the strawberries. A good-sized, + well-managed festival ought to produce nets enough to cover my entire + beds; and I can think of no other method of preserving the berries from + the birds next year. I wonder how many strawberries it would need for a + festival and whether they would cost more than the nets. + </p> + <p> + I am more and more impressed, as the summer goes on, with the inequality + of man's fight with Nature; especially in a civilized state. In savagery, + it does not much matter; for one does not take a square hold, and put out + his strength, but rather accommodates himself to the situation, and takes + what he can get, without raising any dust, or putting himself into + everlasting opposition. But the minute he begins to clear a spot larger + than he needs to sleep in for a night, and to try to have his own way in + the least, Nature is at once up, and vigilant, and contests him at every + step with all her ingenuity and unwearied vigor. This talk of subduing + Nature is pretty much nonsense. I do not intend to surrender in the midst + of the summer campaign, yet I cannot but think how much more peaceful my + relations would now be with the primal forces, if I had, let Nature make + the garden according to her own notion. (This is written with the + thermometer at ninety degrees, and the weeds starting up with a freshness + and vigor, as if they had just thought of it for the first time, and had + not been cut down and dragged out every other day since the snow went + off.) + </p> + <p> + We have got down the forests, and exterminated savage beasts; but Nature + is no more subdued than before: she only changes her tactics,—uses + smaller guns, so to speak. She reenforces herself with a variety of bugs, + worms, and vermin, and weeds, unknown to the savage state, in order to + make war upon the things of our planting; and calls in the fowls of the + air, just as we think the battle is won, to snatch away the booty. When + one gets almost weary of the struggle, she is as fresh as at the + beginning,—just, in fact, ready for the fray. I, for my part, begin + to appreciate the value of frost and snow; for they give the husbandman a + little peace, and enable him, for a season, to contemplate his incessant + foe subdued. I do not wonder that the tropical people, where Nature never + goes to sleep, give it up, and sit in lazy acquiescence. + </p> + <p> + Here I have been working all the season to make a piece of lawn. It had to + be graded and sowed and rolled; and I have been shaving it like a barber. + When it was soft, everything had a tendency to go on to it,—cows, + and especially wandering hackmen. Hackmen (who are a product of + civilization) know a lawn when they see it. They rather have a fancy for + it, and always try to drive so as to cut the sharp borders of it, and + leave the marks of their wheels in deep ruts of cut-up, ruined turf. The + other morning, I had just been running the mower over the lawn, and stood + regarding its smoothness, when I noticed one, two, three puffs of fresh + earth in it; and, hastening thither, I found that the mole had arrived to + complete the work of the hackmen. In a half-hour he had rooted up the + ground like a pig. I found his run-ways. I waited for him with a spade. He + did not appear; but, the next time I passed by, he had ridged the ground + in all directions,—a smooth, beautiful animal, with fur like silk, + if you could only catch him. He appears to enjoy the lawn as much as the + hackmen did. He does not care how smooth it is. He is constantly mining, + and ridging it up. I am not sure but he could be countermined. I have half + a mind to put powder in here and there, and blow the whole thing into the + air. Some folks set traps for the mole; but my moles never seem to go + twice in the same place. I am not sure but it would bother them to sow the + lawn with interlacing snake-grass (the botanical name of which, somebody + writes me, is devil-grass: the first time I have heard that the Devil has + a botanical name), which would worry them, if it is as difficult for them + to get through it as it is for me. + </p> + <p> + I do not speak of this mole in any tone of complaint. He is only a part of + the untiring resources which Nature brings against the humble gardener. I + desire to write nothing against him which I should wish to recall at the + last,—nothing foreign to the spirit of that beautiful saying of the + dying boy, “He had no copy-book, which, dying, he was sorry he had + blotted.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EIGHTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + My garden has been visited by a High Official Person. President Gr-nt was + here just before the Fourth, getting his mind quiet for that event by a + few days of retirement, staying with a friend at the head of our street; + and I asked him if he wouldn't like to come down our way Sunday afternoon + and take a plain, simple look at my garden, eat a little lemon ice-cream + and jelly-cake, and drink a glass of native lager-beer. I thought of + putting up over my gate, “Welcome to the Nation's Gardener;” but I hate + nonsense, and did n't do it. I, however, hoed diligently on Saturday: what + weeds I could n't remove I buried, so that everything would look all + right. The borders of my drive were trimmed with scissors; and everything + that could offend the Eye of the Great was hustled out of the way. + </p> + <p> + In relating this interview, it must be distinctly understood that I am not + responsible for anything that the President said; nor is he, either. He is + not a great speaker; but whatever he says has an esoteric and an exoteric + meaning; and some of his remarks about my vegetables went very deep. I + said nothing to him whatever about politics, at which he seemed a good + deal surprised: he said it was the first garden he had ever been in, with + a man, when the talk was not of appointments. I told him that this was + purely vegetable; after which he seemed more at his ease, and, in fact, + delighted with everything he saw. He was much interested in my + strawberry-beds, asked what varieties I had, and requested me to send him + some seed. He said the patent-office seed was as difficult to raise as an + appropriation for the St. Domingo business. The playful bean seemed also + to please him; and he said he had never seen such impressive corn and + potatoes at this time of year; that it was to him an unexpected pleasure, + and one of the choicest memories that he should take away with him of his + visit to New England. + </p> + <p> + N. B.—That corn and those potatoes which General Gr-nt looked at I + will sell for seed, at five dollars an ear, and one dollar a potato. + Office-seekers need not apply. + </p> + <p> + Knowing the President's great desire for peas, I kept him from that part + of the garden where the vines grow. But they could not be concealed. Those + who say that the President is not a man easily moved are knaves or fools. + When he saw my pea-pods, ravaged by the birds, he burst into tears. A man + of war, he knows the value of peas. I told him they were an excellent + sort, “The Champion of England.” As quick as a flash he said, “Why don't + you call them 'The Reverdy Johnson'?” + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0089}.jpg" alt="{0089}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0089}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + It was a very clever bon-mot; but I changed the subject. + </p> + <p> + The sight of my squashes, with stalks as big as speaking-trumpets, + restored the President to his usual spirits. He said the summer squash was + the most ludicrous vegetable he knew. It was nearly all leaf and blow, + with only a sickly, crook-necked fruit after a mighty fuss. It reminded + him of the member of Congress from...; but I hastened to change the + subject. + </p> + <p> + As we walked along, the keen eye of the President rested upon some + handsome sprays of “pusley,” which must have grown up since Saturday + night. It was most fortunate; for it led his Excellency to speak of the + Chinese problem. He said he had been struck with one, coupling of the + Chinese and the “pusley” in one of my agricultural papers; and it had a + significance more far-reaching than I had probably supposed. He had made + the Chinese problem a special study. He said that I was right in saying + that “pusley” was the natural food of the Chinaman, and that where the + “pusley” was, there would the Chinaman be also. For his part, he welcomed + the Chinese emigration: we needed the Chinaman in our gardens to eat the + “pusley;” and he thought the whole problem solved by this simple + consideration. To get rid of rats and “pusley,” he said, was a necessity + of our civilization. He did not care so much about the shoe-business; he + did not think that the little Chinese shoes that he had seen would be of + service in the army: but the garden-interest was quite another affair. We + want to make a garden of our whole country: the hoe, in the hands of a man + truly great, he was pleased to say, was mightier than the pen. He presumed + that General B-tl-r had never taken into consideration the + garden-question, or he would not assume the position he does with regard + to the Chinese emigration. He would let the Chinese come, even if B-tl-r + had to leave, I thought he was going to say, but I changed the subject. + </p> + <p> + During our entire garden interview (operatically speaking, the + garden-scene), the President was not smoking. I do not know how the + impression arose that he “uses tobacco in any form;” for I have seen him + several times, and he was not smoking. Indeed, I offered him a Connecticut + six; but he wittily said that he did not like a weed in a garden,—a + remark which I took to have a personal political bearing, and changed the + subject. + </p> + <p> + The President was a good deal surprised at the method and fine appearance + of my garden, and to learn that I had the sole care of it. He asked me if + I pursued an original course, or whether I got my ideas from writers on + the subject. I told him that I had had no time to read anything on the + subject since I began to hoe, except “Lothair,” from which I got my ideas + of landscape gardening; and that I had worked the garden entirely + according to my own notions, except that I had borne in mind his + injunction, “to fight it out on this line if”—The President stopped + me abruptly, and said it was unnecessary to repeat that remark: he thought + he had heard it before. Indeed, he deeply regretted that he had ever made + it. Sometimes, he said, after hearing it in speeches, and coming across it + in resolutions, and reading it in newspapers, and having it dropped + jocularly by facetious politicians, who were boring him for an office, + about twenty-five times a day, say for a month, it would get to running + through his head, like the “shoo-fly” song which B-tl-r sings in the + House, until it did seem as if he should go distracted. He said, no man + could stand that kind of sentence hammering on his brain for years. + </p> + <p> + The President was so much pleased with my management of the garden, that + he offered me (at least, I so understood him) the position of head + gardener at the White House, to have care of the exotics. I told him that + I thanked him, but that I did not desire any foreign appointment. I had + resolved, when the administration came in, not to take an appointment; and + I had kept my resolution. As to any home office, I was poor, but honest; + and, of course, it would be useless for me to take one. The President + mused a moment, and then smiled, and said he would see what could be done + for me. I did not change the subject; but nothing further was said by + General Gr-nt. + </p> + <p> + The President is a great talker (contrary to the general impression); but + I think he appreciated his quiet hour in my garden. He said it carried him + back to his youth farther than anything he had seen lately. He looked + forward with delight to the time when he could again have his private + garden, grow his own lettuce and tomatoes, and not have to get so much + “sarce” from Congress. + </p> + <p> + The chair in which the President sat, while declining to take a glass of + lager I have had destroyed, in order that no one may sit in it. It was the + only way to save it, if I may so speak. It would have been impossible to + keep it from use by any precautions. There are people who would have sat + in it, if the seat had been set with iron spikes. Such is the adoration of + Station. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NINTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I am more and more impressed with the moral qualities of vegetables, and + contemplate forming a science which shall rank with comparative anatomy + and comparative philology,—the science of comparative vegetable + morality. We live in an age of protoplasm. And, if life-matter is + essentially the same in all forms of life, I purpose to begin early, and + ascertain the nature of the plants for which I am responsible. I will not + associate with any vegetable which is disreputable, or has not some + quality that can contribute to my moral growth. I do not care to be seen + much with the squashes or the dead-beets. Fortunately I can cut down any + sorts I do not like with the hoe, and, probably, commit no more sin in so + doing than the Christians did in hewing down the Jews in the Middle Ages. + </p> + <p> + This matter of vegetable rank has not been at all studied as it should be. + Why do we respect some vegetables and despise others, when all of them + come to an equal honor or ignominy on the table? The bean is a graceful, + confiding, engaging vine; but you never can put beans into poetry, nor + into the highest sort of prose. There is no dignity in the bean. Corn, + which, in my garden, grows alongside the bean, and, so far as I can see, + with no affectation of superiority, is, however, the child of song. It + waves in all literature. But mix it with beans, and its high tone is gone. + Succotash is vulgar. It is the bean in it. The bean is a vulgar vegetable, + without culture, or any flavor of high society among vegetables. Then + there is the cool cucumber, like so many people, good for nothing when it + is ripe and the wildness has gone out of it. How inferior in quality it is + to the melon, which grows upon a similar vine, is of a like watery + consistency, but is not half so valuable! The cucumber is a sort of low + comedian in a company where the melon is a minor gentleman. I might also + contrast the celery with the potato. The associations are as opposite as + the dining-room of the duchess and the cabin of the peasant. I admire the + potato, both in vine and blossom; but it is not aristocratic. I began + digging my potatoes, by the way, about the 4th of July; and I fancy I have + discovered the right way to do it. I treat the potato just as I would a + cow. I do not pull them up, and shake them out, and destroy them; but I + dig carefully at the side of the hill, remove the fruit which is grown, + leaving the vine undisturbed: and my theory is, that it will go on + bearing, and submitting to my exactions, until the frost cuts it down. It + is a game that one would not undertake with a vegetable of tone. + </p> + <p> + The lettuce is to me a most interesting study. Lettuce is like + conversation: it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely + notice the bitter in it. Lettuce, like most talkers, is, however, apt to + run rapidly to seed. Blessed is that sort which comes to a head, and so + remains, like a few people I know; growing more solid and satisfactory and + tender at the same time, and whiter at the center, and crisp in their + maturity. Lettuce, like conversation, requires a good deal of oil to avoid + friction, and keep the company smooth; a pinch of attic salt; a dash of + pepper; a quantity of mustard and vinegar, by all means, but so mixed that + you will notice no sharp contrasts; and a trifle of sugar. You can put + anything, and the more things the better, into salad, as into a + conversation; but everything depends upon the skill of mixing. I feel that + I am in the best society when I am with lettuce. It is in the select + circle of vegetables. The tomato appears well on the table; but you do not + want to ask its origin. It is a most agreeable parvenu. Of course, I have + said nothing about the berries. They live in another and more ideal + region; except, perhaps, the currant. Here we see, that, even among + berries, there are degrees of breeding. The currant is well enough, clear + as truth, and exquisite in color; but I ask you to notice how far it is + from the exclusive hauteur of the aristocratic strawberry, and the native + refinement of the quietly elegant raspberry. + </p> + <p> + I do not know that chemistry, searching for protoplasm, is able to + discover the tendency of vegetables. It can only be found out by outward + observation. I confess that I am suspicious of the bean, for instance. + There are signs in it of an unregulated life. I put up the most attractive + sort of poles for my Limas. They stand high and straight, like + church-spires, in my theological garden,—lifted up; and some of them + have even budded, like Aaron's rod. No church-steeple in a New England + village was ever better fitted to draw to it the rising generation on + Sunday, than those poles to lift up my beans towards heaven. Some of them + did run up the sticks seven feet, and then straggled off into the air in a + wanton manner; but more than half of them went gallivanting off to the + neighboring grape-trellis, and wound their tendrils with the tendrils of + the grape, with a disregard of the proprieties of life which is a satire + upon human nature. And the grape is morally no better. I think the + ancients, who were not troubled with the recondite mystery of protoplasm, + were right in the mythic union of Bacchus and Venus. + </p> + <p> + Talk about the Darwinian theory of development, and the principle of + natural selection! I should like to see a garden let to run in accordance + with it. If I had left my vegetables and weeds to a free fight, in which + the strongest specimens only should come to maturity, and the weaker go to + the wall, I can clearly see that I should have had a pretty mess of it. It + would have been a scene of passion and license and brutality. The “pusley” + would have strangled the strawberry; the upright corn, which has now ears + to hear the guilty beating of the hearts of the children who steal the + raspberries, would have been dragged to the earth by the wandering bean; + the snake-grass would have left no place for the potatoes under ground; + and the tomatoes would have been swamped by the lusty weeds. With a firm + hand, I have had to make my own “natural selection.” Nothing will so well + bear watching as a garden, except a family of children next door. Their + power of selection beats mine. If they could read half as well as they can + steal awhile away, I should put up a notice, “Children, beware! There is + Protoplasm here.” But I suppose it would have no effect. I believe they + would eat protoplasm as quick as anything else, ripe or green. I wonder if + this is going to be a cholera-year. Considerable cholera is the only thing + that would let my apples and pears ripen. Of course I do not care for the + fruit; but I do not want to take the responsibility of letting so much + “life-matter,” full of crude and even wicked vegetable-human tendencies, + pass into the composition of the neighbors' children, some of whom may be + as immortal as snake-grass. There ought to be a public meeting about this, + and resolutions, and perhaps a clambake. At least, it ought to be put into + the catechism, and put in strong. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TENTH WEEK + </h2><div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0105}.jpg" alt="{0105}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0105}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + <p> + I think I have discovered the way to keep peas from the birds. I tried the + scare-crow plan, in a way which I thought would outwit the shrewdest bird. + The brain of the bird is not large; but it is all concentrated on one + object, and that is the attempt to elude the devices of modern + civilization which injure his chances of food. I knew that, if I put up a + complete stuffed man, the bird would detect the imitation at once: the + perfection of the thing would show him that it was a trick. People always + overdo the matter when they attempt deception. I therefore hung some loose + garments, of a bright color, upon a rake-head, and set them up among the + vines. The supposition was, that the bird would think there was an effort + to trap him, that there was a man behind, holding up these garments, and + would sing, as he kept at a distance, “You can't catch me with any such + double device.” The bird would know, or think he knew, that I would not + hang up such a scare, in the expectation that it would pass for a man, and + deceive a bird; and he would therefore look for a deeper plot. I expected + to outwit the bird by a duplicity that was simplicity itself I may have + over-calculated the sagacity and reasoning power of the bird. At any rate, + I did over-calculate the amount of peas I should gather. + </p> + <p> + But my game was only half played. In another part of the garden were other + peas, growing and blowing. To-these I took good care not to attract the + attention of the bird by any scarecrow whatever! I left the old scarecrow + conspicuously flaunting above the old vines; and by this means I hope to + keep the attention of the birds confined to that side of the garden. I am + convinced that this is the true use of a scarecrow: it is a lure, and not + a warning. If you wish to save men from any particular vice, set up a + tremendous cry of warning about some other; and they will all give their + special efforts to the one to which attention is called. This profound + truth is about the only thing I have yet realized out of my pea-vines. + </p> + <p> + However, the garden does begin to yield. I know of nothing that makes one + feel more complacent, in these July days, than to have his vegetables from + his own garden. What an effect it has on the market-man and the butcher! + It is a kind of declaration of independence. The market-man shows me his + peas and beets and tomatoes, and supposes he shall send me out some with + the meat. “No, I thank you,” I say carelessly; “I am raising my own this + year.” Whereas I have been wont to remark, “Your vegetables look a little + wilted this weather,” I now say, “What a fine lot of vegetables you've + got!” When a man is not going to buy, he can afford to be generous. To + raise his own vegetables makes a person feel, somehow, more liberal. I + think the butcher is touched by the influence, and cuts off a better roast + for me, The butcher is my friend when he sees that I am not wholly + dependent on him. + </p> + <p> + It is at home, however, that the effect is most marked, though sometimes + in a way that I had not expected. I have never read of any Roman supper + that seemed to me equal to a dinner of my own vegetables; when everything + on the table is the product of my own labor, except the clams, which I + have not been able to raise yet, and the chickens, which have withdrawn + from the garden just when they were most attractive. It is strange what a + taste you suddenly have for things you never liked before. The squash has + always been to me a dish of contempt; but I eat it now as if it were my + best friend. I never cared for the beet or the bean; but I fancy now that + I could eat them all, tops and all, so completely have they been + transformed by the soil in which they grew. I think the squash is less + squashy, and the beet has a deeper hue of rose, for my care of them. + </p> + <p> + I had begun to nurse a good deal of pride in presiding over a table + whereon was the fruit of my honest industry. But woman!—John Stuart + Mill is right when he says that we do not know anything about women. Six + thousand years is as one day with them. I thought I had something to do + with those vegetables. But when I saw Polly seated at her side of the + table, presiding over the new and susceptible vegetables, flanked by the + squash and the beans, and smiling upon the green corn and the new + potatoes, as cool as the cucumbers which lay sliced in ice before her, and + when she began to dispense the fresh dishes, I saw at once that the day of + my destiny was over. You would have thought that she owned all the + vegetables, and had raised them all from their earliest years. Such quiet, + vegetable airs! Such gracious appropriation! At length I said,— + “Polly, do you know who planted that squash, or those squashes?” + </p> + <p> + “James, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes, perhaps James did plant them, to a certain extent. But who + hoed them?” + </p> + <p> + “We did.” + </p> + <p> + “We did!” I said, in the most sarcastic manner. + </p> + <p> + And I suppose we put on the sackcloth and ashes, when the striped bug came + at four o'clock A.M., and we watched the tender leaves, and watered night + and morning the feeble plants. “I tell you, Polly,” said I, uncorking the + Bordeaux raspberry vinegar, “there is not a pea here that does not + represent a drop of moisture wrung from my brow, not a beet that does not + stand for a back-ache, not a squash that has not caused me untold anxiety; + and I did hope—but I will say no more.” + </p> + <p> + Observation.—In this sort of family discussion, “I will say no more” + is the most effective thing you can close up with. + </p> + <p> + I am not an alarmist. I hope I am as cool as anybody this hot summer. But + I am quite ready to say to Polly, or any other woman, “You can have the + ballot; only leave me the vegetables, or, what is more important, the + consciousness of power in vegetables.” I see how it is. Woman is now + supreme in the house. She already stretches out her hand to grasp the + garden. She will gradually control everything. Woman is one of the ablest + and most cunning creatures who have ever mingled in human affairs. I + understand those women who say they don't want the ballot. They purpose to + hold the real power while we go through the mockery of making laws. They + want the power without the responsibility. (Suppose my squash had not come + up, or my beans—as they threatened at one time—had gone the + wrong way: where would I have been?) We are to be held to all the + responsibilities. Woman takes the lead in all the departments, leaving us + politics only. And what is politics? Let me raise the vegetables of a + nation, says Polly, and I care not who makes its politics. Here I sat at + the table, armed with the ballot, but really powerless among my own + vegetables. While we are being amused by the ballot, woman is quietly + taking things into her own hands. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ELEVENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Perhaps, after all, it is not what you get out of a garden, but what you + put into it, that is the most remunerative. What is a man? A question + frequently asked, and never, so far as I know, satisfactorily answered. He + commonly spends his seventy years, if so many are given him, in getting + ready to enjoy himself. How many hours, how many minutes, does one get of + that pure content which is happiness? I do not mean laziness, which is + always discontent; but that serene enjoyment, in which all the natural + senses have easy play, and the unnatural ones have a holiday. There is + probably nothing that has such a tranquilizing effect, and leads into such + content as gardening. By gardening, I do not mean that insane desire to + raise vegetables which some have; but the philosophical occupation of + contact with the earth, and companionship with gently growing things and + patient processes; that exercise which soothes the spirit, and develops + the deltoid muscles. + </p> + <p> + In half an hour I can hoe myself right away from this world, as we + commonly see it, into a large place, where there are no obstacles. What an + occupation it is for thought! The mind broods like a hen on eggs. The + trouble is, that you are not thinking about anything, but are really + vegetating like the plants around you. I begin to know what the joy of the + grape-vine is in running up the trellis, which is similar to that of the + squirrel in running up a tree. We all have something in our nature that + requires contact with the earth. In the solitude of garden-labor, one gets + into a sort of communion with the vegetable life, which makes the old + mythology possible. For instance, I can believe that the dryads are plenty + this summer: my garden is like an ash-heap. Almost all the moisture it has + had in weeks has been the sweat of honest industry. + </p> + <p> + The pleasure of gardening in these days, when the thermometer is at + ninety, is one that I fear I shall not be able to make intelligible to my + readers, many of whom do not appreciate the delight of soaking in the + sunshine. I suppose that the sun, going through a man, as it will on such + a day, takes out of him rheumatism, consumption, and every other disease, + except sudden death—from sun-stroke. But, aside from this, there is + an odor from the evergreens, the hedges, the various plants and vines, + that is only expressed and set afloat at a high temperature, which is + delicious; and, hot as it may be, a little breeze will come at intervals, + which can be heard in the treetops, and which is an unobtrusive + benediction. I hear a quail or two whistling in the ravine; and there is a + good deal of fragmentary conversation going on among the birds, even on + the warmest days. The companionship of Calvin, also, counts for a good + deal. He usually attends me, unless I work too long in one place; sitting + down on the turf, displaying the ermine of his breast, and watching my + movements with great intelligence. He has a feline and genuine love for + the beauties of Nature, and will establish himself where there is a good + view, and look on it for hours. He always accompanies us when we go to + gather the vegetables, seeming to be desirous to know what we are to have + for dinner. He is a connoisseur in the garden; being fond of almost all + the vegetables, except the cucumber,—a dietetic hint to man. I + believe it is also said that the pig will not eat tobacco. These are + important facts. It is singular, however, that those who hold up the pigs + as models to us never hold us up as models to the pigs. + </p> + <p> + I wish I knew as much about natural history and the habits of animals as + Calvin does. He is the closest observer I ever saw; and there are few + species of animals on the place that he has not analyzed. I think he has, + to use a euphemism very applicable to him, got outside of every one of + them, except the toad. To the toad he is entirely indifferent; but I + presume he knows that the toad is the most useful animal in the garden. I + think the Agricultural Society ought to offer a prize for the finest toad. + When Polly comes to sit in the shade near my strawberry-beds, to shell + peas, Calvin is always lying near in apparent obliviousness; but not the + slightest unusual sound can be made in the bushes, that he is not alert, + and prepared to investigate the cause of it. It is this habit of + observation, so cultivated, which has given him such a trained mind, and + made him so philosophical. It is within the capacity of even the humblest + of us to attain this. + </p> + <p> + And, speaking of the philosophical temper, there is no class of men whose + society is more to be desired for this quality than that of plumbers. They + are the most agreeable men I know; and the boys in the business begin to + be agreeable very early. I suspect the secret of it is, that they are + agreeable by the hour. In the driest days, my fountain became disabled: + the pipe was stopped up. A couple of plumbers, with the implements of + their craft, came out to view the situation. There was a good deal of + difference of opinion about where the stoppage was. I found the plumbers + perfectly willing to sit down and talk about it,—talk by the hour. + Some of their guesses and remarks were exceedingly ingenious; and their + general observations on other subjects were excellent in their way, and + could hardly have been better if they had been made by the job. The work + dragged a little, as it is apt to do by the hour. The plumbers had + occasion to make me several visits. Sometimes they would find, upon + arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool; and one would go + back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his comrade would await + his return with the most exemplary patience, and sit down and talk,—always + by the hour. I do not know but it is a habit to have something wanted at + the shop. They seemed to me very good workmen, and always willing to stop + and talk about the job, or anything else, when I went near them. Nor had + they any of that impetuous hurry that is said to be the bane of our + American civilization. To their credit be it said, that I never observed + anything of it in them. They can afford to wait. Two of them will + sometimes wait nearly half a day while a comrade goes for a tool. They are + patient and philosophical. It is a great pleasure to meet such men. One + only wishes there was some work he could do for them by the hour. There + ought to be reciprocity. I think they have very nearly solved the problem + of Life: it is to work for other people, never for yourself, and get your + pay by the hour. You then have no anxiety, and little work. If you do + things by the job, you are perpetually driven: the hours are scourges. If + you work by the hour, you gently sail on the stream of Time, which is + always bearing you on to the haven of Pay, whether you make any effort, or + not. Working by the hour tends to make one moral. A plumber working by the + job, trying to unscrew a rusty, refractory nut, in a cramped position, + where the tongs continually slipped off, would swear; but I never heard + one of them swear, or exhibit the least impatience at such a vexation, + working by the hour. Nothing can move a man who is paid by the hour. How + sweet the flight of time seems to his calm mind! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TWELFTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Horace Greeley, the introduction of whose name confers an honor upon + this page (although I ought to say that it is used entirely without his + consent), is my sole authority in agriculture. In politics I do not dare + to follow him; but in agriculture he is irresistible. When, therefore, I + find him advising Western farmers not to hill up their corn, I think that + his advice must be political. You must hill up your corn. People always + have hilled up their corn. It would take a constitutional amendment to + change the practice, that has pertained ever since maize was raised. “It + will stand the drought better,” says Mr. Greeley, “if the ground is left + level.” I have corn in my garden, ten and twelve feet high, strong and + lusty, standing the drought like a grenadier; and it is hilled. In + advising this radical change, Mr. Greeley evidently has a political + purpose. He might just as well say that you should not hill beans, when + everybody knows that a “hill of beans” is one of the most expressive + symbols of disparagement. When I become too lazy to hill my corn, I, too, + shall go into politics. + </p> + <p> + I am satisfied that it is useless to try to cultivate “pusley.” I set a + little of it one side, and gave it some extra care. It did not thrive as + well as that which I was fighting. The fact is, there is a spirit of moral + perversity in the plant, which makes it grow the more, the more it is + interfered with. I am satisfied of that. I doubt if any one has raised + more “pusley” this year than I have; and my warfare with it has been + continual. Neither of us has slept much. If you combat it, it will grow, + to use an expression that will be understood by many, like the devil. I + have a neighbor, a good Christian man, benevolent, and a person of good + judgment. He planted next to me an acre of turnips recently. A few days + after, he went to look at his crop; and he found the entire ground covered + with a thick and luxurious carpet of “pusley,” with a turnip-top worked in + here and there as an ornament. I have seldom seen so thrifty a field. I + advised my neighbor next time to sow “pusley” and then he might get a few + turnips. I wish there was more demand in our city markets for “pusley” as + a salad. I can recommend it. + </p> + <p> + It does not take a great man to soon discover that, in raising anything, + the greater part of the plants goes into stalk and leaf, and the fruit is + a most inconsiderable portion. I plant and hoe a hill of corn: it grows + green and stout, and waves its broad leaves high in the air, and is months + in perfecting itself, and then yields us not enough for a dinner. It grows + because it delights to do so,—to take the juices out of my ground, + to absorb my fertilizers, to wax luxuriant, and disport itself in the + summer air, and with very little thought of making any return to me. I + might go all through my garden and fruit trees with a similar result. I + have heard of places where there was very little land to the acre. It is + universally true that there is a great deal of vegetable show and fuss for + the result produced. I do not complain of this. One cannot expect + vegetables to be better than men: and they make a great deal of + ostentatious splurge; and many of them come to no result at last. Usually, + the more show of leaf and wood, the less fruit. This melancholy reflection + is thrown in here in order to make dog-days seem cheerful in comparison. + </p> + <p> + One of the minor pleasures of life is that of controlling vegetable + activity and aggressions with the pruning-knife. Vigorous and rapid growth + is, however, a necessity to the sport. To prune feeble plants and shrubs + is like acting the part of dry-nurse to a sickly orphan. You must feel the + blood of Nature bound under your hand, and get the thrill of its life in + your nerves. To control and culture a strong, thrifty plant in this way is + like steering a ship under full headway, or driving a locomotive with your + hand on the lever, or pulling the reins over a fast horse when his blood + and tail are up. I do not understand, by the way, the pleasure of the + jockey in setting up the tail of the horse artificially. If I had a horse + with a tail not able to sit up, I should feed the horse, and curry him + into good spirits, and let him set up his own tail. When I see a poor, + spiritless horse going by with an artificially set-up tail, it is only a + signal of distress. I desire to be surrounded only by healthy, vigorous + plants and trees, which require constant cutting-in and management. Merely + to cut away dead branches is like perpetual attendance at a funeral, and + puts one in low spirits. I want to have a garden and orchard rise up and + meet me every morning, with the request to “lay on, Macduff.” I respect + old age; but an old currant-bush, hoary with mossy bark, is a melancholy + spectacle. + </p> + <p> + I suppose the time has come when I am expected to say something about + fertilizers: all agriculturists do. When you plant, you think you cannot + fertilize too much: when you get the bills for the manure, you think you + cannot fertilize too little. Of course you do not expect to get the value + of the manure back in fruits and vegetables; but something is due to + science,—to chemistry in particular. You must have a knowledge of + soils, must have your soil analyzed, and then go into a course of + experiments to find what it needs. It needs analyzing,—that, I am + clear about: everything needs that. You had better have the soil analyzed + before you buy: if there is “pusley” in it, let it alone. See if it is a + soil that requires much hoeing, and how fine it will get if there is no + rain for two months. But when you come to fertilizing, if I understand the + agricultural authorities, you open a pit that will ultimately swallow you + up,—farm and all. It is the great subject of modern times, how to + fertilize without ruinous expense; how, in short, not to starve the earth + to death while we get our living out of it. Practically, the business is + hardly to the taste of a person of a poetic turn of mind. The details of + fertilizing are not agreeable. Michael Angelo, who tried every art, and + nearly every trade, never gave his mind to fertilizing. It is much + pleasanter and easier to fertilize with a pen, as the agricultural writers + do, than with a fork. And this leads me to say, that, in carrying on a + garden yourself, you must have a “consulting” gardener; that is, a man to + do the heavy and unpleasant work. To such a man, I say, in language used + by Demosthenes to the Athenians, and which is my advice to all gardeners, + “Fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THIRTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I find that gardening has unsurpassed advantages for the study of natural + history; and some scientific facts have come under my own observation, + which cannot fail to interest naturalists and un-naturalists in about the + same degree. Much, for instance, has been written about the toad, an + animal without which no garden would be complete. But little account has + been made of his value: the beauty of his eye alone has been dwelt on; and + little has been said of his mouth, and its important function as a fly and + bug trap. His habits, and even his origin, have been misunderstood. Why, + as an illustration, are toads so plenty after a thunder-shower? All my + life long, no one has been able to answer me that question. Why, after a + heavy shower, and in the midst of it, do such multitudes of toads, + especially little ones, hop about on the gravel-walks? For many years, I + believed that they rained down; and I suppose many people think so still. + They are so small, and they come in such numbers only in the shower, that + the supposition is not a violent one. “Thick as toads after a shower,” is + one of our best proverbs. I asked an explanation 'of this of a thoughtful + woman,—indeed, a leader in the great movement to have all the toads + hop in any direction, without any distinction of sex or religion. Her + reply was, that the toads come out during the shower to get water. This, + however, is not the fact. I have discovered that they come out not to get + water. I deluged a dry flower-bed, the other night, with pailful after + pailful of water. Instantly the toads came out of their holes in the dirt, + by tens and twenties and fifties, to escape death by drowning. The big + ones fled away in a ridiculous streak of hopping; and the little ones + sprang about in the wildest confusion. The toad is just like any other + land animal: when his house is full of water, he quits it. These facts, + with the drawings of the water and the toads, are at the service of the + distinguished scientists of Albany in New York, who were so much impressed + by the Cardiff Giant. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0133}.jpg" alt="{0133}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0133}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + The domestic cow is another animal whose ways I have a chance to study, + and also to obliterate in the garden. One of my neighbors has a cow, but + no land; and he seems desirous to pasture her on the surface of the land + of other people: a very reasonable desire. The man proposed that he should + be allowed to cut the grass from my grounds for his cow. I knew the cow, + having often had her in my garden; knew her gait and the size of her feet, + which struck me as a little large for the size of the body. Having no cow + myself, but acquaintance with my neighbor's, I told him that I thought it + would be fair for him to have the grass. He was, therefore, to keep the + grass nicely cut, and to keep his cow at home. I waited some time after + the grass needed cutting; and, as my neighbor did not appear, I hired it + cut. No sooner was it done than he promptly appeared, and raked up most of + it, and carried it away. He had evidently been waiting that opportunity. + When the grass grew again, the neighbor did not appear with his scythe; + but one morning I found the cow tethered on the sward, hitched near the + clothes-horse, a short distance from the house. This seemed to be the + man's idea of the best way to cut the grass. I disliked to have the cow + there, because I knew her inclination to pull up the stake, and transfer + her field of mowing to the garden, but especially because of her voice. + She has the most melancholy “moo” I ever heard. It is like the wail of one + uninfallible, excommunicated, and lost. It is a most distressing perpetual + reminder of the brevity of life and the shortness of feed. It is + unpleasant to the family. We sometimes hear it in the middle of the night, + breaking the silence like a suggestion of coming calamity. It is as bad as + the howling of a dog at a funeral. + </p> + <p> + I told the man about it; but he seemed to think that he was not + responsible for the cow's voice. I then told him to take her away; and he + did, at intervals, shifting her to different parts of the grounds in my + absence, so that the desolate voice would startle us from unexpected + quarters. If I were to unhitch the cow, and turn her loose, I knew where + she would go. If I were to lead her away, the question was, Where? for I + did not fancy leading a cow about till I could find somebody who was + willing to pasture her. To this dilemma had my excellent neighbor reduced + me. But I found him, one Sunday morning,—a day when it would not do + to get angry, tying his cow at the foot of the hill; the beast all the + time going on in that abominable voice. +</p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0139}.jpg" alt="{0139}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0139}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + +<p> +I told the man that I could not + have the cow in the grounds. He said, “All right, boss;” but he did not go + away. I asked him to clear out. The man, who is a French sympathizer from + the Republic of Ireland, kept his temper perfectly. He said he wasn't + doing anything, just feeding his cow a bit: he wouldn't make me the least + trouble in the world. I reminded him that he had been told again and again + not to come here; that he might have all the grass, but he should not + bring his cow upon the premises. The imperturbable man assented to + everything that I said, and kept on feeding his cow. Before I got him to + go to fresh scenes and pastures new, the Sabbath was almost broken; but it + was saved by one thing: it is difficult to be emphatic when no one is + emphatic on the other side. The man and his cow have taught me a great + lesson, which I shall recall when I keep a cow. I can recommend this cow, + if anybody wants one, as a steady boarder, whose keeping will cost the + owner little; but, if her milk is at all like her voice, those who drink + it are on the straight road to lunacy. + </p> + <p> + I think I have said that we have a game-preserve. We keep quails, or try + to, in the thickly wooded, bushed, and brushed ravine. This bird is a + great favorite with us, dead or alive, on account of its tasteful plumage, + its tender flesh, its domestic virtues, and its pleasant piping. Besides, + although I appreciate toads and cows, and all that sort of thing, I like + to have a game-preserve more in the English style. And we did. For in + July, while the game-law was on, and the young quails were coming on, we + were awakened one morning by firing,—musketry-firing, close at hand. + My first thought was, that war was declared; but, as I should never pay + much attention to war declared at that time in the morning, I went to + sleep again. But the occurrence was repeated,—and not only early in + the morning, but at night. There was calling of dogs, breaking down of + brush, and firing of guns. It is hardly pleasant to have guns fired in the + direction of the house, at your own quails. The hunters could be sometimes + seen, but never caught. Their best time was about sunrise; but, before one + could dress and get to the front, they would retire. + </p> + <p> + One morning, about four o'clock, I heard the battle renewed. I sprang up, + but not in arms, and went to a window. Polly (like another 'blessed + damozel') flew to another window,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The blessed damozel leaned out + From the gold bar of heaven,” + </pre> + <p> + and reconnoitered from behind the blinds. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The wonder was not yet quite gone + From that still look of hers,” + </pre> + <p> + when an armed man and a legged dog appeared in the opening. I was + vigilantly watching him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + .... “And now + She spoke through the still weather.” + </pre> + <p> + “Are you afraid to speak to him?” asked Polly. + </p> + <p> + Not exactly, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ...."she spoke as when + The stars sang in their spheres. +</pre> + <p> + “Stung by this inquiry, I leaned out of the window till + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The bar I leaned on (was) warm,” + </pre> + <p> + and cried,— “Halloo, there! What are you doing?” + </p> + <p> + “Look out he don't shoot you,” called out Polly from the other window, + suddenly going on another tack. + </p> + <p> + I explained that a sportsman would not be likely to shoot a gentleman in + his own house, with bird-shot, so long as quails were to be had. + </p> + <p> + “You have no business here: what are you after?” I repeated. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0145}.jpg" alt="{0145}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0145}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + “Looking for a lost hen,” said the man as he strode away. + </p> + <p> + The reply was so satisfactory and conclusive that I shut the blinds and + went to bed. + </p> + <p> + But one evening I overhauled one of the poachers. Hearing his dog in the + thicket, I rushed through the brush, and came in sight of the hunter as he + was retreating down the road. He came to a halt; and we had some + conversation in a high key. Of course I threatened to prosecute him. I + believe that is the thing to do in such cases; but how I was to do it, + when I did not know his name or ancestry, and couldn't see his face, never + occurred to me. (I remember, now, that a farmer once proposed to prosecute + me when I was fishing in a trout-brook on his farm, and asked my name for + that purpose.) He said he should smile to see me prosecute him. + </p> + <p> + “You can't do it: there ain't no notice up about trespassing.” + </p> + <p> + This view of the common law impressed me; and I said, + </p> + <p> + “But these are private grounds.” + </p> + <p> + “Private h—-!” was all his response. + </p> + <p> + You can't argue much with a man who has a gun in his hands, when you have + none. Besides, it might be a needle-gun, for aught I knew. I gave it up, + and we separated. + </p> + <p> + There is this disadvantage about having a game preserve attached to your + garden: it makes life too lively. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOURTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + In these golden latter August days, Nature has come to a serene + equilibrium. Having flowered and fruited, she is enjoying herself. I can + see how things are going: it is a down-hill business after this; but, for + the time being, it is like swinging in a hammock,—such a delicious + air, such a graceful repose! I take off my hat as I stroll into the garden + and look about; and it does seem as if Nature had sounded a truce. I did + n't ask for it. I went out with a hoe; but the serene sweetness disarms + me. Thrice is he armed who has a long-handled hoe, with a double blade. + Yet to-day I am almost ashamed to appear in such a belligerent fashion, + with this terrible mitrailleuse of gardening. + </p> + <p> + The tomatoes are getting tired of ripening, and are beginning to go into a + worthless condition,—green. The cucumbers cumber the ground,—great + yellow, over-ripe objects, no more to be compared to the crisp beauty of + their youth than is the fat swine of the sty to the clean little pig. The + nutmeg-melons, having covered themselves with delicate lace-work, are now + ready to leave the vine. I know they are ripe if they come easily off the + stem. + </p> + <p> + Moral Observations.—You can tell when people are ripe by their + willingness to let go. Richness and ripeness are not exactly the same. The + rich are apt to hang to the stem with tenacity. I have nothing against the + rich. If I were not virtuous, I should like to be rich. But we cannot have + everything, as the man said when he was down with small-pox and cholera, + and the yellow fever came into the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + Now, the grapes, soaked in this liquid gold, called air, begin to turn, + mindful of the injunction, “to turn or burn.” The clusters under the + leaves are getting quite purple, but look better than they taste. I think + there is no danger but they will be gathered as soon as they are ripe. One + of the blessings of having an open garden is, that I do not have to watch + my fruit: a dozen youngsters do that, and let it waste no time after it + matures. I wish it were possible to grow a variety of grape like the + explosive bullets, that should explode in the stomach: the vine would make + such a nice border for the garden,—a masked battery of grape. The + pears, too, are getting russet and heavy; and here and there amid the + shining leaves one gleams as ruddy as the cheek of the Nutbrown Maid. The + Flemish Beauties come off readily from the stem, if I take them in my + hand: they say all kinds of beauty come off by handling. + </p> + <p> + The garden is peace as much as if it were an empire. Even the man's cow + lies down under the tree where the man has tied her, with such an air of + contentment, that I have small desire to disturb her. She is chewing my + cud as if it were hers. Well, eat on and chew on, melancholy brute. I have + not the heart to tell the man to take you away: and it would do no good if + I had; he wouldn't do it. The man has not a taking way. Munch on, ruminant + creature. + </p> + <p> + The frost will soon come; the grass will be brown. I will be charitable + while this blessed lull continues: for our benevolences must soon be + turned to other and more distant objects,—the amelioration of the + condition of the Jews, the education of theological young men in the West, + and the like. + </p> + <p> + I do not know that these appearances are deceitful; but I sufficiently + know that this is a wicked world, to be glad that I have taken it on + shares. In fact, I could not pick the pears alone, not to speak of eating + them. When I climb the trees, and throw down the dusky fruit, Polly + catches it in her apron; nearly always, however, letting go when it drops, + the fall is so sudden. The sun gets in her face; and, every time a pear + comes down it is a surprise, like having a tooth out, she says. + </p> + <p> + “If I could n't hold an apron better than that!” + </p> + <p> + But the sentence is not finished: it is useless to finish that sort of a + sentence in this delicious weather. Besides, conversation is dangerous. + As, for instance, towards evening I am preparing a bed for a sowing of + turnips,—not that I like turnips in the least; but this is the + season to sow them. Polly comes out, and extemporizes her usual seat to + “consult me” about matters while I work. I well know that something is + coming. + </p> + <p> + “This is a rotation of crops, is n't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes: I have rotated the gone-to-seed lettuce off, and expect to rotate + the turnips in; it is a political fashion.” + </p> + <p> + “Is n't it a shame that the tomatoes are all getting ripe at once? What a + lot of squashes! I wish we had an oyster-bed. Do you want me to help you + any more than I am helping?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I thank you.” (I wonder what all this is about?) + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think we could sell some strawberries next year?” + </p> + <p> + “By all means, sell anything. We shall no doubt get rich out of this + acre.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be foolish.” + </p> + <p> + And now! + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think it would be nice to have a?”.... + </p> + <p> + And Polly unfolds a small scheme of benevolence, which is not quite enough + to break me, and is really to be executed in an economical manner. “Would + n't that be nice?” + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0155}.jpg" alt="{0155}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0155}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + “Oh, yes! And where is the money to come from?” + </p> + <p> + “I thought we had agreed to sell the strawberries.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly. But I think we would make more money if we sold the plants + now.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Polly, concluding the whole matter, “I am going to do it.” + And, having thus “consulted” me, Polly goes away; and I put in the + turnip-seeds quite thick, determined to raise enough to sell. But not even + this mercenary thought can ruffle my mind as I rake off the loamy bed. I + notice, however, that the spring smell has gone out of the dirt. That went + into the first crop. + </p> + <p> + In this peaceful unison with yielding nature, I was a little taken aback + to find that a new enemy had turned up. The celery had just rubbed through + the fiery scorching of the drought, and stood a faint chance to grow; when + I noticed on the green leaves a big green-and-black worm, called, I + believe, the celery-worm: but I don't know who called him; I am sure I did + not. It was almost ludicrous that he should turn up here, just at the end + of the season, when I supposed that my war with the living animals was + over. Yet he was, no doubt, predestinated; for he went to work as + cheerfully as if he had arrived in June, when everything was fresh and + vigorous. It beats me—Nature does. I doubt not, that, if I were to + leave my garden now for a week, it would n't know me on my return. The + patch I scratched over for the turnips, and left as clean as earth, is + already full of ambitious “pusley,” which grows with all the confidence of + youth and the skill of old age. It beats the serpent as an emblem of + immortality. While all the others of us in the garden rest and sit in + comfort a moment, upon the summit of the summer, it is as rampant and + vicious as ever. It accepts no armistice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIFTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + It is said that absence conquers all things, love included; but it has a + contrary effect on a garden. I was absent for two or three weeks. I left + my garden a paradise, as paradises go in this protoplastic world; and when + I returned, the trail of the serpent was over it all, so to speak. (This + is in addition to the actual snakes in it, which are large enough to + strangle children of average size.) I asked Polly if she had seen to the + garden while I was away, and she said she had. I found that all the melons + had been seen to, and the early grapes and pears. The green worm had also + seen to about half the celery; and a large flock of apparently perfectly + domesticated chickens were roaming over the ground, gossiping in the hot + September sun, and picking up any odd trifle that might be left. On the + whole, the garden could not have been better seen to; though it would take + a sharp eye to see the potato-vines amid the rampant grass and weeds. + </p> + <p> + The new strawberry-plants, for one thing, had taken advantage of my + absence. Every one of them had sent out as many scarlet runners as an + Indian tribe has. Some of them had blossomed; and a few had gone so far as + to bear ripe berries,—long, pear-shaped fruit, hanging like the + ear-pendants of an East Indian bride. I could not but admire the + persistence of these zealous plants, which seemed determined to propagate + themselves both by seeds and roots, and make sure of immortality in some + way. Even the Colfax variety was as ambitious as the others. After having + seen the declining letter of Mr. Colfax, I did not suppose that this vine + would run any more, and intended to root it out. But one can never say + what these politicians mean; and I shall let this variety grow until after + the next election, at least; although I hear that the fruit is small, and + rather sour. If there is any variety of strawberries that really declines + to run, and devotes itself to a private life of fruit-bearing, I should + like to get it. I may mention here, since we are on politics, that the + Doolittle raspberries had sprawled all over the strawberry-bed's: so true + is it that politics makes strange bedfellows. + </p> + <p> + But another enemy had come into the strawberries, which, after all that + has been said in these papers, I am almost ashamed to mention. But does + the preacher in the pulpit, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, shrink + from speaking of sin? I refer, of course, to the greatest enemy of + mankind, “p-sl-y.” The ground was carpeted with it. I should think that + this was the tenth crop of the season; and it was as good as the first. I + see no reason why our northern soil is not as prolific as that of the + tropics, and will not produce as many crops in the year. The mistake we + make is in trying to force things that are not natural to it. I have no + doubt that, if we turn our attention to “pusley,” we can beat the world. + </p> + <p> + I had no idea, until recently, how generally this simple and thrifty plant + is feared and hated. Far beyond what I had regarded as the bounds of + civilization, it is held as one of the mysteries of a fallen world; + accompanying the home missionary on his wanderings, and preceding the + footsteps of the Tract Society. I was not long ago in the Adirondacks. We + had built a camp for the night, in the heart of the woods, high up on + John's Brook and near the foot of Mount Marcy: I can see the lovely spot + now. It was on the bank of the crystal, rocky stream, at the foot of high + and slender falls, which poured into a broad amber basin. Out of this + basin we had just taken trout enough for our supper, which had been + killed, and roasted over the fire on sharp sticks, and eaten before they + had an opportunity to feel the chill of this deceitful world. We were + lying under the hut of spruce-bark, on fragrant hemlock-boughs, talking, + after supper. In front of us was a huge fire of birchlogs; and over it we + could see the top of the falls glistening in the moonlight; and the roar + of the falls, and the brawling of the stream near us, filled all the + ancient woods. It was a scene upon which one would think no thought of sin + could enter. We were talking with old Phelps, the guide. Old Phelps is at + once guide, philosopher, and friend. He knows the woods and streams and + mountains, and their savage inhabitants, as well as we know all our rich + relations and what they are doing; and in lonely bear-hunts and + sable-trappings he has thought out and solved most of the problems of + life. As he stands in his wood-gear, he is as grizzly as an old + cedar-tree; and he speaks in a high falsetto voice, which would be + invaluable to a boatswain in a storm at sea. + </p> + <p> + We had been talking of all subjects about which rational men are + interested,—bears, panthers, trapping, the habits of trout, the + tariff, the internal revenue (to wit the injustice of laying such a tax on + tobacco, and none on dogs:—“There ain't no dog in the United + States,” says the guide, at the top of his voice, “that earns his + living”), the Adventists, the Gorner Grat, Horace Greeley, religion, the + propagation of seeds in the wilderness (as, for instance, where were the + seeds lying for ages that spring up into certain plants and flowers as + soon as a spot is cleared anywhere in the most remote forest; and why does + a growth of oak-trees always come up after a growth of pine has been + removed?)—in short, we had pretty nearly reached a solution of many + mysteries, when Phelps suddenly exclaimed with uncommon energy,— + “Wall, there's one thing that beats me!” + </p> + <p> + “What's that?” we asked with undisguised curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “That's 'pusley'!” he replied, in the tone of a man who has come to one + door in life which is hopelessly shut, and from which he retires in + despair. + </p> + <p> + “Where it comes from I don't know, nor what to do with it. It's in my + garden; and I can't get rid of it. It beats me.” + </p> + <p> + About “pusley” the guide had no theory and no hope. A feeling of awe came + over me, as we lay there at midnight, hushed by the sound of the stream + and the rising wind in the spruce-tops. Then man can go nowhere that + “pusley” will not attend him. Though he camp on the Upper Au Sable, or + penetrate the forest where rolls the Allegash, and hear no sound save his + own allegations, he will not escape it. It has entered the happy valley of + Keene, although there is yet no church there, and only a feeble school + part of the year. Sin travels faster than they that ride in chariots. I + take my hoe, and begin; but I feel that I am warring against something + whose roots take hold on H. + </p> + <p> + By the time a man gets to be eighty, he learns that he is compassed by + limitations, and that there has been a natural boundary set to his + individual powers. As he goes on in life, he begins to doubt his ability + to destroy all evil and to reform all abuses, and to suspect that there + will be much left to do after he has done. I stepped into my garden in the + spring, not doubting that I should be easily master of the weeds. I have + simply learned that an institution which is at least six thousand years + old, and I believe six millions, is not to be put down in one season. + </p> + <p> + I have been digging my potatoes, if anybody cares to know it. I planted + them in what are called “Early Rose,”—the rows a little less than + three feet apart; but the vines came to an early close in the drought. + Digging potatoes is a pleasant, soothing occupation, but not poetical. It + is good for the mind, unless they are too small (as many of mine are), + when it begets a want of gratitude to the bountiful earth. What small + potatoes we all are, compared with what we might be! We don't plow deep + enough, any of us, for one thing. I shall put in the plow next year, and + give the tubers room enough. I think they felt the lack of it this year: + many of them seemed ashamed to come out so small. There is great pleasure + in turning out the brown-jacketed fellows into the sunshine of a royal + September day, and seeing them glisten as they lie thickly strewn on the + warm soil. Life has few such moments. But then they must be picked up. The + picking-up, in this world, is always the unpleasant part of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SIXTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I do not hold myself bound to answer the question, Does gardening pay? It + is so difficult to define what is meant by paying. There is a popular + notion that, unless a thing pays, you had better let it alone; and I may + say that there is a public opinion that will not let a man or woman + continue in the indulgence of a fancy that does not pay. And public + opinion is stronger than the legislature, and nearly as strong as the ten + commandments: I therefore yield to popular clamor when I discuss the + profit of my garden. + </p> + <p> + As I look at it, you might as well ask, Does a sunset pay? I know that a + sunset is commonly looked on as a cheap entertainment; but it is really + one of the most expensive. It is true that we can all have front seats, + and we do not exactly need to dress for it as we do for the opera; but the + conditions under which it is to be enjoyed are rather dear. Among them I + should name a good suit of clothes, including some trifling ornament,—not + including back hair for one sex, or the parting of it in the middle for + the other. I should add also a good dinner, well cooked and digestible; + and the cost of a fair education, extended, perhaps, through generations + in which sensibility and love of beauty grew. What I mean is, that if a + man is hungry and naked, and half a savage, or with the love of beauty + undeveloped in him, a sunset is thrown away on him: so that it appears + that the conditions of the enjoyment of a sunset are as costly as anything + in our civilization. + </p> + <p> + Of course there is no such thing as absolute value in this world. You can + only estimate what a thing is worth to you. Does gardening in a city pay? + You might as well ask if it pays to keep hens, or a trotting-horse, or to + wear a gold ring, or to keep your lawn cut, or your hair cut. It is as you + like it. In a certain sense, it is a sort of profanation to consider if my + garden pays, or to set a money-value upon my delight in it. I fear that + you could not put it in money. Job had the right idea in his mind when he + asked, “Is there any taste in the white of an egg?” Suppose there is not! + What! shall I set a price upon the tender asparagus or the crisp lettuce, + which made the sweet spring a reality? Shall I turn into merchandise the + red strawberry, the pale green pea, the high-flavored raspberry, the + sanguinary beet, that love-plant the tomato, and the corn which did not + waste its sweetness on the desert air, but, after flowing in a sweet rill + through all our summer life, mingled at last with the engaging bean in a + pool of succotash? Shall I compute in figures what daily freshness and + health and delight the garden yields, let alone the large crop of + anticipation I gathered as soon as the first seeds got above ground? I + appeal to any gardening man of sound mind, if that which pays him best in + gardening is not that which he cannot show in his trial-balance. Yet I + yield to public opinion, when I proceed to make such a balance; and I do + it with the utmost confidence in figures. + </p> + <p> + I select as a representative vegetable, in order to estimate the cost of + gardening, the potato. In my statement, I shall not include the interest + on the value of the land. I throw in the land, because it would otherwise + have stood idle: the thing generally raised on city land is taxes. I + therefore make the following statement of the cost and income of my + potato-crop, a part of it estimated in connection with other garden labor. + I have tried to make it so as to satisfy the income-tax collector:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Plowing.......................................$0.50 + Seed..........................................$1.50 + Manure........................................ 8.00 + Assistance in planting and digging, 3 days.... 6.75 + Labor of self in planting, hoeing, digging, + picking up, 5 days at 17 cents........... 0.85 + ——— + Total Cost................$17.60 +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Two thousand five hundred mealy potatoes, + at 2 cents..............................$50.00 + Small potatoes given to neighbor's pig........ .50 + + Total return..............$50.50 + + Balance, profit in cellar......$32.90 +</pre> + <p> + Some of these items need explanation. I have charged nothing for my own + time waiting for the potatoes to grow. My time in hoeing, fighting weeds, + etc., is put in at five days: it may have been a little more. Nor have I + put in anything for cooling drinks while hoeing. I leave this out from + principle, because I always recommend water to others. I had some + difficulty in fixing the rate of my own wages. It was the first time I had + an opportunity of paying what I thought labor was worth; and I determined + to make a good thing of it for once. I figured it right down to European + prices,—seventeen cents a day for unskilled labor. Of course, I + boarded myself. I ought to say that I fixed the wages after the work was + done, or I might have been tempted to do as some masons did who worked for + me at four dollars a day. They lay in the shade and slept the sleep of + honest toil full half the time, at least all the time I was away. I have + reason to believe that when the wages of mechanics are raised to eight and + ten dollars a day, the workmen will not come at all: they will merely send + their cards. + </p> + <p> + I do not see any possible fault in the above figures. I ought to say that + I deferred putting a value on the potatoes until I had footed up the debit + column. This is always the safest way to do. I had twenty-five bushels. I + roughly estimated that there are one hundred good ones to the bushel. + Making my own market price, I asked two cents apiece for them. This I + should have considered dirt cheap last June, when I was going down the + rows with the hoe. If any one thinks that two cents each is high, let him + try to raise them. + </p> + <p> + Nature is “awful smart.” I intend to be complimentary in saying so. She + shows it in little things. I have mentioned my attempt to put in a few + modest turnips, near the close of the season. I sowed the seeds, by the + way, in the most liberal manner. Into three or four short rows I presume I + put enough to sow an acre; and they all came up,—came up as thick as + grass, as crowded and useless as babies in a Chinese village. Of course, + they had to be thinned out; that is, pretty much all pulled up; and it + took me a long time; for it takes a conscientious man some time to decide + which are the best and healthiest plants to spare. After all, I spared too + many. That is the great danger everywhere in this world (it may not be in + the next): things are too thick; we lose all in grasping for too much. The + Scotch say, that no man ought to thin out his own turnips, because he will + not sacrifice enough to leave room for the remainder to grow: he should + get his neighbor, who does not care for the plants, to do it. But this is + mere talk, and aside from the point: if there is anything I desire to + avoid in these agricultural papers, it is digression. I did think that + putting in these turnips so late in the season, when general activity has + ceased, and in a remote part of the garden, they would pass unnoticed. But + Nature never even winks, as I can see. The tender blades were scarcely out + of the ground when she sent a small black fly, which seemed to have been + born and held in reserve for this purpose,—to cut the leaves. They + speedily made lace-work of the whole bed. Thus everything appears to have + its special enemy,—except, perhaps, p——y: nothing ever + troubles that. + </p> + <p> + Did the Concord Grape ever come to more luscious perfection than this + year? or yield so abundantly? The golden sunshine has passed into them, + and distended their purple skins almost to bursting. Such heavy clusters! + such bloom! such sweetness! such meat and drink in their round globes! + What a fine fellow Bacchus would have been, if he had only signed the + pledge when he was a young man! I have taken off clusters that were as + compact and almost as large as the Black Hamburgs. It is slow work picking + them. I do not see how the gatherers for the vintage ever get off enough. + It takes so long to disentangle the bunches from the leaves and the + interlacing vines and the supporting tendrils; and then I like to hold up + each bunch and look at it in the sunlight, and get the fragrance and the + bloom of it, and show it to Polly, who is making herself useful, as taster + and companion, at the foot of the ladder, before dropping it into the + basket. But we have other company. The robin, the most knowing and greedy + bird out of paradise (I trust he will always be kept out), has discovered + that the grape-crop is uncommonly good, and has come back, with his whole + tribe and family, larger than it was in pea-time. He knows the ripest + bunches as well as anybody, and tries them all. If he would take a whole + bunch here and there, say half the number, and be off with it, I should + not so much care. But he will not. He pecks away at all the bunches, and + spoils as many as he can. It is time he went south. + </p> + <p> + There is no prettier sight, to my eye, than a gardener on a ladder in his + grape-arbor, in these golden days, selecting the heaviest clusters of + grapes, and handing them down to one and another of a group of neighbors + and friends, who stand under the shade of the leaves, flecked with the + sunlight, and cry, “How sweet!” “What nice ones!” and the like,—remarks + encouraging to the man on the ladder. It is great pleasure to see people + eat grapes. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0181}.jpg" alt="{0181}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0181}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Moral Truth.—I have no doubt that grapes taste best in other + people's mouths. It is an old notion that it is easier to be generous than + to be stingy. I am convinced that the majority of people would be generous + from selfish motives, if they had the opportunity. + </p> + <p> + Philosophical Observation.—Nothing shows one who his friends are + like prosperity and ripe fruit. I had a good friend in the country, whom I + almost never visited except in cherry-time. By your fruits you shall know + them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SEVENTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + I like to go into the garden these warm latter days, and muse. To muse is + to sit in the sun, and not think of anything. I am not sure but goodness + comes out of people who bask in the sun, as it does out of a sweet apple + roasted before the fire. The late September and October sun of this + latitude is something like the sun of extreme Lower Italy: you can stand a + good deal of it, and apparently soak a winter supply into the system. If + one only could take in his winter fuel in this way! The next great + discovery will, very likely, be the conservation of sunlight. In the + correlation of forces, I look to see the day when the superfluous sunshine + will be utilized; as, for instance, that which has burned up my celery + this year will be converted into a force to work the garden. + </p> + <p> + This sitting in the sun amid the evidences of a ripe year is the easiest + part of gardening I have experienced. But what a combat has gone on here! + What vegetable passions have run the whole gamut of ambition, selfishness, + greed of place, fruition, satiety, and now rest here in the truce of + exhaustion! What a battle-field, if one may look upon it so! The corn has + lost its ammunition, and stacked arms in a slovenly, militia sort of + style. The ground vines are torn, trampled, and withered; and the + ungathered cucumbers, worthless melons, and golden squashes lie about like + the spent bombs and exploded shells of a battle-field. So the cannon-balls + lay on the sandy plain before Fort Fisher after the capture. So the great + grassy meadow at Munich, any morning during the October Fest, is strewn + with empty beermugs. History constantly repeats itself. There is a large + crop of moral reflections in my garden, which anybody is at liberty to + gather who passes this way. + </p> + <p> + I have tried to get in anything that offered temptation to sin. There + would be no thieves if there was nothing to steal; and I suppose, in the + thieves' catechism, the provider is as bad as the thief; and, probably, I + am to blame for leaving out a few winter pears, which some predatory boy + carried off on Sunday. At first I was angry, and said I should like to + have caught the urchin in the act; but, on second thought, I was glad I + did not. The interview could not have been pleasant: I shouldn't have + known what to do with him. The chances are, that he would have escaped + away with his pockets full, and jibed at me from a safe distance. And, if + I had got my hands on him, I should have been still more embarrassed. If I + had flogged him, he would have got over it a good deal sooner than I + should. That sort of boy does not mind castigation any more than he does + tearing his trousers in the briers. If I had treated him with kindness, + and conciliated him with grapes, showing him the enormity of his offense, + I suppose he would have come the next night, and taken the remainder of + the grapes. The truth is, that the public morality is lax on the subject + of fruit. If anybody puts arsenic or gunpowder into his watermelons, he is + universally denounced as a stingy old murderer by the community. A great + many people regard growing fruit as lawful prey, who would not think of + breaking into your cellar to take it. I found a man once in my + raspberry-bushes, early in the season, when we were waiting for a dishful + to ripen. Upon inquiring what he was about, he said he was only eating + some; and the operation seemed to be so natural and simple, that I + disliked to disturb him. And I am not very sure that one has a right to + the whole of an abundant crop of fruit until he has gathered it. At least, + in a city garden, one might as well conform his theory to the practice of + the community. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0187}.jpg" alt="{0187}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0187}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + As for children (and it sometimes looks as if the chief products of my + garden were small boys and hens), it is admitted that they are barbarians. + There is no exception among them to this condition of barbarism. This is + not to say that they are not attractive; for they have the virtues as well + as the vices of a primitive people. It is held by some naturalists that + the child is only a zoophyte, with a stomach, and feelers radiating from + it in search of something to fill it. It is true that a child is always + hungry all over: but he is also curious all over; and his curiosity is + excited about as early as his hunger. He immediately begins to put out his + moral feelers into the unknown and the infinite to discover what sort of + an existence this is into which he has come. His imagination is quite as + hungry as his stomach. And again and again it is stronger than his other + appetites. You can easily engage his imagination in a story which will + make him forget his dinner. He is credulous and superstitious, and open to + all wonder. In this, he is exactly like the savage races. Both gorge + themselves on the marvelous; and all the unknown is marvelous to them. I + know the general impression is that children must be governed through + their stomachs. I think they can be controlled quite as well through their + curiosity; that being the more craving and imperious of the two. I have + seen children follow about a person who told them stories, and interested + them with his charming talk, as greedily as if his pockets had been full + of bon-bons. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps this fact has no practical relation to gardening; but it occurs to + me that, if I should paper the outside of my high board fence with the + leaves of “The Arabian Nights,” it would afford me a good deal of + protection,—more, in fact, than spikes in the top, which tear + trousers and encourage profanity, but do not save much fruit. A spiked + fence is a challenge to any boy of spirit. But if the fence were papered + with fairy-tales, would he not stop to read them until it was too late for + him to climb into the garden? I don't know. Human nature is vicious. The + boy might regard the picture of the garden of the Hesperides only as an + advertisement of what was over the fence. I begin to find that the problem + of raising fruit is nothing to that of getting it after it has matured. So + long as the law, just in many respects, is in force against shooting birds + and small boys, the gardener may sow in tears and reap in vain. + </p> + <p> + The power of a boy is, to me, something fearful. Consider what he can do. + You buy and set out a choice pear-tree; you enrich the earth for it; you + train and trim it, and vanquish the borer, and watch its slow growth. At + length it rewards your care by producing two or three pears, which you cut + up and divide in the family, declaring the flavor of the bit you eat to be + something extraordinary. The next year, the little tree blossoms full, and + sets well; and in the autumn has on its slender, drooping limbs half a + bushel of fruit, daily growing more delicious in the sun. You show it to + your friends, reading to them the French name, which you can never + remember, on the label; and you take an honest pride in the successful + fruit of long care. That night your pears shall be required of you by a + boy! Along comes an irresponsible urchin, who has not been growing much + longer than the tree, with not twenty-five cents worth of clothing on him, + and in five minutes takes off every pear, and retires into safe obscurity. + In five minutes the remorseless boy has undone your work of years, and + with the easy nonchalance, I doubt not, of any agent of fate, in whose + path nothing is sacred or safe. + </p> + <p> + And it is not of much consequence. The boy goes on his way,—to + Congress, or to State Prison: in either place he will be accused of + stealing, perhaps wrongfully. You learn, in time, that it is better to + have had pears and lost them than not to have had pears at all. You come + to know that the least (and rarest) part of the pleasure of raising fruit + is the vulgar eating it. You recall your delight in conversing with the + nurseryman, and looking at his illustrated catalogues, where all the pears + are drawn perfect in form, and of extra size, and at that exact moment + between ripeness and decay which it is so impossible to hit in practice. + Fruit cannot be raised on this earth to taste as you imagine those pears + would taste. For years you have this pleasure, unalloyed by any + disenchanting reality. How you watch the tender twigs in spring, and the + freshly forming bark, hovering about the healthy growing tree with your + pruning-knife many a sunny morning! That is happiness. Then, if you know + it, you are drinking the very wine of life; and when the sweet juices of + the earth mount the limbs, and flow down the tender stem, ripening and + reddening the pendent fruit, you feel that you somehow stand at the source + of things, and have no unimportant share in the processes of Nature. Enter + at this moment boy the destroyer, whose office is that of preserver as + well; for, though he removes the fruit from your sight, it remains in your + memory immortally ripe and desirable. The gardener needs all these + consolations of a high philosophy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EIGHTEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might have + turned out so differently! If Ravaillac had not been imprisoned for debt, + he would not have stabbed Henry of Navarre. If William of Orange had + escaped assassination by Philip's emissaries; if France had followed the + French Calvin, and embraced Protestant Calvinism, as it came very near + doing towards the end of the sixteenth century; if the Continental + ammunition had not given out at Bunker's Hill; if Blucher had not “come + up” at Waterloo,—the lesson is, that things do not come up unless + they are planted. When you go behind the historical scenery, you find + there is a rope and pulley to effect every transformation which has + astonished you. It was the rascality of a minister and a contractor five + years before that lost the battle; and the cause of the defeat was + worthless ammunition. I should like to know how many wars have been caused + by fits of indigestion, and how many more dynasties have been upset by the + love of woman than by the hate of man. It is only because we are ill + informed that anything surprises us; and we are disappointed because we + expect that for which we have not provided. + </p> + <p> + I had too vague expectations of what my garden would do of itself. A + garden ought to produce one everything,—just as a business ought to + support a man, and a house ought to keep itself. We had a convention + lately to resolve that the house should keep itself; but it won't. There + has been a lively time in our garden this summer; but it seems to me there + is very little to show for it. It has been a terrible campaign; but where + is the indemnity? Where are all “sass” and Lorraine? It is true that we + have lived on the country; but we desire, besides, the fruits of the war. + There are no onions, for one thing. I am quite ashamed to take people into + my garden, and have them notice the absence of onions. It is very marked. + In onion is strength; and a garden without it lacks flavor. The onion in + its satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables; and it is + the only one that represents the essence of things. It can almost be said + to have a soul. You take off coat after coat, and the onion is still + there; and, when the last one is removed, who dare say that the onion + itself is destroyed, though you can weep over its departed spirit? If + there is any one thing on this fallen earth that the angels in heaven weep + over—more than another, it is the onion. + </p> + <p> + I know that there is supposed to be a prejudice against the onion; but I + think there is rather a cowardice in regard to it. I doubt not that all + men and women love the onion; but few confess their love. Affection for it + is concealed. Good New-Englanders are as shy of owning it as they are of + talking about religion. Some people have days on which they eat onions,—what + you might call “retreats,” or their “Thursdays.” The act is in the nature + of a religious ceremony, an Eleusinian mystery; not a breath of it must + get abroad. On that day they see no company; they deny the kiss of + greeting to the dearest friend; they retire within themselves, and hold + communion with one of the most pungent and penetrating manifestations of + the moral vegetable world. Happy is said to be the family which can eat + onions together. They are, for the time being, separate from the world, + and have a harmony of aspiration. There is a hint here for the reformers. + Let them become apostles of the onion; let them eat, and preach it to + their fellows, and circulate tracts of it in the form of seeds. In the + onion is the hope of universal brotherhood. If all men will eat onions at + all times, they will come into a universal sympathy. Look at Italy. I hope + I am not mistaken as to the cause of her unity. It was the Reds who + preached the gospel which made it possible. All the Reds of Europe, all + the sworn devotees of the mystic Mary Ann, eat of the common vegetable. + Their oaths are strong with it. It is the food, also, of the common people + of Italy. All the social atmosphere of that delicious land is laden with + it. Its odor is a practical democracy. In the churches all are alike: + there is one faith, one smell. The entrance of Victor Emanuel into Rome is + only the pompous proclamation of a unity which garlic had already + accomplished; and yet we, who boast of our democracy, eat onions in + secret. + </p> + <p> + I now see that I have left out many of the most moral elements. Neither + onions, parsnips, carrots, nor cabbages are here. I have never seen a + garden in the autumn before, without the uncouth cabbage in it; but my + garden gives the impression of a garden without a head. The cabbage is the + rose of Holland. I admire the force by which it compacts its crisp leaves + into a solid head. The secret of it would be priceless to the world. We + should see less expansive foreheads with nothing within. Even the largest + cabbages are not always the best. But I mention these things, not from any + sympathy I have with the vegetables named, but to show how hard it is to + go contrary to the expectations of society. Society expects every man to + have certain things in his garden. Not to raise cabbage is as if one had + no pew in church. Perhaps we shall come some day to free churches and free + gardens; when I can show my neighbor through my tired garden, at the end + of the season, when skies are overcast, and brown leaves are swirling + down, and not mind if he does raise his eyebrows when he observes, “Ah! I + see you have none of this, and of that.” At present we want the moral + courage to plant only what we need; to spend only what will bring us + peace, regardless of what is going on over the fence. We are half ruined + by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it; and I presume I + shall make a garden next year that will be as popular as possible. + </p> + <p> + And this brings me to what I see may be a crisis in life. I begin to feel + the temptation of experiment. Agriculture, horticulture, floriculture,—these + are vast fields, into which one may wander away, and never be seen more. + It seemed to me a very simple thing, this gardening; but it opens up + astonishingly. It is like the infinite possibilities in worsted-work. + Polly sometimes says to me, “I wish you would call at Bobbin's, and match + that skein of worsted for me, when you are in town.” Time was, I used to + accept such a commission with alacrity and self-confidence. I went to + Bobbin's, and asked one of his young men, with easy indifference, to give + me some of that. The young man, who is as handsome a young man as ever I + looked at, and who appears to own the shop, and whose suave + superciliousness would be worth everything to a cabinet minister who + wanted to repel applicants for place, says, “I have n't an ounce: I have + sent to Paris, and I expect it every day. I have a good deal of difficulty + in getting that shade in my assortment.” To think that he is in + communication with Paris, and perhaps with Persia! Respect for such a + being gives place to awe. I go to another shop, holding fast to my scarlet + clew. There I am shown a heap of stuff, with more colors and shades than I + had supposed existed in all the world. What a blaze of distraction! I have + been told to get as near the shade as I could; and so I compare and + contrast, till the whole thing seems to me about of one color. But I can + settle my mind on nothing. The affair assumes a high degree of importance. + I am satisfied with nothing but perfection. I don't know what may happen + if the shade is not matched. I go to another shop, and another, and + another. At last a pretty girl, who could make any customer believe that + green is blue, matches the shade in a minute. I buy five cents worth. That + was the order. Women are the most economical persons that ever were. I + have spent two hours in this five-cent business; but who shall say they + were wasted, when I take the stuff home, and Polly says it is a perfect + match, and looks so pleased, and holds it up with the work, at arm's + length, and turns her head one side, and then takes her needle, and works + it in? Working in, I can see, my own obligingness and amiability with + every stitch. Five cents is dirt cheap for such a pleasure. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0205}.jpg" alt="{0205}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0205}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + The things I may do in my garden multiply on my vision. How fascinating + have the catalogues of the nurserymen become! Can I raise all those + beautiful varieties, each one of which is preferable to the other? Shall I + try all the kinds of grapes, and all the sorts of pears? I have already + fifteen varieties of strawberries (vines); and I have no idea that I have + hit the right one. Must I subscribe to all the magazines and weekly papers + which offer premiums of the best vines? Oh, that all the strawberries were + rolled into one, that I could inclose all its lusciousness in one bite! Oh + for the good old days when a strawberry was a strawberry, and there was no + perplexity about it! There are more berries now than churches; and no one + knows what to believe. I have seen gardens which were all experiment, + given over to every new thing, and which produced little or nothing to the + owners, except the pleasure of expectation. People grow pear-trees at + great expense of time and money, which never yield them more than four + pears to the tree. The fashions of ladies' bonnets are nothing to the + fashions of nurserymen. He who attempts to follow them has a business for + life; but his life may be short. If I enter upon this wide field of + horticultural experiment, I shall leave peace behind; and I may expect the + ground to open, and swallow me and all my fortune. May Heaven keep me to + the old roots and herbs of my forefathers! Perhaps in the world of modern + reforms this is not possible; but I intend now to cultivate only the + standard things, and learn to talk knowingly of the rest. Of course, one + must keep up a reputation. I have seen people greatly enjoy themselves, + and elevate themselves in their own esteem, in a wise and critical talk + about all the choice wines, while they were sipping a decoction, the + original cost of which bore no relation to the price of grapes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NINETEENTH WEEK + </h2> + <p> + The closing scenes are not necessarily funereal. A garden should be got + ready for winter as well as for summer. When one goes into + winter-quarters, he wants everything neat and trim. Expecting high winds, + we bring everything into close reef. Some men there are who never shave + (if they are so absurd as ever to shave), except when they go abroad, and + who do not take care to wear polished boots in the bosoms of their + families. I like a man who shaves (next to one who does n't shave) to + satisfy his own conscience, and not for display, and who dresses as neatly + at home as he does anywhere. Such a man will be likely to put his garden + in complete order before the snow comes, so that its last days shall not + present a scene of melancholy ruin and decay. + </p> + <p> + I confess that, after such an exhausting campaign, I felt a great + temptation to retire, and call it a drawn engagement. But better counsels + prevailed. I determined that the weeds should not sleep on the field of + battle. I routed them out, and leveled their works. I am master of the + situation. If I have made a desert, I at least have peace; but it is not + quite a desert. The strawberries, the raspberries, the celery, the + turnips, wave green above the clean earth, with no enemy in sight. In + these golden October days no work is more fascinating than this getting + ready for spring. The sun is no longer a burning enemy, but a friend, + illuminating all the open space, and warming the mellow soil. And the + pruning and clearing away of rubbish, and the fertilizing, go on with + something of the hilarity of a wake, rather than the despondency of other + funerals. When the wind begins to come out of the northwest of set + purpose, and to sweep the ground with low and searching fierceness, very + different from the roistering, jolly bluster of early fall, I have put the + strawberries under their coverlet of leaves, pruned the grape-vines and + laid them under the soil, tied up the tender plants, given the fruit trees + a good, solid meal about the roots; and so I turn away, writing Resurgam + on the gatepost. And Calvin, aware that the summer is past and the harvest + is ended, and that a mouse in the kitchen is worth two birds gone south, + scampers away to the house with his tail in the air. + </p> + <p> + And yet I am not perfectly at rest in my mind. I know that this is only a + truce until the parties recover their exhausted energies. All winter long + the forces of chemistry will be mustering under ground, repairing the + losses, calling up the reserves, getting new strength from my + surface-fertilizing bounty, and making ready for the spring campaign. They + will open it before I am ready: while the snow is scarcely melted, and the + ground is not passable, they will begin to move on my works; and the fight + will commence. Yet how deceitfully it will open to the music of birds and + the soft enchantment of the spring mornings! I shall even be permitted to + win a few skirmishes: the secret forces will even wait for me to plant and + sow, and show my full hand, before they come on in heavy and determined + assault. There are already signs of an internecine fight with the + devil-grass, which has intrenched itself in a considerable portion of my + garden-patch. It contests the ground inch by inch; and digging it out is + very much such labor as eating a piece of choke-cherry pie with the stones + all in. It is work, too, that I know by experience I shall have to do + alone. Every man must eradicate his own devil-grass. The neighbors who + have leisure to help you in grape-picking time are all busy when + devil-grass is most aggressive. My neighbors' visits are well timed: it is + only their hens which have seasons for their own. + </p> + <p> + I am told that abundant and rank weeds are signs of a rich soil; but I + have noticed that a thin, poor soil grows little but weeds. I am inclined + to think that the substratum is the same, and that the only choice in this + world is what kind of weeds you will have. I am not much attracted by the + gaunt, flavorless mullein, and the wiry thistle of upland country + pastures, where the grass is always gray, as if the world were already + weary and sick of life. The awkward, uncouth wickedness of remote + country-places, where culture has died out after the first crop, is about + as disagreeable as the ranker and richer vice of city life, forced by + artificial heat and the juices of an overfed civilization. There is no + doubt that, on the whole, the rich soil is the best: the fruit of it has + body and flavor. To what affluence does a woman (to take an instance, + thank Heaven, which is common) grow, with favoring circumstances, under + the stimulus of the richest social and intellectual influences! I am aware + that there has been a good deal said in poetry about the fringed gentian + and the harebell of rocky districts and waysides, and I know that it is + possible for maidens to bloom in very slight soil into a wild-wood grace + and beauty; yet, the world through, they lack that wealth of charms, that + tropic affluence of both person and mind, which higher and more + stimulating culture brings,—the passion as well as the soul glowing + in the Cloth-of-Gold rose. Neither persons nor plants are ever fully + themselves until they are cultivated to their highest. I, for one, have no + fear that society will be too much enriched. The only question is about + keeping down the weeds; and I have learned by experience, that we need new + sorts of hoes, and more disposition to use them. + </p> + <p> + Moral Deduction.—The difference between soil and society is evident. + We bury decay in the earth; we plant in it the perishing; we feed it with + offensive refuse: but nothing grows out of it that is not clean; it gives + us back life and beauty for our rubbish. Society returns us what we give + it. + </p> + <p> + Pretending to reflect upon these things, but in reality watching the + blue-jays, who are pecking at the purple berries of the woodbine on the + south gable, I approach the house. Polly is picking up chestnuts on the + sward, regardless of the high wind which rattles them about her head and + upon the glass roof of her winter-garden. The garden, I see, is filled + with thrifty plants, which will make it always summer there. The callas + about the fountain will be in flower by Christmas: the plant appears to + keep that holiday in her secret heart all summer. I close the outer + windows as we go along, and congratulate myself that we are ready for + winter. For the winter-garden I have no responsibility: Polly has entire + charge of it. I am only required to keep it heated, and not too hot + either; to smoke it often for the death of the bugs; to water it once a + day; to move this and that into the sun and out of the sun pretty + constantly: but she does all the work. We never relinquish that theory. + </p> + <p> + As we pass around the house, I discover a boy in the ravine filling a bag + with chestnuts and hickorynuts. They are not plenty this year; and I + suggest the propriety of leaving some for us. The boy is a little slow to + take the idea: but he has apparently found the picking poor, and exhausted + it; for, as he turns away down the glen, he hails me with, + </p> + <p> + “Mister, I say, can you tell me where I can find some walnuts?” + </p> + <p> + The coolness of this world grows upon me. It is time to go in and light a + wood-fire on the hearth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CALVIN + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE.—The following brief Memoir of one of the characters in this + book + </h2> + <p> + is added by his friend, in the hope that the record of an exemplary fife + in an humble sphere may be of some service to the world. + </p> + <p> + HARTFORD, January, 1880. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CALVIN + </h2> + <h3> + A STUDY OF CHARACTER + </h3> + <p> + Calvin is dead. His life, long to him, but short for the rest of us, was + not marked by startling adventures, but his character was so uncommon and + his qualities were so worthy of imitation, that I have been asked by those + who personally knew him to set down my recollections of his career. + </p> + <p> + His origin and ancestry were shrouded in mystery; even his age was a + matter of pure conjecture. Although he was of the Maltese race, I have + reason to suppose that he was American by birth as he certainly was in + sympathy. Calvin was given to me eight years ago by Mrs. Stowe, but she + knew nothing of his age or origin. He walked into her house one day out of + the great unknown and became at once at home, as if he had been always a + friend of the family. He appeared to have artistic and literary tastes, + and it was as if he had inquired at the door if that was the residence of + the author of “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” and, upon being assured that it was, + bad decided to dwell there. This is, of course, fanciful, for his + antecedents were wholly unknown, but in his time he could hardly have been + in any household where he would not have heard “Uncle Tom's Cabin” talked + about. When he came to Mrs. Stowe, he was as large as he ever was, and + apparently as old as he ever became. Yet there was in him no appearance of + age; he was in the happy maturity of all his powers, and you would rather + have said that in that maturity he had found the secret of perpetual + youth. And it was as difficult to believe that he would ever be aged as it + was to imagine that he had ever been in immature youth. There was in him a + mysterious perpetuity. + </p> + <p> + After some years, when Mrs. Stowe made her winter home in Florida, Calvin + came to live with us. From the first moment, he fell into the ways of the + house and assumed a recognized position in the family,—I say + recognized, because after he became known he was always inquired for by + visitors, and in the letters to the other members of the family he always + received a message. Although the least obtrusive of beings, his + individuality always made itself felt. + </p> + <p> + His personal appearance had much to do with this, for he was of royal + mould, and had an air of high breeding. He was large, but he had nothing + of the fat grossness of the celebrated Angora family; though powerful, he + was exquisitely proportioned, and as graceful in every movement as a young + leopard. When he stood up to open a door—he opened all the doors + with old-fashioned latches—he was portentously tall, and when + stretched on the rug before the fire he seemed too long for this world—as + indeed he was. His coat was the finest and softest I have ever seen, a + shade of quiet Maltese; and from his throat downward, underneath, to the + white tips of his feet, he wore the whitest and most delicate ermine; and + no person was ever more fastidiously neat. In his finely formed head you + saw something of his aristocratic character; the ears were small and + cleanly cut, there was a tinge of pink in the nostrils, his face was + handsome, and the expression of his countenance exceedingly intelligent—I + should call it even a sweet expression, if the term were not inconsistent + with his look of alertness and sagacity. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to convey a just idea of his gayety in connection with his + dignity and gravity, which his name expressed. As we know nothing of his + family, of course it will be understood that Calvin was his Christian + name. He had times of relaxation into utter playfulness, delighting in a + ball of yarn, catching sportively at stray ribbons when his mistress was + at her toilet, and pursuing his own tail, with hilarity, for lack of + anything better. He could amuse himself by the hour, and he did not care + for children; perhaps something in his past was present to his memory. He + had absolutely no bad habits, and his disposition was perfect. I never saw + him exactly angry, though I have seen his tail grow to an enormous size + when a strange cat appeared upon his lawn. He disliked cats, evidently + regarding them as feline and treacherous, and he had no association with + them. Occasionally there would be heard a night concert in the shrubbery. + Calvin would ask to have the door opened, and then you would hear a rush + and a “pestzt,” and the concert would explode, and Calvin would quietly + come in and resume his seat on the hearth. There was no trace of anger in + his manner, but he would n't have any of that about the house. He had the + rare virtue of magnanimity. Although he had fixed notions about his own + rights, and extraordinary persistency in getting them, he never showed + temper at a repulse; he simply and firmly persisted till he had what he + wanted. His diet was one point; his idea was that of the scholars about + dictionaries,—to “get the best.” He knew as well as any one what was + in the house, and would refuse beef if turkey was to be had; and if there + were oysters, he would wait over the turkey to see if the oysters would + not be forthcoming. And yet he was not a gross gourmand; he would eat + bread if he saw me eating it, and thought he was not being imposed on. His + habits of feeding, also, were refined; he never used a knife, and he would + put up his hand and draw the fork down to his mouth as gracefully as a + grown person. Unless necessity compelled, he would not eat in the kitchen, + but insisted upon his meals in the dining-room, and would wait patiently, + unless a stranger were present; and then he was sure to importune the + visitor, hoping that the latter was ignorant of the rule of the house, and + would give him something. They used to say that he preferred as his + table-cloth on the floor a certain well-known church journal; but this was + said by an Episcopalian. So far as I know, he had no religious prejudices, + except that he did not like the association with Romanists. He tolerated + the servants, because they belonged to the house, and would sometimes + linger by the kitchen stove; but the moment visitors came in he arose, + opened the door, and marched into the drawing-room. Yet he enjoyed the + company of his equals, and never withdrew, no matter how many callers—whom + he recognized as of his society—might come into the drawing-room. + Calvin was fond of company, but he wanted to choose it; and I have no + doubt that his was an aristocratic fastidiousness rather than one of + faith. It is so with most people. + </p> + <p> + The intelligence of Calvin was something phenomenal, in his rank of life. + He established a method of communicating his wants, and even some of his + sentiments; and he could help himself in many things. There was a furnace + register in a retired room, where he used to go when he wished to be + alone, that he always opened when he desired more heat; but he never shut + it, any more than he shut the door after himself. He could do almost + everything but speak; and you would declare sometimes that you could see a + pathetic longing to do that in his intelligent face. I have no desire to + overdraw his qualities, but if there was one thing in him more noticeable + than another, it was his fondness for nature. He could content himself for + hours at a low window, looking into the ravine and at the great trees, + noting the smallest stir there; he delighted, above all things, to + accompany me walking about the garden, hearing the birds, getting the + smell of the fresh earth, and rejoicing in the sunshine. He followed me + and gamboled like a dog, rolling over on the turf and exhibiting his + delight in a hundred ways. If I worked, he sat and watched me, or looked + off over the bank, and kept his ear open to the twitter in the + cherry-trees. When it stormed, he was sure to sit at the window, keenly + watching the rain or the snow, glancing up and down at its falling; and a + winter tempest always delighted him. I think he was genuinely fond of + birds, but, so far as I know, he usually confined himself to one a day; he + never killed, as some sportsmen do, for the sake of killing, but only as + civilized people do,—from necessity. He was intimate with the + flying-squirrels who dwell in the chestnut-trees,—too intimate, for + almost every day in the summer he would bring in one, until he nearly + discouraged them. He was, indeed, a superb hunter, and would have been a + devastating one, if his bump of destructiveness had not been offset by a + bump of moderation. There was very little of the brutality of the lower + animals about him; I don't think he enjoyed rats for themselves, but he + knew his business, and for the first few months of his residence with us + he waged an awful campaign against the horde, and after that his simple + presence was sufficient to deter them from coming on the premises. Mice + amused him, but he usually considered them too small game to be taken + seriously; I have seen him play for an hour with a mouse, and then let him + go with a royal condescension. In this whole, matter of “getting a + living,” Calvin was a great contrast to the rapacity of the age in which + he lived. + </p> + <p> + I hesitate a little to speak of his capacity for friendship and the + affectionateness of his nature, for I know from his own reserve that he + would not care to have it much talked about. We understood each other + perfectly, but we never made any fuss about it; when I spoke his name and + snapped my fingers, he came to me; when I returned home at night, he was + pretty sure to be waiting for me near the gate, and would rise and saunter + along the walk, as if his being there were purely accidental,—so shy + was he commonly of showing feeling; and when I opened the door, he never + rushed in, like a cat, but loitered, and lounged, as if he had no + intention of going in, but would condescend to. And yet, the fact was, he + knew dinner was ready, and he was bound to be there. He kept the run of + dinner-time. It happened sometimes, during our absence in the summer, that + dinner would be early, and Calvin, walking about the grounds, missed it + and came in late. But he never made a mistake the second day. There was + one thing he never did,—he never rushed through an open doorway. He + never forgot his dignity. If he had asked to have the door opened, and was + eager to go out, he always went deliberately; I can see him now standing + on the sill, looking about at the sky as if he was thinking whether it + were worth while to take an umbrella, until he was near having his tail + shut in. + </p> + <p> + His friendship was rather constant than demonstrative. When we returned + from an absence of nearly two years, Calvin welcomed us with evident + pleasure, but showed his satisfaction rather by tranquil happiness than by + fuming about. He had the faculty of making us glad to get home. It was his + constancy that was so attractive. He liked companionship, but he wouldn't + be petted, or fussed over, or sit in any one's lap a moment; he always + extricated himself from such familiarity with dignity and with no show of + temper. If there was any petting to be done, however, he chose to do it. + Often he would sit looking at me, and then, moved by a delicate affection, + come and pull at my coat and sleeve until he could touch my face with his + nose, and then go away contented. He had a habit of coming to my study in + the morning, sitting quietly by my side or on the table for hours, + watching the pen run over the paper, occasionally swinging his tail round + for a blotter, and then going to sleep among the papers by the inkstand. + Or, more rarely, he would watch the writing from a perch on my shoulder. + Writing always interested him, and, until he understood it, he wanted to + hold the pen. + </p> + <p> + He always held himself in a kind of reserve with his friend, as if he had + said, “Let us respect our personality, and not make a 'mess' of + friendship.” He saw, with Emerson, the risk of degrading it to trivial + conveniency. “Why insist on rash personal relations with your friend?” + “Leave this touching and clawing.” Yet I would not give an unfair notion + of his aloofness, his fine sense of the sacredness of the me and the + not-me. And, at the risk of not being believed, I will relate an incident, + which was often repeated. Calvin had the practice of passing a portion of + the night in the contemplation of its beauties, and would come into our + chamber over the roof of the conservatory through the open window, summer + and winter, and go to sleep on the foot of my bed. He would do this always + exactly in this way; he never was content to stay in the chamber if we + compelled him to go upstairs and through the door. He had the obstinacy of + General Grant. But this is by the way. In the morning, he performed his + toilet and went down to breakfast with the rest of the family. Now, when + the mistress was absent from home, and at no other time, Calvin would come + in the morning, when the bell rang, to the head of the bed, put up his + feet and look into my face, follow me about when I rose, “assist” at the + dressing, and in many purring ways show his fondness, as if he had plainly + said, “I know that she has gone away, but I am here.” Such was Calvin in + rare moments. + </p> + <p> + He had his limitations. Whatever passion he had for nature, he had no + conception of art. There was sent to him once a fine and very expressive + cat's head in bronze, by Fremiet. I placed it on the floor. He regarded it + intently, approached it cautiously and crouchingly, touched it with his + nose, perceived the fraud, turned away abruptly, and never would notice it + afterward. On the whole, his life was not only a successful one, but a + happy one. He never had but one fear, so far as I know: he had a mortal + and a reasonable terror of plumbers. He would never stay in the house when + they were here. No coaxing could quiet him. Of course he did n't share our + fear about their charges, but he must have had some dreadful experience + with them in that portion of his life which is unknown to us. A plumber + was to him the devil, and I have no doubt that, in his scheme, plumbers + were foreordained to do him mischief. + </p> + <p> + In speaking of his worth, it has never occurred to me to estimate Calvin + by the worldly standard. I know that it is customary now, when any one + dies, to ask how much he was worth, and that no obituary in the newspapers + is considered complete without such an estimate. The plumbers in our house + were one day overheard to say that, “They say that she says that he says + that he wouldn't take a hundred dollars for him.” It is unnecessary to say + that I never made such a remark, and that, so far as Calvin was concerned, + there was no purchase in money. + </p> + <p> + As I look back upon it, Calvin's life seems to me a fortunate one, for it + was natural and unforced. He ate when he was hungry, slept when he was + sleepy, and enjoyed existence to the very tips of his toes and the end of + his expressive and slow-moving tail. He delighted to roam about the + garden, and stroll among the trees, and to lie on the green grass and + luxuriate in all the sweet influences of summer. You could never accuse + him of idleness, and yet he knew the secret of repose. The poet who wrote + so prettily of him that his little life was rounded with a sleep, + understated his felicity; it was rounded with a good many. His conscience + never seemed to interfere with his slumbers. In fact, he had good habits + and a contented mind. I can see him now walk in at the study door, sit + down by my chair, bring his tail artistically about his feet, and look up + at me with unspeakable happiness in his handsome face. I often thought + that he felt the dumb limitation which denied him the power of language. + But since he was denied speech, he scorned the inarticulate mouthings of + the lower animals. The vulgar mewing and yowling of the cat species was + beneath him; he sometimes uttered a sort of articulate and well-bred + ejaculation, when he wished to call attention to something that he + considered remarkable, or to some want of his, but he never went whining + about. He would sit for hours at a closed window, when he desired to + enter, without a murmur, and when it was opened, he never admitted that he + had been impatient by “bolting” in. Though speech he had not, and the + unpleasant kind of utterance given to his race he would not use, he had a + mighty power of purr to express his measureless content with congenial + society. There was in him a musical organ with stops of varied power and + expression, upon which I have no doubt he could have performed Scarlatti's + celebrated cat's-fugue. + </p> + <p> + Whether Calvin died of old age, or was carried off by one of the diseases + incident to youth, it is impossible to say; for his departure was as quiet + as his advent was mysterious. I only know that he appeared to us in this + world in his perfect stature and beauty, and that after a time, like + Lohengrin, he withdrew. In his illness there was nothing more to be + regretted than in all his blameless life. I suppose there never was an + illness that had more of dignity, and sweetness and resignation in it. It + came on gradually, in a kind of listlessness and want of appetite. An + alarming symptom was his preference for the warmth of a furnace-register + to the lively sparkle of the open woodfire. Whatever pain he suffered, he + bore it in silence, and seemed only anxious not to obtrude his malady. We + tempted him with the delicacies of the season, but it soon became + impossible for him to eat, and for two weeks he ate or drank scarcely + anything. Sometimes he made an effort to take something, but it was + evident that he made the effort to please us. The neighbors—and I am + convinced that the advice of neighbors is never good for anything—suggested + catnip. He would n't even smell it. We had the attendance of an amateur + practitioner of medicine, whose real office was the cure of souls, but + nothing touched his case. He took what was offered, but it was with the + air of one to whom the time for pellets was passed. He sat or lay day + after day almost motionless, never once making a display of those vulgar + convulsions or contortions of pain which are so disagreeable to society. + His favorite place was on the brightest spot of a Smyrna rug by the + conservatory, where the sunlight fell and he could hear the fountain play. + If we went to him and exhibited our interest in his condition, he always + purred in recognition of our sympathy. And when I spoke his name, he + looked up with an expression that said, “I understand it, old fellow, but + it's no use.” He was to all who came to visit him a model of calmness and + patience in affliction. + </p> + <p> + I was absent from home at the last, but heard by daily postal-card of his + failing condition; and never again saw him alive. One sunny morning, he + rose from his rug, went into the conservatory (he was very thin then), + walked around it deliberately, looking at all the plants he knew, and then + went to the bay-window in the dining-room, and stood a long time looking + out upon the little field, now brown and sere, and toward the garden, + where perhaps the happiest hours of his life had been spent. It was a last + look. He turned and walked away, laid himself down upon the bright spot in + the rug, and quietly died. + </p> + <p> + It is not too much to say that a little shock went through the + neighborhood when it was known that Calvin was dead, so marked was his + individuality; and his friends, one after another, came in to see him. + There was no sentimental nonsense about his obsequies; it was felt that + any parade would have been distasteful to him. John, who acted as + undertaker, prepared a candle-box for him and I believe assumed a + professional decorum; but there may have been the usual levity underneath, + for I heard that he remarked in the kitchen that it was the “driest wake + he ever attended.” Everybody, however, felt a fondness for Calvin, and + regarded him with a certain respect. Between him and Bertha there existed + a great friendship, and she apprehended his nature; she used to say that + sometimes she was afraid of him, he looked at her so intelligently; she + was never certain that he was what he appeared to be. + </p> + <p> + When I returned, they had laid Calvin on a table in an upper chamber by an + open window. It was February. He reposed in a candle-box, lined about the + edge with evergreen, and at his head stood a little wine-glass with + flowers. He lay with his head tucked down in his arms,—a favorite + position of his before the fire,—as if asleep in the comfort of his + soft and exquisite fur. It was the involuntary exclamation of those who + saw him, “How natural he looks!” As for myself, I said nothing. John + buried him under the twin hawthorn-trees,—one white and the other + pink,—in a spot where Calvin was fond of lying and listening to the + hum of summer insects and the twitter of birds. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps I have failed to make appear the individuality of character that + was so evident to those who knew him. At any rate, I have set down nothing + concerning him, but the literal truth. He was always a mystery. I did not + know whence he came; I do not know whither he has gone. I would not weave + one spray of falsehood in the wreath I lay upon his grave. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Summer in a Garden and Calvin A Study +Of Character, by Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUMMER IN A GARDEN *** + +***** This file should be named 3135-h.htm or 3135-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/3/3135/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +My Summer in a Garden + +By Charles Dudley Warner + + + + +NOTE: This work was previously published in [Etext #2671] +The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 1 +Project Gutenberg The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner +1warn10.txt or 1warn10.zip + + + + +CONTENTS: + +SUMMER IN A GARDEN +CALVIN A STUDY OF CHARACTER + + + +INTRODUCTORY LETTER + +MY DEAR MR. FIELDS,--I did promise to write an Introduction to these +charming papers but an Introduction,--what is it?--a sort of +pilaster, put upon the face of a building for looks' sake, and +usually flat,--very flat. Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, +which is, as I understand it, a cruel device of architecture, +representing a man or a woman, obliged to hold up upon his or her +head or shoulders a structure which they did not build, and which +could stand just as well without as with them. But an Introduction +is more apt to be a pillar, such as one may see in Baalbec, standing +up in the air all alone, with nothing on it, and with nothing for it +to do. + +But an Introductory Letter is different. There is in that no +formality, no assumption of function, no awkward propriety or dignity +to be sustained. A letter at the opening of a book may be only a +footpath, leading the curious to a favorable point of observation, +and then leaving them to wander as they will. + +Sluggards have been sent to the ant for wisdom; but writers might +better be sent to the spider, not because he works all night, and +watches all day, but because he works unconsciously. He dare not +even bring his work before his own eyes, but keeps it behind him, as +if too much knowledge of what one is doing would spoil the delicacy +and modesty of one's work. + +Almost all graceful and fanciful work is born like a dream, that +comes noiselessly, and tarries silently, and goes as a bubble bursts. +And yet somewhere work must come in,--real, well-considered work. + +Inness (the best American painter of Nature in her moods of real +human feeling) once said, "No man can do anything in art, unless he +has intuitions; but, between whiles, one must work hard in collecting +the materials out of which intuitions are made." The truth could not +be hit off better. Knowledge is the soil, and intuitions are the +flowers which grow up out of it. The soil must be well enriched and +worked. + +It is very plain, or will be to those who read these papers, now +gathered up into this book, as into a chariot for a race, that the +author has long employed his eyes, his ears, and his understanding, +in observing and considering the facts of Nature, and in weaving +curious analogies. Being an editor of one of the oldest daily news- +papers in New England, and obliged to fill its columns day after day +(as the village mill is obliged to render every day so many sacks of +flour or of meal to its hungry customers), it naturally occurred to +him, "Why not write something which I myself, as well as my readers, +shall enjoy? The market gives them facts enough; politics, lies +enough; art, affectations enough; criminal news, horrors enough; +fashion, more than enough of vanity upon vanity, and vexation of +purse. Why should they not have some of those wandering and joyous +fancies which solace my hours?" + +The suggestion ripened into execution. Men and women read, and +wanted more. These garden letters began to blossom every week; and +many hands were glad to gather pleasure from them. A sign it was of +wisdom. In our feverish days it is a sign of health or of +convalescence that men love gentle pleasure, and enjoyments that do +not rush or roar, but distill as the dew. + +The love of rural life, the habit of finding enjoyment in familiar +things, that susceptibility to Nature which keeps the nerve gently +thrilled in her homliest nooks and by her commonest sounds, is worth +a thousand fortunes of money, or its equivalents. + +Every book which interprets the secret lore of fields and gardens, +every essay that brings men nearer to the understanding of the +mysteries which every tree whispers, every brook murmurs, every weed, +even, hints, is a contribution to the wealth and the happiness of our +kind. And if the lines of the writer shall be traced in quaint +characters, and be filled with a grave humor, or break out at times +into merriment, all this will be no presumption against their wisdom +or his goodness. Is the oak less strong and tough because the mosses +and weather-stains stick in all manner of grotesque sketches along +its bark? Now, truly, one may not learn from this little book either +divinity or horticulture; but if he gets a pure happiness, and a +tendency to repeat the happiness from the simple stores of Nature, he +will gain from our friend's garden what Adam lost in his, and what +neither philosophy nor divinity has always been able to restore. + +Wherefore, thanking you for listening to a former letter, which +begged you to consider whether these curious and ingenious papers, +that go winding about like a half-trodden path between the garden and +the field, might not be given in book-form to your million readers, I +remain, yours to command in everything but the writing of an +Introduction, + +HENRY WARD BEECHER. + + + + + +BY WAY OF DEDICATION + +MY DEAR POLLY,--When a few of these papers had appeared in "The +Courant," I was encouraged to continue them by hearing that they had +at least one reader who read them with the serious mind from which +alone profit is to be expected. It was a maiden lady, who, I am +sure, was no more to blame for her singleness than for her age; and +she looked to these honest sketches of experience for that aid which +the professional agricultural papers could not give in the management +of the little bit of garden which she called her own. She may have +been my only disciple; and I confess that the thought of her yielding +a simple faith to what a gainsaying world may have regarded with +levity has contributed much to give an increased practical turn to my +reports of what I know about gardening. The thought that I had +misled a lady, whose age is not her only singularity, who looked to +me for advice which should be not at all the fanciful product of the +Garden of Gull, would give me great pain. I trust that her autumn is +a peaceful one, and undisturbed by either the humorous or the +satirical side of Nature. + +You know that this attempt to tell the truth about one of the most +fascinating occupations in the world has not been without its +dangers. I have received anonymous letters. Some of them were +murderously spelled; others were missives in such elegant phrase and +dress, that danger was only to be apprehended in them by one skilled +in the mysteries of medieval poisoning, when death flew on the wings +of a perfume. One lady, whose entreaty that I should pause had +something of command in it, wrote that my strictures on "pusley " had +so inflamed her husband's zeal, that, in her absence in the country, +he had rooted up all her beds of portulaca (a sort of cousin of the +fat weed), and utterly cast it out. It is, however, to be expected, +that retributive justice would visit the innocent as well as the +guilty of an offending family. This is only another proof of the +wide sweep of moral forces. I suppose that it is as necessary in the +vegetable world as it is elsewhere to avoid the appearance of evil. + +In offering you the fruit of my garden, which has been gathered from +week to week, without much reference to the progress of the crops or +the drought, I desire to acknowledge an influence which has lent half +the charm to my labor. If I were in a court of justice, or +injustice, under oath, I should not like to say, that, either in the +wooing days of spring, or under the suns of the summer solstice, you +had been, either with hoe, rake, or miniature spade, of the least use +in the garden; but your suggestions have been invaluable, and, +whenever used, have been paid for. Your horticultural inquiries have +been of a nature to astonish the vegetable world, if it listened, and +were a constant inspiration to research. There was almost nothing +that you did not wish to know; and this, added to what I wished to +know, made a boundless field for discovery. What might have become +of the garden, if your advice had been followed, a good Providence +only knows; but I never worked there without a consciousness that you +might at any moment come down the walk, under the grape-arbor, +bestowing glances of approval, that were none the worse for not being +critical; exercising a sort of superintendence that elevated +gardening into a fine art; expressing a wonder that was as +complimentary to me as it was to Nature; bringing an atmosphere which +made the garden a region of romance, the soil of which was set apart +for fruits native to climes unseen. It was this bright presence that +filled the garden, as it did the summer, with light, and now leaves +upon it that tender play of color and bloom which is called among the +Alps the after-glow. + +NOOK FARM, HARTFORD, October, 1870 + +C. D. W. + + + + + +PRELIMINARY + + +The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions, as it is the +latest. Mud-pies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So +long as we are dirty, we are pure. Fondness for the ground comes +back to a man after he has run the round of pleasure and business, +eaten dirt, and sown wild-oats, drifted about the world, and taken +the wind of all its moods. The love of digging in the ground (or of +looking on while he pays another to dig) is as sure to come back to +him as he is sure, at last, to go under the ground, and stay there. +To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and +watch, their renewal of life, this is the commonest delight of the +race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do. When Cicero writes +of the pleasures of old age, that of agriculture is chief among them: + +"Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus ego incredibiliter +delector: quae nec ulla impediuntur senectute, et mihi ad sapientis +vitam proxime videntur accedere." (I am driven to Latin because New +York editors have exhausted the English language in the praising of +spring, and especially of the month of May.) + +Let us celebrate the soil. Most men toil that they may own a piece +of it; they measure their success in life by their ability to buy it. +It is alike the passion of the parvenu and the pride of the +aristocrat. Broad acres are a patent of nobility; and no man but +feels more, of a man in the world if he have a bit of ground that he +can call his own. However small it is on the surface, it is four +thousand miles deep; and that is a very handsome property. And there +is a great pleasure in working in the soil, apart from the ownership +of it. The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done +something for the good of the World. He belongs to the producers. +It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's toil, if it be nothing +more than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn. One cultivates a lawn +even with great satisfaction; for there is nothing more beautiful +than grass and turf in our latitude. The tropics may have their +delights, but they have not turf: and the world without turf is a +dreary desert. The original Garden of Eden could not have had such +turf as one sees in England. The Teutonic races all love turf: they +emigrate in the line of its growth. + +To dig in the mellow soil-to dig moderately, for all pleasure should +be taken sparingly--is a great thing. One gets strength out of the +ground as often as one really touches it with a hoe. Antaeus (this +is a classical article) was no doubt an agriculturist; and such a +prize-fighter as Hercules could n't do anything with him till he got +him to lay down his spade, and quit the soil. It is not simply beets +and potatoes and corn and string-beans that one raises in his well- +hoed garden: it is the average of human life. There is life in the +ground; it goes into the seeds; and it also, when it is stirred up, +goes into the man who stirs it. The hot sun on his back as he bends +to his shovel and hoe, or contemplatively rakes the warm and fragrant +loam, is better than much medicine. The buds are coming out on the +bushes round about; the blossoms of the fruit trees begin to show; +the blood is running up the grapevines in streams; you can smell the +Wild flowers on the near bank; and the birds are flying and glancing +and singing everywhere. To the open kitchen door comes the busy +housewife to shake a white something, and stands a moment to look, +quite transfixed by the delightful sights and sounds. Hoeing in the +garden on a bright, soft May day, when you are not obliged to, is +nearly equal to the delight of going trouting. + +Blessed be agriculture! if one does not have too much of it. All +literature is fragrant with it, in a gentlemanly way. At the foot of +the charming olive-covered hills of Tivoli, Horace (not he of +Chappaqua) had a sunny farm: it was in sight of Hadrian's villa, who +did landscape gardening on an extensive scale, and probably did not +get half as much comfort out of it as Horace did from his more simply +tilled acres. We trust that Horace did a little hoeing and farming +himself, and that his verse is not all fraudulent sentiment. In +order to enjoy agriculture, you do not want too much of it, and you +want to be poor enough to have a little inducement to work moderately +yourself. Hoe while it is spring, and enjoy the best anticipations. +It is not much matter if things do not turn out well. + + + + +FIRST WEEK + +Under this modest title, I purpose to write a series of papers, some +of which will be like many papers of garden-seeds, with nothing vital +in them, on the subject of gardening; holding that no man has any +right to keep valuable knowledge to himself, and hoping that those +who come after me, except tax-gatherers and that sort of person, will +find profit in the perusal of my experience. As my knowledge is +constantly increasing, there is likely to be no end to these papers. +They will pursue no orderly system of agriculture or horticulture, +but range from topic to topic, according to the weather and the +progress of the weeds, which may drive me from one corner of the +garden to the other. + +The principal value of a private garden is not understood. It is not +to give the possessor vegetables or fruit (that can be better and +cheaper done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him patience +and philosophy and the higher virtues, -hope deferred and +expectations blighted, leading directly to resignation and sometimes +to alienation. The garden thus becomes a moral agent, a test of +character, as it was in the beginning. I shall keep this central +truth in mind in these articles. I mean to have a moral garden, if +it is not a productive one,--one that shall teach., O my brothers! +O my sisters! the great lessons of life. + +The first pleasant thing about a garden in this latitude is, that you +never know when to set it going. If you want anything to come to +maturity early, you must start it in a hot-house. If you put it out +early, the chances are all in favor of getting it nipped with frost; +for the thermometer will be 90 deg. one day, and go below 32 deg. the +night of the day following. And, if you do not set out plants or sow +seeds early, you fret continually; knowing that your vegetables will +be late, and that, while Jones has early peas, you will be watching +your slow-forming pods. This keeps you in a state of mind. When you +have planted anything early, you are doubtful whether to desire to +see it above ground, or not. If a hot day comes, you long to see the +young plants; but, when a cold north wind brings frost, you tremble +lest the seeds have burst their bands. Your spring is passed in +anxious doubts and fears, which are usually realized; and so a great +moral discipline is worked out for you. + +Now, there is my corn, two or three inches high this 18th of May, and +apparently having no fear of a frost. I was hoeing it this morning +for the first time,--it is not well usually to hoe corn until about +the 18th of May,--when Polly came out to look at the Lima beans. She +seemed to think the poles had come up beautifully. I thought they +did look well: they are a fine set of poles, large and well grown, +and stand straight. They were inexpensive, too. The cheapness came +about from my cutting them on another man's land, and he did not know +it. I have not examined this transaction in the moral light of +gardening; but I know people in this country take great liberties at +the polls. Polly noticed that the beans had not themselves come up +in any proper sense, but that the dirt had got off from them, leaving +them uncovered. She thought it would be well to sprinkle a slight +layer of dirt over them; and I, indulgently, consented. It occurred +to me, when she had gone, that beans always come up that way,--wrong +end first; and that what they wanted was light, and not dirt. + +Observation. --Woman always did, from the first, make a muss in a +garden. + +I inherited with my garden a large patch of raspberries. Splendid +berry the raspberry, when the strawberry has gone. This patch has +grown into such a defiant attitude, that you could not get within +several feet of it. Its stalks were enormous in size, and cast out +long, prickly arms in all directions; but the bushes were pretty much +all dead. I have walked into them a good deal with a pruning-knife; +but it is very much like fighting original sin. The variety is one +that I can recommend. I think it is called Brinckley's Orange. It +is exceedingly prolific, and has enormous stalks. The fruit is also +said to be good; but that does not matter so much, as the plant does +not often bear in this region. The stalks seem to be biennial +institutions; and as they get about their growth one year, and bear +the next year, and then die, and the winters here nearly always kill +them, unless you take them into the house (which is inconvenient if +you have a family of small children), it is very difficult to induce +the plant to flower and fruit. This is the greatest objection there +is to this sort of raspberry. I think of keeping these for +discipline, and setting out some others, more hardy sorts, for fruit. + + + + +SECOND WEEK + +Next to deciding when to start your garden, the most important matter +is, what to put in it. It is difficult to decide what to order for +dinner on a given day: how much more oppressive is it to order in a +lump an endless vista of dinners, so to speak! For, unless your +garden is a boundless prairie (and mine seems to me to be that when I +hoe it on hot days), you must make a selection, from the great +variety of vegetables, of those you will raise in it; and you feel +rather bound to supply your own table from your own garden, and to +eat only as you have sown. + +I hold that no man has a right (whatever his sex, of course) to have +a garden to his own selfish uses. He ought not to please himself, +but every man to please his neighbor. I tried to have a garden that +would give general moral satisfaction. It seemed to me that nobody +could object to potatoes (a most useful vegetable); and I began to +plant them freely. But there was a chorus of protest against them. +"You don't want to take up your ground with potatoes," the neighbors +said; "you can buy potatoes" (the very thing I wanted to avoid doing +is buying things). "What you want is the perishable things that you +cannot get fresh in the market."--"But what kind of perishable +things?" A horticulturist of eminence wanted me to sow lines of +straw-berries and raspberries right over where I had put my potatoes +in drills. I had about five hundred strawberry-plants in another +part of my garden; but this fruit-fanatic wanted me to turn my whole +patch into vines and runners. I suppose I could raise strawberries +enough for all my neighbors; and perhaps I ought to do it. I had a +little space prepared for melons,--muskmelons,--which I showed to an +experienced friend. + +You are not going to waste your ground on muskmelons?" he asked. +"They rarely ripen in this climate thoroughly, before frost." He had +tried for years without luck. I resolved to not go into such a +foolish experiment. But, the next day, another neighbor happened in. +"Ah! I see you are going to have melons. My family would rather give +up anything else in the garden than musk-melons,--of the nutmeg +variety. They are the most grateful things we have on the table." +So there it was. There was no compromise: it was melons, or no +melons, and somebody offended in any case. I half resolved to plant +them a little late, so that they would, and they would n't. But I +had the same difficulty about string-beans (which I detest), and +squash (which I tolerate), and parsnips, and the whole round of green +things. + +I have pretty much come to the conclusion that you have got to put +your foot down in gardening. If I had actually taken counsel of my +friends, I should not have had a thing growing in the garden to-day +but weeds. And besides, while you are waiting, Nature does not wait. +Her mind is made up. She knows just what she will raise; and she has +an infinite variety of early and late. The most humiliating thing to +me about a garden is the lesson it teaches of the inferiority of man. +Nature is prompt, decided, inexhaustible. She thrusts up her plants +with a vigor and freedom that I admire; and the more worthless the +plant, the more rapid and splendid its growth. She is at it early +and late, and all night; never tiring, nor showing the least sign of +exhaustion. + +"Eternal gardening is the price of liberty," is a motto that I should +put over the gateway of my garden, if I had a gate. And yet it is +not wholly true; for there is no liberty in gardening. The man who +undertakes a garden is relentlessly pursued. He felicitates himself +that, when he gets it once planted, he will have a season of rest and +of enjoyment in the sprouting and growing of his seeds. It is a +green anticipation. He has planted a seed that will keep him awake +nights; drive rest from his bones, and sleep from his pillow. Hardly +is the garden planted, when he must begin to hoe it. The weeds have +sprung up all over it in a night. They shine and wave in redundant +life. The docks have almost gone to seed; and their roots go deeper +than conscience. Talk about the London Docks!--the roots of these +are like the sources of the Aryan race. And the weeds are not all. +I awake in the morning (and a thriving garden will wake a person up +two hours before he ought to be out of bed) and think of the +tomato-plants,--the leaves like fine lace-work, owing to black bugs +that skip around, and can't be caught. Somebody ought to get up +before the dew is off (why don't the dew stay on till after a +reasonable breakfast?) and sprinkle soot on the leaves. I wonder if +it is I. Soot is so much blacker than the bugs, that they are +disgusted, and go away. You can't get up too early, if you have a +garden. You must be early due yourself, if you get ahead of the +bugs. I think, that, on the whole, it would be best to sit up all +night, and sleep daytimes. Things appear to go on in the night in +the garden uncommonly. It would be less trouble to stay up than it +is to get up so early. + +I have been setting out some new raspberries, two sorts,--a silver +and a gold color. How fine they will look on the table next year in +a cut-glass dish, the cream being in a ditto pitcher! I set them +four and five feet apart. I set my strawberries pretty well apart +also. The reason is, to give room for the cows to run through when +they break into the garden,--as they do sometimes. A cow needs a +broader track than a locomotive; and she generally makes one. I am +sometimes astonished, to see how big a space in, a flower-bed her +foot will cover. The raspberries are called Doolittle and Golden +Cap. I don't like the name of the first variety, and, if they do +much, shall change it to Silver Top. You never can tell what a thing +named Doolittle will do. The one in the Senate changed color, and +got sour. They ripen badly,--either mildew, or rot on the bush. +They are apt to Johnsonize,--rot on the stem. I shall watch the +Doolittles. + + + + +THIRD WEEK + +I believe that I have found, if not original sin, at least vegetable +total depravity in my garden; and it was there before I went into it. +It is the bunch, or joint, or snakegrass,--whatever it is called. As +I do not know the names of all the weeds and plants, I have to do as +Adam did in his garden,--name things as I find them. This grass has +a slender, beautiful stalk : and when you cut it down) or pull up a +long root of it, you fancy it is got rid of; but in a day or two it +will come up in the same spot in half a dozen vigorous blades. +Cutting down and pulling up is what it thrives on. Extermination +rather helps it. If you follow a slender white root, it will be +found to run under the ground until it meets another slender white +root; and you will soon unearth a network of them, with a knot +somewhere, sending out dozens of sharp-pointed, healthy shoots, every +joint prepared to be an independent life and plant. The only way to +deal with it is to take one part hoe and two parts fingers, and +carefully dig it out, not leaving a joint anywhere. It will take a +little time, say all summer, to dig out thoroughly a small patch; but +if you once dig it out, and keep it out, you will have no further +trouble. + +I have said it was total depravity. Here it is. If you attempt to +pull up and root out any sin in you, which shows on the surface,--if +it does not show, you do not care for it,--you may have noticed how +it runs into an interior network of sins, and an ever-sprouting +branch of them roots somewhere; and that you cannot pull out one +without making a general internal disturbance, and rooting up your +whole being. I suppose it is less trouble to quietly cut them off at +the top--say once a week, on Sunday, when you put on your religious +clothes and face so that no one will see them, and not try to +eradicate the network within. + +Remark.--This moral vegetable figure is at the service of any +clergyman who will have the manliness to come forward and help me at +a day's hoeing on my potatoes. None but the orthodox need apply. + +I, however, believe in the intellectual, if not the moral, qualities +of vegetables, and especially weeds. There was a worthless vine that +(or who) started up about midway between a grape-trellis and a row of +bean-poles, some three feet from each, but a little nearer the +trellis. When it came out of the ground, it looked around to see +what it should do. The trellis was already occupied. The bean-pole +was empty. There was evidently a little the best chance of light, +air, and sole proprietorship on the pole. And the vine started for +the pole, and began to climb it with determination. Here was as +distinct an act of choice, of reason, as a boy exercises when he goes +into a forest, and, looking about, decides which tree he will climb. +And, besides, how did the vine know enough to travel in exactly the +right direction, three feet, to find what it wanted? This is +intellect. The weeds, on the other hand, have hateful moral +qualities. To cut down a weed is, therefore, to do a moral action. +I feel as if I were destroying sin. My hoe becomes an instrument of +retributive justice. I am an apostle of Nature. This view of the +matter lends a dignity to the art of hoeing which nothing else does, +and lifts it into the region of ethics. Hoeing becomes, not a +pastime, but a duty. And you get to regard it so, as the days and +the weeds lengthen. + +Observation.--Nevertheless, what a man needs in gardening is a +cast-iron back,--with a hinge in it. The hoe is an ingenious +instrument, calculated to call out a great deal of strength at a +great disadvantage. + +The striped bug has come, the saddest of the year. He is a moral +double-ender, iron-clad at that. He is unpleasant in two ways. He +burrows in the ground so that you cannot find him, and he flies away +so that you cannot catch him. He is rather handsome, as bugs go, but +utterly dastardly, in that he gnaws the stem of the plant close to +the ground, and ruins it without any apparent advantage to himself. +I find him on the hills of cucumbers (perhaps it will be a +cholera-year, and we shall not want any), the squashes (small loss), +and the melons (which never ripen). The best way to deal with the +striped bug is to sit down by the hills, and patiently watch for him. +If you are spry, you can annoy him. This, however, takes time. It +takes all day and part of the night. For he flieth in darkness, and +wasteth at noonday. If you get up before the dew is off the plants,- +-it goes off very early,--you can sprinkle soot on the plant (soot is +my panacea: if I can get the disease of a plant reduced to the +necessity of soot, I am all right)and soot is unpleasant to the bug. +But the best thing to do is to set a toad to catch the bugs. The +toad at once establishes the most intimate relations with the bug. +It is a pleasure to see such unity among the lower animals. The +difficulty is to make the toad stay and watch the hill. If you know +your toad, it is all right. If you do not, you must build a tight +fence round the plants, which the toad cannot jump over. This, +however, introduces a new element. I find that I have a zoological +garden on my hands. It is an unexpected result of my little +enterprise, which never aspired to the completeness of the Paris +"Jardin des Plantes." + + + + +FOURTH WEEK + +Orthodoxy is at a low ebb. Only two clergymen accepted my offer to +come and help hoe my potatoes for the privilege of using my vegetable +total-depravity figure about the snake-grass, or quack-grass as some +call it; and those two did not bring hoes. There seems to be a lack +of disposition to hoe among our educated clergy. I am bound to say +that these two, however, sat and watched my vigorous combats with the +weeds, and talked most beautifully about the application of the +snake-grass figure. As, for instance, when a fault or sin showed on +the surface of a man, whether, if you dug down, you would find that +it ran back and into the original organic bunch of original sin +within the man. The only other clergyman who came was from out of +town,--a half Universalist, who said he wouldn't give twenty cents +for my figure. He said that the snake-grass was not in my garden +originally, that it sneaked in under the sod, and that it could be +entirely rooted out with industry and patience. I asked the +Universalist-inclined man to take my hoe and try it; but he said he +had n't time, and went away. + +But, jubilate, I have got my garden all hoed the first time! I feel +as if I had put down the rebellion. Only there are guerrillas left +here and there, about the borders and in corners, unsubdued,- Forrest +docks, and Quantrell grass, and Beauregard pig-weeds. This first +hoeing is a gigantic task: it is your first trial of strength with +the never-sleeping forces of Nature. Several times, in its progress, +I was tempted to do as Adam did, who abandoned his garden on account +of the weeds. (How much my mind seems to run upon Adam, as if there +had been only two really moral gardens,--Adam's and mine!) The only +drawback to my rejoicing over the finishing of the first hoeing is, +that the garden now wants hoeing the second time. I suppose, if my +garden were planted in a perfect circle, and I started round it with +a hoe, I should never see an opportunity to rest. The fact is, that +gardening is the old fable of perpetual labor; and I, for one, can +never forgive Adam Sisyphus, or whoever it was, who let in the roots +of discord. I had pictured myself sitting at eve, with my family, in +the shade of twilight, contemplating a garden hoed. Alas! it is a +dream not to be realized in this world. + +My mind has been turned to the subject of fruit and shade trees in a +garden. There are those who say that trees shade the garden too +much, and interfere with the growth of the vegetables. There may be +something in this: but when I go down the potato rows, the rays of +the sun glancing upon my shining blade, the sweat pouring from my +face, I should be grateful for shade. What is a garden for? The +pleasure of man. I should take much more pleasure in a shady garden. +Am I to be sacrificed, broiled, roasted, for the sake of the +increased vigor of a few vegetables? The thing is perfectly absurd. +If I were rich, I think I would have my garden covered with an +awning, so that it would be comfortable to work in it. It might roll +up and be removable, as the great awning of the Roman Coliseum was,-- +not like the Boston one, which went off in a high wind. Another very +good way to do, and probably not so expensive as the awning, would be +to have four persons of foreign birth carry a sort of canopy over you +as you hoed. And there might be a person at each end of the row with +some cool and refreshing drink. Agriculture is still in a very +barbarous stage. I hope to live yet to see the day when I can do my +gardening, as tragedy is done, to slow and soothing music, and +attended by some of the comforts I have named. These things come so +forcibly into my mind sometimes as I work, that perhaps, when a +wandering breeze lifts my straw hat, or a bird lights on a near +currant-bush, and shakes out a full-throated summer song, I almost +expect to find the cooling drink and the hospitable entertainment at +the end of the row. But I never do. There is nothing to be done but +to turn round, and hoe back to the other end. + +Speaking of those yellow squash-bugs, I think I disheartened them by +covering the plants so deep with soot and wood-ashes that they could +not find them; and I am in doubt if I shall ever see the plants +again. But I have heard of another defense against the bugs. Put a +fine wire-screen over each hill, which will keep out the bugs and +admit the rain. I should say that these screens would not cost much +more than the melons you would be likely to get from the vines if you +bought them; but then think of the moral satisfaction of watching the +bugs hovering over the screen, seeing, but unable to reach the tender +plants within. That is worth paying for. + +I left my own garden yesterday, and went over to where Polly was +getting the weeds out of one of her flower-beds. She was working +away at the bed with a little hoe. Whether women ought to have the +ballot or not (and I have a decided opinion on that point, which I +should here plainly give, did I not fear that it would injure my +agricultural influence), 'I am compelled to say that this was rather +helpless hoeing. It was patient, conscientious, even pathetic +hoeing; but it was neither effective nor finished. When completed, +the bed looked somewhat as if a hen had scratched it: there was that +touching unevenness about it. I think no one could look at it and +not be affected. To be sure, Polly smoothed it off with a rake, and +asked me if it was n't nice; and I said it was. It was not a +favorable time for me to explain the difference between puttering +hoeing, and the broad, free sweep of the instrument, which kills the +weeds, spares the plants, and loosens the soil without leaving it in +holes and hills. But, after all, as life is constituted, I think +more of Polly's honest and anxious care of her plants than of the +most finished gardening in the world. + + + + +FIFTH WEEK + +I left my garden for a week, just at the close of the dry spell. A +season of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the +transformation was wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly +jumped forward. The tomatoes which I left slender plants, eaten of +bugs and debating whether they would go backward or forward, had +become stout and lusty, with thick stems and dark leaves, and some of +them had blossomed. The corn waved like that which grows so rank out +of the French-English mixture at Waterloo. The squashes--I will not +speak of the squashes. The most remarkable growth was the asparagus. +There was not a spear above ground when I went away; and now it had +sprung up, and gone to seed, and there were stalks higher than my +head. I am entirely aware of the value of words, and of moral +obligations. When I say that the asparagus had grown six feet in +seven days, I expect and wish to be believed. I am a little +particular about the statement; for, if there is any prize offered +for asparagus at the next agricultural fair, I wish to compete,- +-speed to govern. What I claim is the fastest asparagus. As for +eating purposes, I have seen better. A neighbor of mine, who looked +in at the growth of the bed, said, " Well, he'd be--": but I told him +there was no use of affirming now; he might keep his oath till I +wanted it on the asparagus affidavit. In order to have this sort of +asparagus, you want to manure heavily in the early spring, fork it +in, and top-dress (that sounds technical) with a thick layer of +chloride of sodium: if you cannot get that, common salt will do, and +the neighbors will never notice whether it is the orthodox Na. Cl. +58-5, or not. + +I scarcely dare trust myself to speak of the weeds. They grow as if +the devil was in them. I know a lady, a member of the church, and a +very good sort of woman, considering the subject condition of that +class, who says that the weeds work on her to that extent, that, in +going through her garden, she has the greatest difficulty in keeping +the ten commandments in anything like an unfractured condition. I +asked her which one, but she said, all of them: one felt like +breaking the whole lot. The sort of weed which I most hate (if I can +be said to hate anything which grows in my own garden) is the +"pusley," a fat, ground-clinging, spreading, greasy thing, and the +most propagatious (it is not my fault if the word is not in the +dictionary) plant I know. I saw a Chinaman, who came over with a +returned missionary, and pretended to be converted, boil a lot of it +in a pot, stir in eggs, and mix and eat it with relish, -"Me likee +he." It will be a good thing to keep the Chinamen on when they come +to do our gardening. I only fear they will cultivate it at the +expense of the strawberries and melons. Who can say that other +weeds, which we despise, may not be the favorite food of some remote +people or tribe? We ought to abate our conceit. It is possible that +we destroy in our gardens that which is really of most value in some +other place. Perhaps, in like manner, our faults and vices are +virtues in some remote planet. I cannot see, however, that this +thought is of the slightest value to us here, any more than weeds +are. + +There is another subject which is forced upon my notice. I like +neighbors, and I like chickens; but I do not think they ought to be +united near a garden. Neighbors' hens in your garden are an +annoyance. Even if they did not scratch up the corn, and peck the +strawberries, and eat the tomatoes, it is not pleasant to see them +straddling about in their jerky, high-stepping, speculative manner, +picking inquisitively here and there. It is of no use to tell the +neighbor that his hens eat your tomatoes: it makes no impression on +him, for the tomatoes are not his. The best way is to casually +remark to him that he has a fine lot of chickens, pretty well grown, +and that you like spring chickens broiled. He will take them away at +once. + +The neighbors' small children are also out of place in your garden, +in strawberry and currant time. I hope I appreciate the value of +children. We should soon come to nothing without them, though the +Shakers have the best gardens in the world. Without them the common +school would languish. But the problem is, what to do with them in a +garden. For they are not good to eat, and there is a law against +making away with them. The law is not very well enforced, it is +true; for people do thin them out with constant dosing, paregoric, +and soothing-syrups, and scanty clothing. But I, for one, feel that +it would not be right, aside from the law, to take the life, even of +the smallest child, for the sake of a little fruit, more or less, in +the garden. I may be wrong; but these are my sentiments, and I am +not ashamed of them. When we come, as Bryant says in his "Iliad," to +leave the circus of this life, and join that innumerable caravan +which moves, it will be some satisfaction to us, that we have never, +in the way of gardening, disposed of even the humblest child +unnecessarily. My plan would be to put them into Sunday-schools more +thoroughly, and to give the Sunday-schools an agricultural turn; +teaching the children the sacredness of neighbors' vegetables. I +think that our Sunday-schools do not sufficiently impress upon +children the danger, from snakes and otherwise, of going into the +neighbors' gardens. + + + + +SIXTH WEEK + +Somebody has sent me a new sort of hoe, with the wish that I should +speak favorably of it, if I can consistently. I willingly do so, but +with the understanding that I am to be at liberty to speak just as +courteously of any other hoe which I may receive. If I understand +religious morals, this is the position of the religious press with +regard to bitters and wringing-machines. In some cases, the +responsibility of such a recommendation is shifted upon the wife of +the editor or clergy-man. Polly says she is entirely willing to make +a certificate, accompanied with an affidavit, with regard to this +hoe; but her habit of sitting about the garden walk, on an inverted +flower-pot, while I hoe, some what destroys the practical value of +her testimony. + +As to this hoe, I do not mind saying that it has changed my view of +the desirableness and value of human life. It has, in fact, made +life a holiday to me. It is made on the principle that man is an +upright, sensible, reasonable being, and not a groveling wretch. It +does away with the necessity of the hinge in the back. The handle is +seven and a half feet long. There are two narrow blades, sharp on +both edges, which come together at an obtuse angle in front; and as +you walk along with this hoe before you, pushing and pulling with a +gentle motion, the weeds fall at every thrust and withdrawal, and the +slaughter is immediate and widespread. When I got this hoe I was +troubled with sleepless mornings, pains in the back, kleptomania with +regard to new weeders; when I went into my garden I was always sure +to see something. In this disordered state of mind and body I got +this hoe. The morning after a day of using it I slept perfectly and +late. I regained my respect for the eighth commandment. After two +doses of the hoe in the garden, the weeds entirely disappeared. +Trying it a third morning, I was obliged to throw it over the fence +in order to save from destruction the green things that ought to grow +in the garden. Of course, this is figurative language. What I mean +is, that the fascination of using this hoe is such that you are +sorely tempted to employ it upon your vegetables, after the weeds are +laid low, and must hastily withdraw it, to avoid unpleasant results. +I make this explanation, because I intend to put nothing into these +agricultural papers that will not bear the strictest scientific +investigation; nothing that the youngest child cannot understand and +cry for; nothing that the oldest and wisest men will not need to +study with care. + +I need not add that the care of a garden with this hoe becomes the +merest pastime. I would not be without one for a single night. The +only danger is, that you may rather make an idol of the hoe, and +somewhat neglect your garden in explaining it, and fooling about with +it. I almost think that, with one of these in the hands of an +ordinary day-laborer, you might see at night where he had been +working. + +Let us have peas. I have been a zealous advocate of the birds. I +have rejoiced in their multiplication. I have endured their concerts +at four o'clock in the morning without a murmur. Let them come, I +said, and eat the worms, in order that we, later, may enjoy the +foliage and the fruits of the earth. We have a cat, a magnificent +animal, of the sex which votes (but not a pole-cat),--so large and +powerful that, if he were in the army, he would be called Long Tom. +He is a cat of fine disposition, the most irreproachable morals I +ever saw thrown away in a cat, and a splendid hunter. He spends his +nights, not in social dissipation, but in gathering in rats, mice, +flying-squirrels, and also birds. When he first brought me a bird, I +told him that it was wrong, and tried to convince him, while he was +eating it, that he was doing wrong; for he is a reasonable cat, and +understands pretty much everything except the binomial theorem and +the time down the cycloidal arc. But with no effect. The killing of +birds went on, to my great regret and shame. + +The other day I went to my garden to get a mess of peas. I had seen, +the day before, that they were just ready to pick. How I had lined +the ground, planted, hoed, bushed them! The bushes were very fine,-- +seven feet high, and of good wood. How I had delighted in the +growing, the blowing, the podding! What a touching thought it was +that they had all podded for me! When I went to pick them, I found +the pods all split open, and the peas gone. The dear little birds, +who are so fond of the strawberries, had eaten them all. Perhaps +there were left as many as I planted: I did not count them. I made a +rapid estimate of the cost of the seed, the interest of the ground, +the price of labor, the value of the bushes, the anxiety of weeks of +watchfulness. I looked about me on the face of Nature. The wind +blew from the south so soft and treacherous! A thrush sang in the +woods so deceitfully! All Nature seemed fair. But who was to give +me back my peas? The fowls of the air have peas; but what has man? + +I went into the house. I called Calvin. (That is the name of our +cat, given him on account of his gravity, morality, and uprightness. +We never familiarly call him John). I petted Calvin. I lavished +upon him an enthusiastic fondness. I told him that he had no fault; +that the one action that I had called a vice was an heroic exhibition +of regard for my interests. I bade him go and do likewise +continually. I now saw how much better instinct is than mere +unguided reason. Calvin knew. If he had put his opinion into +English (instead of his native catalogue), it would have been: "You +need not teach your grandmother to suck eggs." It was only the round +of Nature. The worms eat a noxious something in the ground. The +birds eat the worms. Calvin eats the birds. We eat--no, we do not +eat Calvin. There the chain stops. When you ascend the scale of +being, and come to an animal that is, like ourselves, inedible) you +have arrived at a result where you can rest. Let us respect the cat. +He completes an edible chain. + +I have little heart to discuss methods of raising peas. It occurs to +me that I can have an iron peabush, a sort of trellis, through which +I could discharge electricity at frequent intervals, and electrify +the birds to death when they alight: for they stand upon my beautiful +brush in order to pick out the peas. An apparatus of this kind, with +an operator, would cost, however, about as much as the peas. A +neighbor suggests that I might put up a scarecrow near the vines, +which would keep the birds away. I am doubtful about it: the birds +are too much accustomed to seeing a person in poor clothes in the +garden to care much for that. Another neighbor suggests that the +birds do not open the pods; that a sort of blast, apt to come after +rain, splits the pods, and the birds then eat the peas. It may be +so. There seems to be complete unity of action between the blast and +the birds. But, good neighbors, kind friends, I desire that you will +not increase, by talk, a disappointment which you cannot assuage. + + + + +SEVENTH WEEK + +A garden is an awful responsibility. You never know what you may be +aiding to grow in it. I heard a sermon, not long ago, in which the +preacher said that the Christian, at the moment of his becoming one, +was as perfect a Christian as he would be if he grew to be an arch- +angel; that is, that he would not change thereafter at all, but only +develop. I do not know whether this is good theology, or not; and I +hesitate to support it by an illustration from my garden, especially +as I do not want to run the risk of propagating error, and I do not +care to give away these theological comparisons to clergymen who make +me so little return in the way of labor. But I find, in dissecting a +pea-blossom, that hidden in the center of it is a perfect miniature +pea-pod, with the peas all in it,--as perfect a pea-pod as it will +ever be, only it is as tiny as a chatelaine ornament. Maize and some +other things show the same precocity. This confirmation of the +theologic theory is startling, and sets me meditating upon the moral +possibilities of my garden. I may find in it yet the cosmic egg. + +And, speaking of moral things, I am half determined to petition the +Ecumenical Council to issue a bull of excommunication against +"pusley." Of all the forms which " error " has taken in this world, +I think that is about the worst. In the Middle Ages the monks in St. +Bernard's ascetic community at Clairvaux excommunicated a vineyard +which a less rigid monk had planted near, so that it bore nothing. +In 1120 a bishop of Laon excommunicated the caterpillars in his +diocese; and, the following year, St. Bernard excommunicated the +flies in the Monastery of Foigny; and in 1510 the ecclesiastical +court pronounced the dread sentence against the rats of Autun, Macon, +and Lyons. These examples are sufficient precedents. It will be +well for the council, however, not to publish the bull either just +before or just after a rain; for nothing can kill this pestilent +heresy when the ground is wet. + +It is the time of festivals. Polly says we ought to have one,--a +strawberry-festival. She says they are perfectly delightful: it is +so nice to get people together!--this hot weather. They create such +a good feeling! I myself am very fond of festivals. I always go,-- +when I can consistently. Besides the strawberries, there are ice +creams and cake and lemonade, and that sort of thing: and one always +feels so well the next day after such a diet! But as social +reunions, if there are good things to eat, nothing can be pleasanter; +and they are very profitable, if you have a good object. I agreed +that we ought to have a festival; but I did not know what object to +devote it to. We are not in need of an organ, nor of any pulpit- +cushions. I do not know that they use pulpit-cushions now as much as +they used to, when preachers had to have something soft to pound, so +that they would not hurt their fists. I suggested pocket +handkerchiefs, and flannels for next winter. But Polly says that +will not do at all. You must have some charitable object,--something +that appeals to a vast sense of something; something that it will be +right to get up lotteries and that sort of thing for. I suggest a +festival for the benefit of my garden; and this seems feasible. In +order to make everything pass off pleasantly, invited guests will +bring or send their own strawberries and cream, which I shall be +happy to sell to them at a slight advance. There are a great many +improvements which the garden needs; among them a sounding-board, so +that the neighbors' children can hear when I tell them to get a +little farther off from the currant-bushes. I should also like a +selection from the ten commandments, in big letters, posted up +conspicuously, and a few traps, that will detain, but not maim, for +the benefit of those who cannot read. But what is most important is, +that the ladies should crochet nets to cover over the strawberries. +A good-sized, well-managed festival ought to produce nets enough to +cover my entire beds; and I can think of no other method of +preserving the berries from the birds next year. I wonder how many +strawberries it would need for a festival "and whether they would +cost more than the nets. + +I am more and more impressed, as the summer goes on, with the +inequality of man's fight with Nature; especially in a civilized +state. In savagery, it does not much matter; for one does not take a +square hold, and put out his strength, but rather accommodates +himself to the situation, and takes what he can get, without raising +any dust, or putting himself into everlasting opposition. But the +minute he begins to clear a spot larger than he needs to sleep in for +a night, and to try to have his own way in the least, Nature is at +once up, and vigilant, and contests him at every step with all her +ingenuity and unwearied vigor. This talk of subduing Nature is +pretty much nonsense. I do not intend to surrender in the midst of +the summer campaign, yet I cannot but think how much more peaceful my +relations would now be with the primal forces, if I had, let Nature +make the garden according to her own notion. (This is written with +the thermometer at ninety degrees, and the weeds starting up with a +freshness and vigor, as if they had just thought of it for the first +time, and had not been cut down and dragged out every other day since +the snow went off.) + +We have got down the forests, and exterminated savage beasts; but +Nature is no more subdued than before: she only changes her tactics,- +-uses smaller guns, so to speak. She reenforces herself with a +variety of bugs, worms, and vermin, and weeds, unknown to the savage +state, in order to make war upon the things of our planting; and +calls in the fowls of the air, just as we think the battle is won, to +snatch away the booty. When one gets almost weary of the struggle, +she is as fresh as at the beginning,--just, in fact, ready for the +fray. I, for my part, begin to appreciate the value of frost and +snow; for they give the husbandman a little peace, and enable him, +for a season, to contemplate his incessant foe subdued. I do not +wonder that the tropical people, where Nature never goes to sleep, +give it up, and sit in lazy acquiescence. + +Here I have been working all the season to make a piece of lawn. It +had to be graded and sowed and rolled; and I have been shaving it +like a barber. When it was soft, everything had a tendency to go on +to it,--cows, and especially wandering hackmen. Hackmen (who are a +product of civilization) know a lawn when they see it. They rather +have a fancy for it, and always try to drive so as to cut the sharp +borders of it, and leave the marks of their wheels in deep ruts of +cut-up, ruined turf. The other morning, I had just been running the +mower over the lawn, and stood regarding its smoothness, when I +noticed one, two, three puffs of fresh earth in it; and, hastening +thither, I found that the mole had arrived to complete the work of +the hackmen. In a half-hour he had rooted up the ground like a pig. +I found his run-ways. I waited for him with a spade. He did not +appear; but, the next time I passed by, he had ridged the ground in +all directions,--a smooth, beautiful animal, with fur like silk, if +you could only catch him. He appears to enjoy the lawn as much as +the hackmen did. He does not care how smooth it is. He is +constantly mining, and ridging it up. I am not sure but he could be +countermined. I have half a mind to put powder in here and there, +and blow the whole thing into the air. Some folks set traps for the +mole; but my moles never seem to go twice in the same place. I am +not sure but it would bother them to sow the lawn with interlacing +snake-grass (the botanical name of which, somebody writes me, is +devil-grass: the first time I have heard that the Devil has a +botanical name), which would worry them, if it is as difficult for +them to get through it as it is for me. + +I do not speak of this mole in any tone of complaint. He is only a +part of the untiring resources which Nature brings against the humble +gardener. I desire to write nothing against him which I should wish +to recall at the last,--nothing foreign to the spirit of that +beautiful saying of the dying boy, " He had no copy-book, which, +dying, he was sorry he had blotted." + + + + + +EIGHTH WEEK + +My garden has been visited by a High Official Person. President +Gr-nt was here just before the Fourth, getting his mind quiet for +that event by a few days of retirement, staying with a friend at the +head of our street; and I asked him if he wouldn't like to come down +our way Sunday afternoon and take a plain, simple look at my garden, +eat a little lemon ice-cream and jelly-cake, and drink a glass of +native lager-beer. I thought of putting up over my gate, " Welcome +to the Nation's Gardener; " but I hate nonsense, and did n't do it. +I, however, hoed diligently on Saturday: what weeds I could n't +remove I buried, so that everything would look all right. The +borders of my drive were trimmed with scissors; and everything that +could offend the Eye of the Great was hustled out of the way. + +In relating this interview, it must be distinctly understood that I +am not responsible for anything that the President said; nor is he, +either. He is not a great speaker; but whatever he says has an +esoteric and an exoteric meaning; and some of his remarks about my +vegetables went very deep. I said nothing to him whatever about +politics, at which he seemed a good deal surprised: he said it was +the first garden he had ever been in, with a man, when the talk was +not of appointments. I told him that this was purely vegetable; +after which he seemed more at his ease, and, in fact, delighted with +everything he saw. He was much interested in my strawberry-beds, +asked what varieties I had, and requested me to send him some seed. +He said the patent-office seed was as difficult to raise as an +appropriation for the St. Domingo business. The playful bean seemed +also to please him; and he said he had never seen such impressive +corn and potatoes at this time of year; that it was to him an +unexpected pleasure, and one of the choicest memories that he should +take away with him of his visit to New England. + +N. B. --That corn and those potatoes which General Gr-nt looked at I +will sell for seed, at five dollars an ear, and one dollar a potato. +Office-seekers need not apply. + +Knowing the President's great desire for peas, I kept him from that +part of the garden where the vines grow. But they could not be +concealed. Those who say that the President is not a man easily +moved are knaves or fools. When he saw my pea-pods, ravaged by the +birds, he burst into tears. A man of war, he knows the value of +peas. I told him they were an excellent sort, "The Champion of +England." As quick as a flash he said, "Why don't you call them 'The +Reverdy Johnson'?" + +It was a very clever bon-mot; but I changed the subject. + +The sight of my squashes, with stalks as big as speaking-trumpets, +restored the President to his usual spirits. He said the summer +squash was the most ludicrous vegetable he knew. It was nearly all +leaf and blow, with only a sickly, crook-necked fruit after a mighty +fuss. It reminded him of the member of Congress from...; but I +hastened to change the subject. + +As we walked along, the keen eye of the President rested upon some +handsome sprays of "pusley," which must have grown up since Saturday +night. It was most fortunate; for it led his Excellency to speak of +the Chinese problem. He said he had been struck with one, coupling +of the Chinese and the "pusley" in one of my agricultural papers; and +it had a significance more far-reaching than I had probably supposed. +He had made the Chinese problem a special study. He said that I was +right in saying that "pusley" was the natural food of the Chinaman, +and that where the "pusley" was, there would the Chinaman be also. +For his part, he welcomed the Chinese emigration: we needed the +Chinaman in our gardens to eat the "pusley; "and he thought the whole +problem solved by this simple consideration. To get rid of rats and +"pusley," he said, was a necessity of our civilization. He did not +care so much about the shoe-business; he did not think that the +little Chinese shoes that he had seen would be of service in the +army: but the garden-interest was quite another affair. We want to +make a garden of our whole country: the hoe, in the hands of a man +truly great, he was pleased to say, was mightier than the pen. He +presumed that General B-tl-r had never taken into consideration the +garden-question, or he would not assume the position he does with +regard to the Chinese emigration. He would let the Chinese come, +even if B-tl-r had to leave, I thought he was going to say, but I +changed the subject. + +During our entire garden interview (operatically speaking, the +garden-scene), the President was not smoking. I do not know how the +impression arose that he "uses tobacco in any form;" for I have seen +him several times, and he was not smoking. Indeed, I offered him a +Connecticut six; but he wittily said that he did not like a weed in a +garden,--a remark which I took to have a personal political bearing, +and changed the subject. + +The President was a good deal surprised at the method and fine +appearance of my garden, and to learn that I had the sole care of it. +He asked me if I pursued an original course, or whether I got my +ideas from writers on the subject. I told him that I had had no time +to read anything on the subject since I began to hoe, except +"Lothair," from which I got my ideas of landscape gardening; and that +I had worked the garden entirely according to my own notions, except +that I had borne in mind his injunction, "to fight it out on this +line if"--The President stopped me abruptly, and said it was +unnecessary to repeat that remark: he thought he had heard it before. +Indeed, he deeply regretted that he had ever made it. Sometimes, he +said, after hearing it in speeches, and coming across it in +resolutions, and reading it in newspapers, and having it dropped +jocularly by facetious politicians, who were boring him for an +office, about twenty-five times a day, say for a month, it would get +to running through his head, like the "shoo-fly" song which B-tl-r +sings in the House, until it did seem as if he should go distracted. +He said, no man could stand that kind of sentence hammering on his +brain for years. + +The President was so much pleased with my management of the garden, +that he offered me (at least, I so understood him) the position of +head gardener at the White House, to have care of the exotics. I +told him that I thanked him, but that I did not desire any foreign +appointment. I had resolved, when the administration came in, not to +take an appointment; and I had kept my resolution. As to any home +office, I was poor, but honest; and, of course, it would be useless +for me to take one. The President mused a moment, and then smiled, +and said he would see what could be done for me. I did not change +the subject; but nothing further was said by General Gr-nt. + +The President is a great talker (contrary to the general impression); +but I think he appreciated his quiet hour in my garden. He said it +carried him back to his youth farther than anything he had seen +lately. He looked forward with delight to the time when he could +again have his private garden, grow his own lettuce and tomatoes, and +not have to get so much "sarce" from Congress. + +The chair in which the President sat, while declining to take a glass +of lager I have had destroyed, in order that no one may sit in it. +It was the only way to save it, if I may so speak. It would have +been impossible to keep it from use by any precautions. There are +people who would have sat in it, if the seat had been set with iron +spikes. Such is the adoration of Station. + + + + +NINTH WEEK + +I am more and more impressed with the moral qualities of vegetables, +and contemplate forming a science which shall rank with comparative +anatomy and comparative philology,--the science of comparative +vegetable morality. We live in an age of protoplasm. And, if +life-matter is essentially the same in all forms of life, I purpose +to begin early, and ascertain the nature of the plants for which I am +responsible. I will not associate with any vegetable which is +disreputable, or has not some quality that can contribute to my moral +growth. I do not care to be seen much with the squashes or the dead- +beets. Fortunately I can cut down any sorts I do not like with the +hoe, and, probably, commit no more sin in so doing than the +Christians did in hewing down the Jews in the Middle Ages. + +This matter of vegetable rank has not been at all studied as it +should be. Why do we respect some vegetables and despise others, +when all of them come to an equal honor or ignominy on the table? +The bean is a graceful, confiding, engaging vine; but you never can +put beans into poetry, nor into the highest sort of prose. There is +no dignity in the bean. Corn, which, in my garden, grows alongside +the bean, and, so far as I can see, with no affectation of +superiority, is, however, the child of song. It waves in all +literature. But mix it with beans, and its high tone is gone. +Succotash is vulgar. It is the bean in it. The bean is a vulgar +vegetable, without culture, or any flavor of high society among +vegetables. Then there is the cool cucumber, like so many people, +good for nothing when it is ripe and the wildness has gone out of it. +How inferior in quality it is to the melon, which grows upon a +similar vine, is of a like watery consistency, but is not half so +valuable! The cucumber is a sort of low comedian in a company where +the melon is a minor gentleman. I might also contrast the celery +with the potato. The associations are as opposite as the dining-room +of the duchess and the cabin of the peasant. I admire the potato, +both in vine and blossom; but it is not aristocratic. I began +digging my potatoes, by the way, about the 4th of July; and I fancy I +have discovered the right way to do it. I treat the potato just as I +would a cow. I do not pull them up, and shake them out, and destroy +them; but I dig carefully at the side of the hill, remove the fruit +which is grown, leaving the vine undisturbed: and my theory is, that +it will go on bearing, and submitting to my exactions, until the +frost cuts it down. It is a game that one would not undertake with a +vegetable of tone. + +The lettuce is to me a most interesting study. Lettuce is like +conversation: it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you +scarcely notice the bitter in it. Lettuce, like most talkers, is, +however, apt to run rapidly to seed. Blessed is that sort which +comes to a head, and so remains, like a few people I know; growing +more solid and satisfactory and tender at the same time, and whiter +at the center, and crisp in their maturity. Lettuce, like conver- +sation, requires a good deal of oil to avoid friction, and keep the +company smooth; a pinch of attic salt; a dash of pepper; a quantity +of mustard and vinegar, by all means, but so mixed that you will +notice no sharp contrasts; and a trifle of sugar. You can put +anything, and the more things the better, into salad, as into a +conversation; but everything depends upon the skill of mixing. I +feel that I am in the best society when I am with lettuce. It is in +the select circle of vegetables. The tomato appears well on the +table; but you do not want to ask its origin. It is a most agreeable +parvenu. Of course, I have said nothing about the berries. They +live in another and more ideal region; except, perhaps, the currant. +Here we see, that, even among berries, there are degrees of breeding. +The currant is well enough, clear as truth, and exquisite in color; +but I ask you to notice how far it is from the exclusive hauteur of +the aristocratic strawberry, and the native refinement of the quietly +elegant raspberry. + +I do not know that chemistry, searching for protoplasm, is able to +discover the tendency of vegetables. It can only be found out by +outward observation. I confess that I am suspicious of the bean, for +instance. There are signs in it of an unregulated life. I put up +the most attractive sort of poles for my Limas. They stand high and +straight, like church-spires, in my theological garden,--lifted up; +and some of them have even budded, like Aaron's rod. No church- +steeple in a New England village was ever better fitted to draw to it +the rising generation on Sunday, than those poles to lift up my beans +towards heaven. Some of them did run up the sticks seven feet, and +then straggled off into the air in a wanton manner; but more than +half of them went gallivanting off to the neighboring grape-trellis, +and wound their tendrils with the tendrils of the grape, with a +disregard of the proprieties of life which is a satire upon human +nature. And the grape is morally no better. I think the ancients, +who were not troubled with the recondite mystery of protoplasm, were +right in the mythic union of Bacchus and Venus. + +Talk about the Darwinian theory of development, and the principle of +natural selection! I should like to see a garden let to run in +accordance with it. If I had left my vegetables and weeds to a free +fight, in which the strongest specimens only should come to maturity, +and the weaker go to the wall, I can clearly see that I should have +had a pretty mess of it. It would have been a scene of passion and +license and brutality. The "pusley" would have strangled the +strawberry; the upright corn, which has now ears to hear the guilty +beating of the hearts of the children who steal the raspberries, +would have been dragged to the earth by the wandering bean; the +snake-grass would have left no place for the potatoes under ground; +and the tomatoes would have been swamped by the lusty weeds. With a +firm hand, I have had to make my own "natural selection." Nothing +will so well bear watching as a garden, except a family of children +next door. Their power of selection beats mine. If they could read +half as well as they can steal awhile away, I should put up a notice, +"Children, beware! There is Protoplasm here." But I suppose it would +have no effect. I believe they would eat protoplasm as quick as +anything else, ripe or green. I wonder if this is going to be a +cholera-year. Considerable cholera is the only thing that would let +my apples and pears ripen. Of course I do not care for the fruit; +but I do not want to take the responsibility of letting so much +"life-matter," full of crude and even wicked vegetable-human +tendencies, pass into the composition of the neighbors' children, +some of whom may be as immortal as snake-grass. There ought to be a +public meeting about this, and resolutions, and perhaps a clambake. +At least, it ought to be put into the catechism, and put in strong. + + + + +TENTH WEEK + +I think I have discovered the way to keep peas from the birds. I +tried the scarecrow plan, in a way which I thought would outwit the +shrewdest bird. The brain of the bird is not large; but it is all +concentrated on one object, and that is the attempt to elude the +devices of modern civilization which injure his chances of food. I +knew that, if I put up a complete stuffed man, the bird would detect +the imitation at once: the perfection of the thing would show him +that it was a trick. People always overdo the matter when they +attempt deception. I therefore hung some loose garments, of a bright +color, upon a rake-head, and set them up among the vines. The +supposition was, that the bird would think there was an effort to +trap him, that there was a man behind, holding up these garments, and +would sing, as he kept at a distance, "You can't catch me with any +such double device." The bird would know, or think he knew, that I +would not hang up such a scare, in the expectation that it would pass +for a man, and deceive a bird; and he would therefore look for a +deeper plot. I expected to outwit the bird by a duplicity that was +simplicity itself I may have over-calculated the sagacity and +reasoning power of the bird. At any rate, I did over-calculate the +amount of peas I should gather. + +But my game was only half played. In another part of the garden were +other peas, growing and blowing. To-these I took good care not to +attract the attention of the bird by any scarecrow whatever! I left +the old scarecrow conspicuously flaunting above the old vines; and by +this means I hope to keep the attention of the birds confined to that +side of the garden. I am convinced that this is the true use of a +scarecrow: it is a lure, and not a warning. If you wish to save men +from any particular vice, set up a tremendous cry of warning about +some other; and they will all give their special efforts to the one +to which attention is called. This profound truth is about the only +thing I have yet realized out of my pea-vines. + +However, the garden does begin to yield. I know of nothing that +makes one feel more complacent, in these July days, than to have his +vegetables from his own garden. What an effect it has on the +market-man and the butcher! It is a kind of declaration of +independence. The market-man shows me his peas and beets and +tomatoes, and supposes he shall send me out some with the meat. "No, +I thank you," I say carelessly; "I am raising my own this year." +Whereas I have been wont to remark, "Your vegetables look a little +wilted this weather," I now say, "What a fine lot of vegetables +you've got!" When a man is not going to buy, he can afford to be +generous. To raise his own vegetables makes a person feel, somehow, +more liberal. I think the butcher is touched by the influence, and +cuts off a better roast for me, The butcher is my friend when he sees +that I am not wholly dependent on him. + +It is at home, however, that the effect is most marked, though +sometimes in a way that I had not expected. I have never read of any +Roman supper that seemed to me equal to a dinner of my own +vegetables; when everything on the table is the product of my own +labor, except the clams, which I have not been able to raise yet, and +the chickens, which have withdrawn from the garden just when they +were most attractive. It is strange what a taste you suddenly have +for things you never liked before. The squash has always been to me +a dish of contempt; but I eat it now as if it were my best friend. I +never cared for the beet or the bean; but I fancy now that I could +eat them all, tops and all, so completely have they been transformed +by the soil in which they grew. I think the squash is less squashy, +and the beet has a deeper hue of rose, for my care of them. + +I had begun to nurse a good deal of pride in presiding over a table +whereon was the fruit of my honest industry. But woman!--John Stuart +Mill is right when he says that we do not know anything about women. +Six thousand years is as one day with them. I thought I had +something to do with those vegetables. But when I saw Polly seated +at her side of the table, presiding over the new and susceptible +vegetables, flanked by the squash and the beans, and smiling upon the +green corn and the new potatoes, as cool as the cucumbers which lay +sliced in ice before her, and when she began to dispense the fresh +dishes, I saw at once that the day of my destiny was over. You would +have thought that she owned all the vegetables, and had raised them +all from their earliest years. Such quiet, vegetable airs! Such +gracious appropriation! At length I said,-- + +"Polly, do you know who planted that squash, or those squashes?" + +"James, I suppose." + +"Well, yes, perhaps James did plant them, to a certain extent. But +who hoed them?" + +"We did." + +"We did!" I said, in the most sarcastic manner. + +And I suppose we put on the sackcloth and ashes, when the striped bug +came at four o'clock A.M., and we watched the tender leaves, and +watered night and morning the feeble plants. I tell you, Polly," +said I, uncorking the Bordeaux raspberry vinegar, "there is not a pea +here that does not represent a drop of moisture wrung from my brow, +not a beet that does not stand for a back-ache, not a squash that has +not caused me untold anxiety; and I did hope--but I will say no +more." + +Observation. --In this sort of family discussion, "I will say no +more" is the most effective thing you can close up with. + +I am not an alarmist. I hope I am as cool as anybody this hot +summer. But I am quite ready to say to Polly, or any other woman, +"You can have the ballot; only leave me the vegetables, or, what is +more important, the consciousness of power in vegetables." I see how +it is. Woman is now supreme in the house. She already stretches out +her hand to grasp the garden. She will gradually control everything. +Woman is one of the ablest and most cunning creatures who have ever +mingled in human affairs. I understand those women who say they +don't want the ballot. They purpose to hold the real power while we +go through the mockery of making laws. They want the power without +the responsibility. (Suppose my squash had not come up, or my beans- +-as they threatened at one time--had gone the wrong way: where would +I have been?) We are to be held to all the responsibilities. Woman +takes the lead in all the departments, leaving us politics only. And +what is politics? Let me raise the vegetables of a nation, says +Polly, and I care not who makes its politics. Here I sat at the +table, armed with the ballot, but really powerless among my own +vegetables. While we are being amused by the ballot, woman is +quietly taking things into her own hands. + + + + +ELEVENTH WEEK + +Perhaps, after all, it is not what you get out of a garden, but what +you put into it, that is the most remunerative. What is a man? A +question frequently asked, and never, so far as I know, +satisfactorily answered. He commonly spends his seventy years, if so +many are given him, in getting ready to enjoy himself. How many +hours, how many minutes, does one get of that pure content which is +happiness? I do not mean laziness, which is always discontent; but +that serene enjoyment, in which all the natural senses have easy +play, and the unnatural ones have a holiday. There is probably +nothing that has such a tranquilizing effect, and leads into such +content as gardening. By gardening, I do not mean that insane desire +to raise vegetables which some have; but the philosophical occupation +of contact with the earth, and companionship with gently growing +things and patient processes; that exercise which soothes the spirit, +and develops the deltoid muscles. + +In half an hour I can hoe myself right away from this world, as we +commonly see it, into a large place, where there are no obstacles. +What an occupation it is for thought! The mind broods like a hen on +eggs. The trouble is, that you are not thinking about anything, but +are really vegetating like the plants around you. I begin to know +what the joy of the grape-vine is in running up the trellis, which is +similar to that of the squirrel in running up a tree. We all have +something in our nature that requires contact with the earth. In the +solitude of garden-labor, one gets into a sort of communion with the +vegetable life, which makes the old mythology possible. For +instance, I can believe that the dryads are plenty this summer: my +garden is like an ash-heap. Almost all the moisture it has had in +weeks has been the sweat of honest industry. + +The pleasure of gardening in these days, when the thermometer is at +ninety, is one that I fear I shall not be able to make intelligible +to my readers, many of whom do not appreciate the delight of soaking +in the sunshine. I suppose that the sun, going through a man, as it +will on such a day, takes out of him rheumatism, consumption, and +every other disease, except sudden death--from sun-stroke. But, +aside from this, there is an odor from the evergreens, the hedges, +the various plants and vines, that is only expressed and set afloat +at a high temperature, which is delicious; and, hot as it may be, a +little breeze will come at intervals, which can be heard in the +treetops, and which is an unobtrusive benediction. I hear a quail or +two whistling in the ravine; and there is a good deal of fragmentary +conversation going on among the birds, even on the warmest days. The +companionship of Calvin, also, counts for a good deal. He usually +attends me, unless I work too long in one place; sitting down on the +turf, displaying the ermine of his breast, and watching my movements +with great intelligence. He has a feline and genuine love for the +beauties of Nature, and will establish himself where there is a good +view, and look on it for hours. He always accompanies us when we go +to gather the vegetables, seeming to be desirous to know what we are +to have for dinner. He is a connoisseur in the garden; being fond of +almost all the vegetables, except the cucumber,--a dietetic hint to +man. I believe it is also said that the pig will not eat tobacco. +These are important facts. It is singular, however, that those who +hold up the pigs as models to us never hold us up as models to the +pigs. + +I wish I knew as much about natural history and the habits of animals +as Calvin does. He is the closest observer I ever saw; and there are +few species of animals on the place that he has not analyzed. I +think he has, to use a euphemism very applicable to him, got outside +of every one of them, except the toad. To the toad he is entirely +indifferent; but I presume he knows that the toad is the most useful +animal in the garden. I think the Agricultural Society ought to +offer a prize for the finest toad. When Polly comes to sit in the +shade near my strawberry-beds, to shell peas, Calvin is always lying +near in apparent obliviousness; but not the slightest unusual sound +can be made in the bushes, that he is not alert, and prepared to +investigate the cause of it. It is this habit of observation, so +cultivated, which has given him such a trained mind, and made him so +philosophical. It is within the capacity of even the humblest of us +to attain this. + +And, speaking of the philosophical temper, there is no class of men +whose society is more to be desired for this quality than that of +plumbers. They are the most agreeable men I know; and the boys in +the business begin to be agreeable very early. I suspect the secret +of it is, that they are agreeable by the hour. In the driest days, +my fountain became disabled: the pipe was stopped up. A couple of +plumbers, with the implements of their craft, came out to view the +situation. There was a good deal of difference of opinion about +where the stoppage was. I found the plumbers perfectly willing to +sit down and talk about it,--talk by the hour. Some of their guesses +and remarks were exceedingly ingenious; and their general +observations on other subjects were excellent in their way, and could +hardly have been better if they had been made by the job. The work +dragged a little, as it is apt to do by the hour. The plumbers had +occasion to make me several visits. Sometimes they would find, upon +arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool; and one +would go back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his +comrade would await his return with the most exemplary patience, and +sit down and talk,--always by the hour. I do not know but it is a +habit to have something wanted at the shop. They seemed to me very +good workmen, and always willing to stop and talk about the job, or +anything else, when I went near them. Nor had they any of that +impetuous hurry that is said to be the bane of our American +civilization. To their credit be it said, that I never observed +anything of it in them. They can afford to wait. Two of them will +sometimes wait nearly half a day while a comrade goes for a tool. +They are patient and philosophical. It is a great pleasure to meet +such men. One only wishes there was some work he could do for them +by the hour. There ought to be reciprocity. I think they have very +nearly solved the problem of Life: it is to work for other people, +never for yourself, and get your pay by the hour. You then have no +anxiety, and little work. If you do things by the job, you are +perpetually driven: the hours are scourges. If you work by the hour, +you gently sail on the stream of Time, which is always bearing you on +to the haven of Pay, whether you make any effort, or not. Working by +the hour tends to make one moral. A plumber working by the job, +trying to unscrew a rusty, refractory nut, in a cramped position, +where the tongs continually slipped off, would swear; but I never +heard one of them swear, or exhibit the least impatience at such a +vexation, working by the hour. Nothing can move a man who is paid by +the hour. How sweet the flight of time seems to his calm mind! + + + + +TWELFTH WEEK + +Mr. Horace Greeley, the introduction of whose name confers an honor +upon this page (although I ought to say that it is used entirely +without his consent), is my sole authority in agriculture. In +politics I do not dare to follow him; but in agriculture he is +irresistible. When, therefore, I find him advising Western farmers +not to hill up their corn, I think that his advice must be political. +You must hill up your corn. People always have hilled up their corn. +It would take a constitutional amendment to change the practice, that +has pertained ever since maize was raised. "It will stand the +drought better," says Mr. Greeley, "if the ground is left level." I +have corn in my garden, ten and twelve feet high, strong and lusty, +standing the drought like a grenadier; and it is hilled. In advising +this radical change, Mr. Greeley evidently has a political purpose. +He might just as well say that you should not hill beans, when +everybody knows that a "hill of beans" is one of the most expressive +symbols of disparagement. When I become too lazy to hill my corn, I, +too, shall go into politics. + +I am satisfied that it is useless to try to cultivate "pusley." I set +a little of it one side, and gave it some extra care. It did not +thrive as well as that which I was fighting. The fact is, there is a +spirit of moral perversity in the plant, which makes it grow the +more, the more it is interfered with. I am satisfied of that. I +doubt if any one has raised more "pusley" this year than I have; and +my warfare with it has been continual. Neither of us has slept much. +If you combat it, it will grow, to use an expression that will be +understood by many, like the devil. I have a neighbor, a good +Christian man, benevolent, and a person of good judgment. He planted +next to me an acre of turnips recently. A few days after, he went to +look at his crop; and he found the entire ground covered with a thick +and luxurious carpet of "pusley," with a turnip-top worked in here +and there as an ornament. I have seldom seen so thrifty a field. I +advised my neighbor next time to sow "pusley" and then he might get a +few turnips. I wish there was more demand in our city markets for +"pusley" as a salad. I can recommend it. + +It does not take a great man to soon discover that, in raising +anything, the greater part of the plants goes into stalk and leaf, +and the fruit is a most inconsiderable portion. I plant and hoe a +hill of corn: it grows green and stout, and waves its broad leaves +high in the air, and is months in perfecting itself, and then yields +us not enough for a dinner. It grows because it delights to do so, +--to take the juices out of my ground, to absorb my fertilizers, to +wax luxuriant, and disport itself in the summer air, and with very +little thought of making any return to me. I might go all through my +garden and fruit trees with a similar result. I have heard of places +where there was very little land to the acre. It is universally true +that there is a great deal of vegetable show and fuss for the result +produced. I do not complain of this. One cannot expect vegetables +to be better than men: and they make a great deal of ostentatious +splurge; and many of them come to no result at last. Usually, the +more show of leaf and wood, the less fruit. This melancholy +reflection is thrown in here in order to make dog-days seem cheerful +in comparison. + +One of the minor pleasures of life is that of controlling vegetable +activity and aggressions with the pruning-knife. Vigorous and rapid +growth is, however, a necessity to the sport. To prune feeble plants +and shrubs is like acting the part of dry-nurse to a sickly orphan. +You must feel the blood of Nature bound under your hand, and get the +thrill of its life in your nerves. To control and culture a strong, +thrifty plant in this way is like steering a ship under full headway, +or driving a locomotive with your hand on the lever, or pulling the +reins over a fast horse when his blood and tail are up. I do not +understand, by the way, the pleasure of the jockey in setting up the +tail of the horse artificially. If I had a horse with a tail not +able to sit up, I should feed the horse, and curry him into good +spirits, and let him set up his own tail. When I see a poor, +spiritless horse going by with an artificially set-up tail, it is +only a signal of distress. I desire to be surrounded only by +healthy, vigorous plants and trees, which require constant cutting-in +and management. Merely to cut away dead branches is like perpetual +attendance at a funeral, and puts one in low spirits. I want to have +a garden and orchard rise up and meet me every morning, with the +request to "lay on, Macduff." I respect old age; but an old currant- +bush, hoary with mossy bark, is a melancholy spectacle. + +I suppose the time has come when I am expected to say something about +fertilizers: all agriculturists do. When you plant, you think you +cannot fertilize too much: when you get the bills for the manure, you +think you cannot fertilize too little. Of course you do not expect +to get the value of the manure back in fruits and vegetables; but +something is due to science,--to chemistry in particular. You must +have a knowledge of soils, must have your soil analyzed, and then go +into a course of experiments to find what it needs. It needs +analyzing,--that, I am clear about: everything needs that. You had +better have the soil analyzed before you buy: if there is "pusley " +in it, let it alone. See if it is a soil that requires much hoeing, +and how fine it will get if there is no rain for two months. But +when you come to fertilizing, if I understand the agricultural +authorities, you open a pit that will ultimately swallow you up,- +-farm and all. It is the great subject of modern times, how to +fertilize without ruinous expense; how, in short, not to starve the +earth to death while we get our living out of it. Practically, the +business is hardly to the taste of a person of a poetic turn of mind. +The details of fertilizing are not agreeable. Michael Angelo, who +tried every art, and nearly every trade, never gave his mind to +fertilizing. It is much pleasanter and easier to fertilize with a +pen, as the agricultural writers do, than with a fork. And this +leads me to say, that, in carrying on a garden yourself, you must +have a "consulting" gardener; that is, a man to do the heavy and +unpleasant work. To such a man, I say, in language used by +Demosthenes to the Athenians, and which is my advice to all +gardeners, "Fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!" + + + + +THIRTEENTH WEEK + +I find that gardening has unsurpassed advantages for the study of +natural history; and some scientific facts have come under my own +observation, which cannot fail to interest naturalists and +un-naturalists in about the same degree. Much, for instance, has +been written about the toad, an animal without which no garden would +be complete. But little account has been made of his value: the +beauty of his eye alone has been dwelt on; and little has been said +of his mouth, and its important function as a fly and bug trap. His +habits, and even his origin, have been misunderstood. Why, as an +illustration, are toads so plenty after a thunder-shower? All my +life long, no one has been able to answer me that question. Why, +after a heavy shower, and in the midst of it, do such multitudes of +toads, especially little ones, hop about on the gravel-walks? For +many years, I believed that they rained down; and I suppose many +people think so still. They are so small, and they come in such +numbers only in the shower, that the supposition is not a violent +one. "Thick as toads after a shower," is one of our best proverbs. +I asked an explanation 'of this of a thoughtful woman,--indeed, a +leader in the great movement to have all the toads hop in any +direction, without any distinction of sex or religion. Her reply +was, that the toads come out during the shower to get water. This, +however, is not the fact. I have discovered that they come out not +to get water. I deluged a dry flower-bed, the other night, with +pailful after pailful of water. Instantly the toads came out of +their holes in the dirt, by tens and twenties and fifties, to escape +death by drowning. The big ones fled away in a ridiculous streak of +hopping; and the little ones sprang about in the wildest confusion. +The toad is just like any other land animal: when his house is full +of water, he quits it. These facts, with the drawings of the water +and the toads, are at the service of the distinguished scientists of +Albany in New York, who were so much impressed by the Cardiff Giant. + +The domestic cow is another animal whose ways I have a chance to +study, and also to obliterate in the garden. One of my neighbors has +a cow, but no land; and he seems desirous to pasture her on the +surface of the land of other people: a very reasonable desire. The +man proposed that he should be allowed to cut the grass from my +grounds for his cow. I knew the cow, having often had her in my +garden; knew her gait and the size of her feet, which struck me as a +little large for the size of the body. Having no cow myself, but +acquaintance with my neighbor's, I told him that I thought it would +be fair for him to have the grass. He was, therefore, to keep the +grass nicely cut, and to keep his cow at home. I waited some time +after the grass needed cutting; and, as my neighbor did not appear, I +hired it cut. No sooner was it done than he promptly appeared, and +raked up most of it, and carried it away. He had evidently been +waiting that opportunity. When the grass grew again, the neighbor +did not appear with his scythe; but one morning I found the cow +tethered on the sward, hitched near the clothes-horse, a short +distance from the house. This seemed to be the man's idea of the +best way to cut the grass. I disliked to have the cow there, because +I knew her inclination to pull up the stake, and transfer her field +of mowing to the garden, but especially because of her voice. She +has the most melancholy "moo" I ever heard. It is like the wail of +one uninfallible, excommunicated, and lost. It is a most distressing +perpetual reminder of the brevity of life and the shortness of feed. +It is unpleasant to the family. We sometimes hear it in the middle +of the night, breaking the silence like a suggestion of coming +calamity. It is as bad as the howling of a dog at a funeral. + +I told the man about it; but he seemed to think that he was not +responsible for the cow's voice. I then told him to take her away; +and he did, at intervals, shifting her to different parts of the +grounds in my absence, so that the desolate voice would startle us +from unexpected quarters. If I were to unhitch the cow, and turn her +loose, I knew where she would go. If I were to lead her away, the +question was, Where? for I did not fancy leading a cow about till I +could find somebody who was willing to pasture her. To this dilemma +had my excellent neighbor reduced me. But I found him, one Sunday +morning,--a day when it would not do to get angry, tying his cow at +the foot of the hill; the beast all the time going on in that +abominable voice. I told the man that I could not have the cow in +the grounds. He said, "All right, boss;" but he did not go away. I +asked him to clear out. The man, who is a French sympathizer from +the Republic of Ireland, kept his temper perfectly. He said he +wasn't doing anything, just feeding his cow a bit: he wouldn't make +me the least trouble in the world. I reminded him that he had been +told again and again not to come here; that he might have all the +grass, but he should not bring his cow upon the premises. The +imperturbable man assented to everything that I said, and kept on +feeding his cow. Before I got him to go to fresh scenes and pastures +new, the Sabbath was almost broken; but it was saved by one thing: it +is difficult to be emphatic when no one is emphatic on the other +side. The man and his cow have taught me a great lesson, which I +shall recall when I keep a cow. I can recommend this cow, if anybody +wants one, as a steady boarder, whose keeping will cost the owner +little; but, if her milk is at all like her voice, those who drink it +are on the straight road to lunacy. + +I think I have said that we have a game-preserve. We keep quails, or +try to, in the thickly wooded, bushed, and brushed ravine. This bird +is a great favorite with us, dead or alive, on account of its taste- +ful plumage, its tender flesh, its domestic virtues, and its pleasant +piping. Besides, although I appreciate toads and cows, and all that +sort of thing, I like to have a game-preserve more in the English +style. And we did. For in July, while the game-law was on, and the +young quails were coming on, we were awakened one morning by firing,- +-musketry-firing, close at hand. My first thought was, that war was +declared; but, as I should never pay much attention to war declared +at that time in the morning, I went to sleep again. But the +occurrence was repeated, -and not only early in the morning, but at +night. There was calling of dogs, breaking down of brush, and firing +of guns. It is hardly pleasant to have guns fired in the direction +of the house, at your own quails. The hunters could be sometimes +seen, but never caught. Their best time was about sunrise; but, +before one could dress and get to the front, they would retire. + +One morning, about four o'clock, I heard the battle renewed. I +sprang up, but not in arms, and went to a window. Polly (like +another 'blessed damozel') flew to another window,-- + +"The blessed damozel leaned out +>From the gold bar of heaven," + +and reconnoitered from behind the blinds. + +"The wonder was not yet quite gone +>From that still look of hers," + +when an armed man and a legged dog appeared ir the opening. I was +vigilantly watching him. + +. . . . "And now +She spoke through the still weather." + +"Are you afraid to speak to him?" asked Polly. + +Not exactly, + +. . . ."she spoke as when +The stars sang in their spheres. + +"Stung by this inquiry, I leaned out of the window till + +"The bar I leaned on (was) warm," + +and cried,-- + +"Halloo, there! What are you doing?" + +"Look out he don't shoot you," called out Polly from the other +window, suddenly going on another tack. + +I explained that a sportsman would not be likely to shoot a gentleman +in his own house, with bird-shot, so long as quails were to be had. + +"You have no business here: what are you after?" I repeated. + +"Looking for a lost hen," said the man as he strode away. + +The reply was so satisfactory and conclusive that I shut the blinds +and went to bed. + +But one evening I overhauled one of the poachers. Hearing his dog in +the thicket, I rushed through the brush, and came in sight of the +hunter as he was retreating down the road. He came to a halt; and we +had some conversation in a high key. Of course I threatened to +prosecute him. I believe that is the thing to do in such cases; but +how I was to do it, when I did not know his name or ancestry, and +couldn't see his face, never occurred to me. (I remember, now, that +a farmer once proposed to prosecute me when I was fishing in a +trout-brook on his farm, and asked my name for that purpose.) He +said he should smile to see me prosecute him. + +"You can't do it: there ain't no notice up about trespassing." + +This view of the common law impressed me; and I said, + +"But these are private grounds." + +"Private h---!" was all his response. + +You can't argue much with a man who has a gun in his hands, when you +have none. Besides, it might be a needle-gun, for aught I knew. I +gave it up, and we separated. + +There is this disadvantage about having a game preserve attached to +your garden: it makes life too lively. + + + + +FOURTEENTH WEEK + +In these golden latter August days, Nature has come to a serene +equilibrium. Having flowered and fruited, she is enjoying herself. +I can see how things are going: it is a down-hill business after +this; but, for the time being, it is like swinging in a hammock,- +-such a delicious air, such a graceful repose! I take off my hat as +I stroll into the garden and look about; and it does seem as if +Nature had sounded a truce. I did n't ask for it. I went out with a +hoe; but the serene sweetness disarms me. Thrice is he armed who has +a long-handled hoe, with a double blade. Yet to-day I am almost +ashamed to appear in such a belligerent fashion, with this terrible +mitrailleuse of gardening. + +The tomatoes are getting tired of ripening, and are beginning to go +into a worthless condition,--green. The cucumbers cumber the +ground,--great yellow, over-ripe objects, no more to be compared to +the crisp beauty of their youth than is the fat swine of the sty to +the clean little pig. The nutmeg-melons, having covered themselves +with delicate lace-work, are now ready to leave the vine. I know +they are ripe if they come easily off the stem. + +Moral Observations. --You can tell when people are ripe by their +willingness to let go. Richness and ripeness are not exactly the +same. The rich are apt to hang to the stem with tenacity. I have +nothing against the rich. If I were not virtuous, I should like to +be rich. But we cannot have everything, as the man said when he was +down with small-pox and cholera, and the yellow fever came into the +neighborhood. + +Now, the grapes, soaked in this liquid gold, called air, begin to +turn, mindful of the injunction, "to turn or burn." The clusters +under the leaves are getting quite purple, but look better than they +taste. I think there is no danger but they will be gathered as soon +as they are ripe. One of the blessings of having an open garden is, +that I do not have to watch my fruit: a dozen youngsters do that, and +let it waste no time after it matures. I wish it were possible to +grow a variety of grape like the explosive bullets, that should +explode in the stomach: the vine would make such a nice border for +the garden,--a masked battery of grape. The pears, too, are getting +russet and heavy; and here and there amid the shining leaves one +gleams as ruddy as the cheek of the Nutbrown Maid. The Flemish +Beauties come off readily from the stem, if I take them in my hand: +they say all kinds of beauty come off by handling. + +The garden is peace as much as if it were an empire. Even the man's +cow lies down under the tree where the man has tied her, with such an +air of contentment, that I have small desire to disturb her. She is +chewing my cud as if it were hers. Well, eat on and chew on, +melancholy brute. I have not the heart to tell the man to take you +away: and it would do no good if I had; he wouldn't do it. The man +has not a taking way. Munch on, ruminant creature. + +The frost will soon come; the grass will be brown. I will be +charitable while this blessed lull continues: for our benevolences +must soon be turned to other and more distant objects,--the +amelioration of the condition of the Jews, the education of +theological young men in the West, and the like. + +I do not know that these appearances are deceitful; but I +sufficiently know that this is a wicked world, to be glad that I have +taken it on shares. In fact, I could not pick the pears alone, not +to speak of eating them. When I climb the trees, and throw down the +dusky fruit, Polly catches it in her apron; nearly always, however, +letting go when it drops, the fall is so sudden. The sun gets in her +face; and, every time a pear comes down it is a surprise, like having +a tooth out, she says. + +"If I could n't hold an apron better than that! + +But the sentence is not finished : it is useless to finish that sort +of a sentence in this delicious weather. Besides, conversation is +dangerous. As, for instance, towards evening I am preparing a bed +for a sowing of turnips,--not that I like turnips in the least; but +this is the season to sow them. Polly comes out, and extemporizes +her usual seat to "consult me" about matters while I work. I well +know that something is coming. + +"This is a rotation of crops, is n't it?" + +"Yes: I have rotated the gone-to-seed lettuce off, and expect to +rotate the turnips in; it is a political fashion." + +"Is n't it a shame that the tomatoes are all getting ripe at once? +What a lot of squashes! I wish we had an oyster-bed. Do you want me +to help you any more than I am helping?" + +"No, I thank you." (I wonder what all this is about?) + +"Don't you think we could sell some strawberries next year?" + +"By all means, sell anything. We shall no doubt get rich out of this +acre." + +"Don't be foolish." + +And now! + +"Don't you think it would be nice to have a?".... + +And Polly unfolds a small scheme of benevolence, which is not quite +enough to break me, and is really to be executed in an economical +manner. "Would n't that be nice?" + +"Oh, yes! And where is the money to come from?" + +"I thought we had agreed to sell the strawberries." + +"Certainly. But I think we would make more money if we sold the +plants now." + +"Well," said Polly, concluding the whole matter, "I am going to do +it." And, having thus "consulted" me, Polly goes away; and I put in +the turnip-seeds quite thick, determined to raise enough to sell. +But not even this mercenary thought can ruffle my mind as I rake off +the loamy bed. I notice, however, that the spring smell has gone out +of the dirt. That went into the first crop. + +In this peaceful unison with yielding nature, I was a little taken +aback to find that a new enemy had turned up. The celery had just +rubbed through the fiery scorching of the drought, and stood a faint +chance to grow; when I noticed on the green leaves a big green-and- +black worm, called, I believe, the celery-worm: but I don't know who +called him; I am sure I did not. It was almost ludicrous that he +should turn up here, just at the end of the season, when I supposed +that my war with the living animals was over. Yet he was, no doubt, +predestinated; for he went to work as cheerfully as if he had arrived +in June, when everything was fresh and vigorous. It beats me--Nature +does. I doubt not, that, if I were to leave my garden now for a +week, it would n't know me on my return. The patch I scratched over +for the turnips, and left as clean as earth, is already full of +ambitious "pusley," which grows with all the confidence of youth and +the skill of old age. It beats the serpent as an emblem of +immortality. While all the others of us in the garden rest and sit +in comfort a moment, upon the summit of the summer, it is as rampant +and vicious as ever. It accepts no armistice. + + + + +FIFTEENTH WEEK + +It is said that absence conquers all things, love included; but it +has a contrary effect on a garden. I was absent for two or three +weeks. I left my garden a paradise, as paradises go in this +protoplastic world; and when I returned, the trail of the serpent was +over it all, so to speak. (This is in addition to the actual snakes +in it, which are large enough to strangle children of average size.) +I asked Polly if she had seen to the garden while I was away, and she +said she had. I found that all the melons had been seen to, and the +early grapes and pears. The green worm had also seen to about half +the celery; and a large flock of apparently perfectly domesticated +chickens were roaming over the ground, gossiping in the hot September +sun, and picking up any odd trifle that might be left. On the whole, +the garden could not have been better seen to; though it would take a +sharp eye to see the potato-vines amid the rampant grass and weeds. + +The new strawberry-plants, for one thing, had taken advantage of my +absence. Every one of them had sent out as many scarlet runners as +an Indian tribe has. Some of them had blossomed; and a few had gone +so far as to bear ripe berries,--long, pear-shaped fruit, hanging +like the ear-pendants of an East Indian bride. I could not but +admire the persistence of these zealous plants, which seemed +determined to propagate themselves both by seeds and roots, and make +sure of immortality in some way. Even the Colfax variety was as +ambitious as the others. After having seen the declining letter of +Mr. Colfax, I did not suppose that this vine would run any more, and +intended to root it out. But one can never say what these +politicians mean; and I shall let this variety grow until after the +next election, at least; although I hear that the fruit is small, and +rather sour. If there is any variety of strawberries that really +declines to run, and devotes itself to a private life of fruit- +bearing, I should like to get it. I may mention here, since we are +on politics, that the Doolittle raspberries had sprawled all over the +strawberry-bed's: so true is it that politics makes strange +bedfellows. + +But another enemy had come into the strawberries, which, after all +that has been said in these papers, I am almost ashamed to mention. +But does the preacher in the pulpit, Sunday after Sunday, year after +year, shrink from speaking of sin? I refer, of course, to the +greatest enemy of mankind, " p-sl-y." The ground was carpeted with +it. I should think that this was the tenth crop of the season; and +it was as good as the first. I see no reason why our northern soil +is not as prolific as that of the tropics, and will not produce as +many crops in the year. The mistake we make is in trying to force +things that are not natural to it. I have no doubt that, if we turn +our attention to "pusley," we can beat the world. + +I had no idea, until recently, how generally this simple and thrifty +plant is feared and hated. Far beyond what I had regarded as the +bounds of civilization, it is held as one of the mysteries of a +fallen world; accompanying the home missionary on his wanderings, and +preceding the footsteps of the Tract Society. I was not long ago in +the Adirondacks. We had built a camp for the night, in the heart of +the woods, high up on John's Brook and near the foot of Mount Marcy: +I can see the lovely spot now. It was on the bank of the crystal, +rocky stream, at the foot of high and slender falls, which poured +into a broad amber basin. Out of this basin we had just taken trout +enough for our supper, which had been killed, and roasted over the +fire on sharp sticks, and eaten before they had an opportunity to +feel the chill of this deceitful world. We were lying under the hut +of spruce-bark, on fragrant hemlock-boughs, talking, after supper. +In front of us was a huge fire of birchlogs; and over it we could see +the top of the falls glistening in the moonlight; and the roar of the +falls, and the brawling of the stream near us, filled all the ancient +woods. It was a scene upon which one would think no thought of sin +could enter. We were talking with old Phelps, the guide. Old Phelps +is at once guide, philosopher, and friend. He knows the woods and +streams and mountains, and their savage inhabitants, as well as we +know all our rich relations and what they are doing; and in lonely +bear-hunts and sable-trappings he has thought out and solved most of +the problems of life. As he stands in his wood-gear, he is as +grizzly as an old cedar-tree; and he speaks in a high falsetto voice, +which would be invaluable to a boatswain in a storm at sea. + +We had been talking of all subjects about which rational men are +interested,--bears, panthers, trapping, the habits of trout, the +tariff, the internal revenue (to wit, the injustice of laying such a +tax on tobacco, and none on dogs: --There ain't no dog in the United +States," says the guide, at the top of his voice, "that earns his +living"), the Adventists, the Gorner Grat, Horace Greeley, religion, +the propagation of seeds in the wilderness (as, for instance, where +were the seeds lying for ages that spring up into certain plants and +flowers as soon as a spot is cleared anywhere in the most remote +forest; and why does a growth of oak-trees always come up after a +growth of pine has been removed?)--in short, we had pretty nearly +reached a solution of many mysteries, when Phelps suddenly exclaimed +with uncommon energy,-- + +"Wall, there's one thing that beats me!" + +"What's that?" we asked with undisguised curiosity. + +"That's 'pusley'!" he replied, in the tone of a man who has come to +one door in life which is hopelessly shut, and from which he retires +in despair. + +"Where it comes from I don't know, nor what to do with it. It's in +my garden; and I can't get rid of it. It beats me." + +About "pusley" the guide had no theory and no hope. A feeling of awe +came over me, as we lay there at midnight, hushed by the sound of the +stream and the rising wind in the spruce-tops. Then man can go +nowhere that "pusley" will not attend him. Though he camp on the +Upper Au Sable, or penetrate the forest where rolls the Allegash, and +hear no sound save his own allegations, he will not escape it. It +has entered the happy valley of Keene, although there is yet no +church there, and only a feeble school part of the year. Sin travels +faster than they that ride in chariots. I take my hoe, and begin; +but I feel that I am warring against something whose roots take hold +on H. + +By the time a man gets to be eighty, he learns that he is compassed +by limitations, and that there has been a natural boundary set to his +individual powers. As he goes on in life, he begins to doubt his +ability to destroy all evil and to reform all abuses, and to suspect +that there will be much left to do after he has done. I stepped into +my garden in the spring, not doubting that I should be easily master +of the weeds. I have simply learned that an institution which is at +least six thousand years old, and I believe six millions, is not to +be put down in one season. + +I have been digging my potatoes, if anybody cares to know it. I +planted them in what are called "Early Rose," --the rows a little +less than three feet apart; but the vines came to an early close in +the drought. Digging potatoes is a pleasant, soothing occupation, +but not poetical. It is good for the mind, unless they are too small +(as many of mine are), when it begets a want of gratitude to the +bountiful earth. What small potatoes we all are, compared with what +we might be! We don't plow deep enough, any of us, for one thing. I +shall put in the plow next year, and give the tubers room enough. I +think they felt the lack of it this year: many of them seemed ashamed +to come out so small. There is great pleasure in turning out the +brown-jacketed fellows into the sunshine of a royal September day, +and seeing them glisten as they lie thickly strewn on the warm soil. +Life has few such moments. But then they must be picked up. The +picking-up, in this world, is always the unpleasant part of it. + + + + +SIXTEENTH WEEK + +I do not hold myself bound to answer the question, Does gardening +pay? It is so difficult to define what is meant by paying. There is +a popular notion that, unless a thing pays, you had better let it +alone; and I may say that there is a public opinion that will not let +a man or woman continue in the indulgence of a fancy that does not +pay. And public opinion is stronger than the legislature, and nearly +as strong as the ten commandments: I therefore yield to popular +clamor when I discuss the profit of my garden. + +As I look at it, you might as well ask, Does a sunset pay? I know +that a sunset is commonly looked on as a cheap entertainment; but it +is really one of the most expensive. It is true that we can all have +front seats, and we do not exactly need to dress for it as we do for +the opera; but the conditions under which it is to be enjoyed are +rather dear. Among them I should name a good suit of clothes, +including some trifling ornament,--not including back hair for one +sex, or the parting of it in the middle for the other. I should add +also a good dinner, well cooked and digestible; and the cost of a +fair education, extended, perhaps, through generations in which +sensibility and love of beauty grew. What I mean is, that if a man +is hungry and naked, and half a savage, or with the love of beauty +undeveloped in him, a sunset is thrown away on him : so that it +appears that the conditions of the enjoyment of a sunset are as +costly as anything in our civilization. + +Of course there is no such thing as absolute value in this world. +You can only estimate what a thing is worth to you. Does gardening +in a city pay? You might as well ask if it pays to keep hens, or a +trotting-horse, or to wear a gold ring, or to keep your lawn cut, or +your hair cut. It is as you like it. In a certain sense, it is a +sort of profanation to consider if my garden pays, or to set a money- +value upon my delight in it. I fear that you could not put it in +money. Job had the right idea in his mind when he asked, "Is there +any taste in the white of an egg?" Suppose there is not! What! +shall I set a price upon the tender asparagus or the crisp lettuce, +which made the sweet spring a reality? Shall I turn into merchandise +the red strawberry, the pale green pea, the high-flavored raspberry, +the sanguinary beet, that love-plant the tomato, and the corn which +did not waste its sweetness on the desert air, but, after flowing in +a sweet rill through all our summer life, mingled at last with the +engaging bean in a pool of succotash? Shall I compute in figures +what daily freshness and health and delight the garden yields, let +alone the large crop of anticipation I gathered as soon as the first +seeds got above ground? I appeal to any gardening man of sound mind, +if that which pays him best in gardening is not that which he cannot +show in his trial-balance. Yet I yield to public opinion, when I +proceed to make such a balance; and I do it with the utmost +confidence in figures. + +I select as a representative vegetable, in order to estimate the cost +of gardening, the potato. In my statement, I shall not include the +interest on the value of the land. I throw in the land, because it +would otherwise have stood idle: the thing generally raised on city +land is taxes. I therefore make the following statement of the cost +and income of my potato-crop, a part of it estimated in connection +with other garden labor. I have tried to make it so as to satisfy +the income-tax collector:-- + +Plowing.......................................$0.50 +Seed..........................................$1.50 +Manure........................................ 8.00 +Assistance in planting and digging, 3 days.... 6.75 +Labor of self in planting, hoeing, digging, + picking up, 5 days at 17 cents........... 0.85 + _____ + Total Cost................$17.60 + + +Two thousand five hundred mealy potatoes, + at 2 cents..............................$50.00 +Small potatoes given to neighbor's pig....... .50 + + Total return..............$50.50 + + Balance, profit in cellar......$32.90 + + +Some of these items need explanation. I have charged nothing for my +own time waiting for the potatoes to grow. My time in hoeing, +fighting weeds, etc., is put in at five days: it may have been a +little more. Nor have I put in anything for cooling drinks while +hoeing. I leave this out from principle, because I always recommend +water to others. I had some difficulty in fixing the rate of my own +wages. It was the first time I had an opportunity of paying what I +thought labor was worth; and I determined to make a good thing of it +for once. I figured it right down to European prices,--seventeen +cents a day for unskilled labor. Of course, I boarded myself. I +ought to say that I fixed the wages after the work was done, or I +might have been tempted to do as some masons did who worked for me at +four dollars a day. They lay in the shade and slept the sleep of +honest toil full half the time, at least all the time I was away. I +have reason to believe that when the wages of mechanics are raised to +eight and ten dollars a day, the workmen will not come at all: they +will merely send their cards. + +I do not see any possible fault in the above figures. I ought to say +that I deferred putting a value on the potatoes until I had footed up +the debit column. This is always the safest way to do. I had +twenty-five bushels. I roughly estimated that there are one hundred +good ones to the bushel. Making my own market price, I asked two +cents apiece for them. This I should have considered dirt cheap last +June, when I was going down the rows with the hoe. If any one thinks +that two cents each is high, let him try to raise them. + +Nature is "awful smart." I intend to be complimentary in saying so. +She shows it in little things. I have mentioned my attempt to put in +a few modest turnips, near the close of the season. I sowed the +seeds, by the way, in the most liberal manner. Into three or four +short rows I presume I put enough to sow an acre; and they all came +up,--came up as thick as grass, as crowded and useless as babies in a +Chinese village. Of course, they had to be thinned out; that is, +pretty much all pulled up; and it took me a long time; for it takes a +conscientious man some time to decide which are the best and +healthiest plants to spare. After all, I spared too many. That is +the great danger everywhere in this world (it may not be in the +next): things are too thick; we lose all in grasping for too much. +The Scotch say, that no man ought to thin out his own turnips, +because he will not sacrifice enough to leave room for the remainder +to grow: he should get his neighbor, who does not care for the +plants, to do it. But this is mere talk, and aside from the point: +if there is anything I desire to avoid in these agricultural papers, +it is digression. I did think that putting in these turnips so late +in the season, when general activity has ceased, and in a remote part +of the garden, they would pass unnoticed. But Nature never even +winks, as I can see. The tender blades were scarcely out of the +ground when she sent a small black flv, which seemed to have been +born and held in reserve for this purpose,--to cut the leaves. They +speedily made lace-work of the whole bed. Thus everything appears to +have its special enemy,--except, perhaps, p----y: nothing ever +troubles that. + +Did the Concord Grape ever come to more luscious perfection than this +year? or yield so abundantly? The golden sunshine has passed into +them, and distended their purple skins almost to bursting. Such +heavy clusters! such bloom! such sweetness! such meat and drink in +their round globes! What a fine fellow Bacchus would have been, if +he had only signed the pledge when he was a young man! I have taken +off clusters that were as compact and almost as large as the Black +Hamburgs. It is slow work picking them. I do not see how the +gatherers for the vintage ever get off enough. It takes so long to +disentangle the bunches from the leaves and the interlacing vines and +the supporting tendrils; and then I like to hold up each bunch and +look at it in the sunlight, and get the fragrance and the bloom of +it, and show it to Polly, who is making herself useful, as taster and +companion, at the foot of the ladder, before dropping it into the +basket. But we have other company. The robin, the most knowing and +greedy bird out of paradise (I trust he will always be kept out), has +discovered that the grape-crop is uncommonly good, and has come back, +with his whole tribe and family, larger than it was in pea-time. He +knows the ripest bunches as well as anybody, and tries them all. If +he would take a whole bunch here and there, say half the number, and +be off with it, I should not so much care. But he will not. He +pecks away at all the bunches, and spoils as many as he can. It is +time he went south. + +There is no prettier sight, to my eye, than a gardener on a ladder in +his grape-arbor, in these golden days, selecting the heaviest +clusters of grapes, and handing them down to one and another of a +group of neighbors and friends, who stand under the shade of the +leaves, flecked with the sunlight, and cry, "How sweet!" "What nice +ones!" and the like,--remarks encouraging to the man on the ladder. +It is great pleasure to see people eat grapes. + +Moral Truth. --I have no doubt that grapes taste best in other +people's mouths. It is an old notion that it is easier to be +generous than to be stingy. I am convinced that the majority of +people would be generous from selfish motives, if they had the +opportunity. + +Philosophical Observation. --Nothing shows one who his friends are +like prosperity and ripe fruit. I had a good friend in the country, +whom I almost never visited except in cherry-time. By your fruits +you shall know them. + + + + + +SEVENTEENTH WEEK + +I like to go into the garden these warm latter days, and muse. To +muse is to sit in the sun, and not think of anything. I am not sure +but goodness comes out of people who bask in the sun, as it does out +of a sweet apple roasted before the fire. The late September and +October sun of this latitude is something like the sun of extreme +Lower Italy: you can stand a good deal of it, and apparently soak a +winter supply into the system. If one only could take in his winter +fuel in this way! The next great discovery will, very likely, be the +conservation of sunlight. In the correlation of forces, I look to +see the day when the superfluous sunshine will be utilized; as, for +instance, that which has burned up my celery this year will be +converted into a force to work the garden. + +This sitting in the sun amid the evidences of a ripe year is the +easiest part of gardening I have experienced. But what a combat has +gone on here! What vegetable passions have run the whole gamut of +ambition, selfishness, greed of place, fruition, satiety, and now +rest here in the truce of exhaustion! What a battle-field, if one +may look upon it so! The corn has lost its ammunition, and stacked +arms in a slovenly, militia sort of style. The ground vines are +torn, trampled, and withered; and the ungathered cucumbers, worthless +melons, and golden squashes lie about like the spent bombs and +exploded shells of a battle-field. So the cannon-balls lay on the +sandy plain before Fort Fisher after the capture. So the great +grassy meadow at Munich, any morning during the October Fest, is +strewn with empty beermugs. History constantly repeats itself. +There is a large crop of moral reflections in my garden, which +anybody is at liberty to gather who passes this way. + +I have tried to get in anything that offered temptation to sin. +There would be no thieves if there was nothing to steal; and I +suppose, in the thieves' catechism, the provider is as bad as the +thief; and, probably, I am to blame for leaving out a few winter +pears, which some predatory boy carried off on Sunday. At first I +was angry, and said I should like to have caught the urchin in the +act; but, on second thought, I was glad I did not. The interview +could not have been pleasant: I shouldn't have known what to do with +him. The chances are, that he would have escaped away with his +pockets full, and jibed at me from a safe distance. And, if I had +got my hands on him, I should have been still more embarrassed. If I +had flogged him, he would have got over it a good deal sooner than I +should. That sort of boy does not mind castigation any more than he +does tearing his trousers in the briers. If I had treated him with +kindness, and conciliated him with grapes, showing him the enormity +of his offense, I suppose he would have come the next night, and +taken the remainder of the grapes. The truth is, that the public +morality is lax on the subject of fruit. If anybody puts arsenic or +gunpowder into his watermelons, he is universally denounced as a +stingy old murderer by the community. A great many people regard +growing fruit as lawful prey, who would not think of breaking into +your cellar to take it. I found a man once in my raspberry-bushes, +early in the season, when we were waiting for a dishful to ripen. +Upon inquiring what he was about, he said he was only eating some; +and the operation seemed to be so natural and simple, that I disliked +to disturb him. And I am not very sure that one has a right to the +whole of an abundant crop of fruit until he has gathered it. At +least, in a city garden, one might as well conform his theory to the +practice of the community. + +As for children (and it sometimes looks as if the chief products of +my garden were small boys and hens), it is admitted that they are +barbarians. There is no exception among them to this condition of +barbarism. This is not to say that they are not attractive; for they +have the virtues as well as the vices of a primitive people. It is +held by some naturalists that the child is only a zoophyte, with a +stomach, and feelers radiating from it in search of something to fill +it. It is true that a child is always hungry all over: but he is +also curious all over; and his curiosity is excited about as early as +his hunger. He immediately begins to put out his moral feelers into +the unknown and the infinite to discover what sort of an existence +this is into which he has come. His imagination is quite as hungry +as his stomach. And again and again it is stronger than his other +appetites. You can easily engage his imagination in a story which +will make him forget his dinner. He is credulous and superstitious, +and open to all wonder. In this, he is exactly like the savage +races. Both gorge themselves on the marvelous; and all the unknown +is marvelous to them. I know the general impression is that children +must be governed through their stomachs. I think they can be +controlled quite as well through their curiosity; that being the more +craving and imperious of the two. I have seen children follow about +a person who told them stories, and interested them with his charming +talk, as greedily as if his pockets had been full of bon-bons. + +Perhaps this fact has no practical relation to gardening; but it +occurs to me that, if I should paper the outside of my high board +fence with the leaves of "The Arabian Nights," it would afford me a +good deal of protection,--more, in fact, than spikes in the top, +which tear trousers and encourage profanity, but do not save much +fruit. A spiked fence is a challenge to any boy of spirit. But if +the fence were papered with fairy-tales, would he not stop to read +them until it was too late for him to climb into the garden? I don't +know. Human nature is vicious. The boy might regard the picture of +the garden of the Hesperides only as an advertisement of what was +over the fence. I begin to find that the problem of raising fruit is +nothing to that of getting it after it has matured. So long as the +law, just in many respects, is in force against shooting birds and +small boys, the gardener may sow in tears and reap in vain. + +The power of a boy is, to me, something fearful. Consider what he +can do. You buy and set out a choice pear-tree; you enrich the earth +for it; you train and trim it, and vanquish the borer, and watch its +slow growth. At length it rewards your care by producing two or +three pears, which you cut up and divide in the family, declaring the +flavor of the bit you eat to be something extraordinary. The next +year, the little tree blossoms full, and sets well; and in the autumn +has on its slender, drooping limbs half a bushel of fruit, daily +growing more delicious in the sun. You show it to your friends, +reading to them the French name, which you can never remember, on the +label; and you take an honest pride in the successful fruit of long +care. That night your pears shall be required of you by a boy! +Along comes an irresponsible urchin, who has not been growing much +longer than the tree, with not twenty-five cents worth of clothing on +him, and in five minutes takes off every pear, and retires into safe +obscurity. In five minutes the remorseless boy has undone your work +of years, and with the easy nonchalance, I doubt not, of any agent of +fate, in whose path nothing is sacred or safe. + +And it is not of much consequence. The boy goes on his way,--to +Congress, or to State Prison: in either place he will be accused of +stealing, perhaps wrongfully. You learn, in time, that it is better +to have had pears and lost them than not to have had pears at all. +You come to know that the least (and rarest) part of the pleasure of +raising fruit is the vulgar eating it. You recall your delight in +conversing with the nurseryman, and looking at his illustrated +catalogues, where all the pears are drawn perfect in form, and of +extra size, and at that exact moment between ripeness and decay which +it is so impossible to hit in practice. Fruit cannot be raised on +this earth to taste as you imagine those pears would taste. For +years you have this pleasure, unalloyed by any disenchanting reality. +How you watch the tender twigs in spring, and the freshly forming +bark, hovering about the healthy growing tree with your pruning-knife +many a sunny morning! That is happiness. Then, if you know it, you +are drinking the very wine of life; and when the sweet juices of the +earth mount the limbs, and flow down the tender stem, ripening and +reddening the pendent fruit, you feel that you somehow stand at the +source of things, and have no unimportant share in the processes of +Nature. Enter at this moment boy the destroyer, whose office is that +of preserver as well; for, though he removes the fruit from your +sight, it remains in your memory immortally ripe and desirable. The +gardener needs all these consolations of a high philosophy. + + + + +EIGHTEENTH WEEK + +Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might +have turned out so differently! If Ravaillac had not been imprisoned +for debt, he would not have stabbed Henry of Navarre. If William of +Orange had escaped assassination by Philip's emissaries; if France +had followed the French Calvin, and embraced Protestant Calvinism, as +it came very near doing towards the end of the sixteenth century; if +the Continental ammunition had not given out at Bunker's Hill; if +Blucher had not "come up" at Waterloo,--the lesson is, that things do +not come up unless they are planted. When you go behind the +historical scenery, you find there is a rope and pulley to effect +every transformation which has astonished you. It was the rascality +of a minister and a contractor five years before that lost the +battle; and the cause of the defeat was worthless ammunition. I +should like to know how many wars have been caused by fits of +indigestion, and how many more dynasties have been upset by the love +of woman than by the hate of man. It is only because we are ill +informed that anything surprises us; and we are disappointed because +we expect that for which we have not provided. + +I had too vague expectations of what my garden would do of itself. A +garden ought to produce one everything,--just as a business ought to +support a man, and a house ought to keep itself. We had a convention +lately to resolve that the house should keep itself; but it won't. +There has been a lively time in our garden this summer; but it seems +to me there is very little to show for it. It has been a terrible +campaign; but where is the indemnity? Where are all "sass" and +Lorraine? It is true that we have lived on the country; but we +desire, besides, the fruits of the war. There are no onions, for one +thing. I am quite ashamed to take people into my garden, and have +them notice the absence of onions. It is very marked. In onion is +strength; and a garden without it lacks flavor. The onion in its +satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables; and it is +the only one that represents the essence of things. It can almost be +said to have a soul. You take off coat after coat) and the onion is +still there; and, when the last one is removed, who dare say that the +onion itself is destroyed, though you can weep over its departed +spirit? If there is any one thing on this fallen earth that the +angels in heaven weep over--more than another, it is the onion. + +I know that there is supposed to be a prejudice against the onion; +but I think there is rather a cowardice in regard to it. I doubt not +that all men and women love the onion; but few confess their love. +Affection for it is concealed. Good New-Englanders are as shy of +owning it as they are of talking about religion. Some people have +days on which they eat onions,--what you might call "retreats," or +their "Thursdays." The act is in the nature of a religious ceremony, +an Eleusinian mystery; not a breath of it must get abroad. On that +day they see no company; they deny the kiss of greeting to the +dearest friend; they retire within themselves, and hold communion +with one of the most pungent and penetrating manifestations of the +moral vegetable world. Happy is said to be the family which can eat +onions together. They are, for the time being, separate from the +world, and have a harmony of aspiration. There is a hint here for +the reformers. Let them become apostles of the onion; let them eat, +and preach it to their fellows, and circulate tracts of it in the +form of seeds. In the onion is the hope of universal brotherhood. +If all men will eat onions at all times, they will come into a +universal sympathy. Look at Italy. I hope I am not mistaken as to +the cause of her unity. It was the Reds who preached the gospel +which made it possible. All the Reds of Europe, all the sworn +devotees of the mystic Mary Ann, eat of the common vegetable. Their +oaths are strong with it. It is the food, also, of the common people +of Italy. All the social atmosphere of that delicious land is laden +with it. Its odor is a practical democracy. In the churches all are +alike: there is one faith, one smell. The entrance of Victor Emanuel +into Rome is only the pompous proclamation of a unity which garlic +had already accomplished; and yet we, who boast of our democracy, eat +onions in secret. + +I now see that I have left out many of the most moral elements. +Neither onions, parsnips, carrots, nor cabbages are here. I have +never seen a garden in the autumn before, without the uncouth cabbage +in it; but my garden gives the impression of a garden without a head. +The cabbage is the rose of Holland. I admire the force by which it +compacts its crisp leaves into a solid head. The secret of it would +be priceless to the world. We should see less expansive foreheads +with nothing within. Even the largest cabbages are not always the +best. But I mention these things, not from any sympathy I have with +the vegetables named, but to show how hard it is to go contrary to +the expectations of society. Society expects every man to have +certain things in his garden. Not to raise cabbage is as if one had +no pew in church. Perhaps we shall come some day to free churches +and free gardens; when I can show my neighbor through my tired +garden, at the end of the season, when skies are overcast, and brown +leaves are swirling down, and not mind if he does raise his eyebrows +when he observes, "Ah! I see you have none of this, and of that." At +present we want the moral courage to plant only what we need; to +spend only what will bring us peace, regardless of what is going on +over the fence. We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be +wholly ruined without it; and I presume I shall make a garden next +year that will be as popular as possible. + +And this brings me to what I see may be a crisis in life. I begin to +feel the temptation of experiment. Agriculture, horticulture, +floriculture,--these are vast fields, into which one may wander away, +and never be seen more. It seemed to me a very simple thing, this +gardening; but it opens up astonishingly. It is like the infinite +possibilities in worsted-work. Polly sometimes says to me, "I wish +you would call at Bobbin's, and match that skein of worsted for me, +when you are in town." Time was, I used to accept such a commission +with alacrity and self-confidence. I went to Bobbin's, and asked one +of his young men, with easy indifference, to give me some of that. +The young man, who is as handsome a young man as ever I looked at, +and who appears to own the shop, and whose suave superciliousness +would be worth everything to a cabinet minister who wanted to repel +applicants for place, says, "I have n't an ounce: I have sent to +Paris, and I expect it every day. I have a good deal of difficulty +in getting that shade in my assortment." To think that he is in +communication with Paris, and perhaps with Persia! Respect for such +a being gives place to awe. I go to another shop, holding fast to my +scarlet clew. There I am shown a heap of stuff, with more colors and +shades than I had supposed existed in all the world. What a blaze of +distraction! I have been told to get as near the shade as I could; +and so I compare and contrast, till the whole thing seems to me about +of one color. But I can settle my mind on nothing. The affair +assumes a high degree of importance. I am satisfied with nothing but +perfection. I don't know what may happen if the shade is not +matched. I go to another shop, and another, and another. At last a +pretty girl, who could make any customer believe that green is blue, +matches the shade in a minute. I buy five cents worth. That was the +order. Women are the most economical persons that ever were. I have +spent two hours in this five-cent business; but who shall say they +were wasted, when I take the stuff home, and Polly says it is a +perfect match, and looks so pleased, and holds it up with the work, +at arm's length, and turns her head one side, and then takes her +needle, and works it in? Working in, I can see, my own obligingness +and amiability with every stitch. Five cents is dirt cheap for such +a pleasure. + +The things I may do in my garden multiply on my vision. How +fascinating have the catalogues of the nurserymen become! Can I +raise all those beautiful varieties, each one of which is preferable +to the other? Shall I try all the kinds of grapes, and all the sorts +of pears? I have already fifteen varieties of strawberries (vines); +and I have no idea that I have hit the right one. Must I subscribe +to all the magazines and weekly papers which offer premiums of the +best vines? Oh, that all the strawberries were rolled into one, that +I could inclose all its lusciousness in one bite! Oh for the good +old days when a strawberry was a strawberry, and there was no +perplexity about it! There are more berries now than churches; and +no one knows what to believe. I have seen gardens which were all +experiment, given over to every new thing, and which produced little +or nothing to the owners, except the pleasure of expectation. People +grow pear-trees at great expense of time and money, which never yield +them more than four pears to the tree. The fashions of ladies' +bonnets are nothing to the fashions of nurserymen. He who attempts +to follow them has a business for life; but his life may be short. +If I enter upon this wide field of horticultural experiment, I shall +leave peace behind; and I may expect the ground to open, and swallow +me and all my fortune. May Heaven keep me to the old roots and herbs +of my forefathers! Perhaps in the world of modern reforms this is +not possible; but I intend now to cultivate only the standard things, +and learn to talk knowingly of the rest. Of course, one must keep up +a reputation. I have seen people greatly enjoy themselves, and +elevate themselves in their own esteem, in a wise and critical talk +about all the choice wines, while they were sipping a decoction, the +original cost of which bore no relation to the price of grapes. + + + + +NINETEENTH WEEK + +The closing scenes are not necessarily funereal. A garden should be +got ready for winter as well as for summer. When one goes into +winter-quarters, he wants everything neat and trim. Expecting high +winds, we bring everything into close reef. Some men there are who +never shave (if they are so absurd as ever to shave), except when +they go abroad, and who do not take care to wear polished boots in +the bosoms of their families. I like a man who shaves (next to one +who does n't shave) to satisfy his own conscience, and not for +display, and who dresses as neatly at home as he does anywhere. Such +a man will be likely to put his garden in complete order before the +snow comes, so that its last days shall not present a scene of +melancholy ruin and decay. + +I confess that, after such an exhausting campaign, I felt a great +temptation to retire, and call it a drawn engagement. But better +counsels prevailed. I determined that the weeds should not sleep on +the field of battle. I routed them out, and leveled their works. I +am master of the situation. If I have made a desert, I at least have +peace; but it is not quite a desert. The strawberries, the +raspberries, the celery, the turnips, wave green above the clean +earth, with no enemy in sight. In these golden October days no work +is more fascinating than this getting ready for spring. The sun is +no longer a burning enemy, but a friend, illuminating all the open +space, and warming the mellow soil. And the pruning and clearing +away of rubbish, and the fertilizing, go on with something of the +hilarity of a wake, rather than the despondency of other funerals. +When the wind begins to come out of the northwest of set purpose, and +to sweep the ground with low and searching fierceness, very different +from the roistering, jolly bluster of early fall, I have put the +strawberries under their coverlet of leaves, pruned the grape-vines +and laid them under the soil, tied up the tender plants, given the +fruit trees a good, solid meal about the roots; and so I turn away, +writing Resurgam on the gatepost. And Calvin, aware that the summer +is past and the harvest is ended, and that a mouse in the kitchen is +worth two birds gone south, scampers away to the house with his tail +in the air. + +And yet I am not perfectly at rest in my mind. I know that this is +only a truce until the parties recover their exhausted energies. All +winter long the forces of chemistry will be mustering under ground, +repairing the losses, calling up the reserves, getting new strength +from my surface-fertilizing bounty, and making ready for the spring +campaign. They will open it before I am ready: while the snow is +scarcely melted, and the ground is not passable, they will begin to +move on my works; and the fight will commence. Yet how deceitfully +it will open to the music of birds and the soft enchantment of the +spring mornings! I shall even be permitted to win a few skirmishes: +the secret forces will even wait for me to plant and sow, and show my +full hand, before they come on in heavy and determined assault. +There are already signs of an internecine fight with the devil-grass, +which has intrenched itself in a considerable portion of my +garden-patch. It contests the ground inch by inch; and digging it +out is very much such labor as eating a piece of choke-cherry pie +with the stones all in. It is work, too, that I know by experience I +shall have to do alone. Every man must eradicate his own devil- +grass. The neighbors who have leisure to help you in grape-picking +time are all busy when devil-grass is most aggressive. My neighbors' +visits are well timed: it is only their hens which have seasons for +their own. + +I am told that abundant and rank weeds are signs of a rich soil; but +I have noticed that a thin, poor soil grows little but weeds. I am +inclined to think that the substratum is the same, and that the only +choice in this world is what kind of weeds you will have. I am not +much attracted by the gaunt, flavorless mullein, and the wiry thistle +of upland country pastures, where the grass is always gray, as if the +world were already weary and sick of life. The awkward, uncouth +wickedness of remote country-places, where culture has died out after +the first crop, is about as disagreeable as the ranker and richer +vice of city life, forced by artificial heat and the juices of an +overfed civilization. There is no doubt that, on the whole, the rich +soil is the best: the fruit of it has body and flavor. To what +affluence does a woman (to take an instance, thank Heaven, which is +common) grow, with favoring circumstances, under the stimulus of the +richest social and intellectual influences! I am aware that there +has been a good deal said in poetry about the fringed gentian and the +harebell of rocky districts and waysides, and I know that it is +possible for maidens to bloom in very slight soil into a wild-wood +grace and beauty; yet, the world through, they lack that wealth of +charms, that tropic affluence of both person and mind, which higher +and more stimulating culture brings,--the passion as well as the soul +glowing in the Cloth-of-Gold rose. Neither persons nor plants are +ever fully themselves until they are cultivated to their highest. I, +for one, have no fear that society will be too much enriched. The +only question is about keeping down the weeds; and I have learned by +experience, that we need new sorts of hoes, and more disposition to +use them. + +Moral Deduction. --The difference between soil and society is +evident. We bury decay in the earth; we plant in it the perishing; +we feed it with offensive refuse: but nothing grows out of it that is +not clean; it gives us back life and beauty for our rubbish. Society +returns us what we give it. + +Pretending to reflect upon these things, but in reality watching the +blue-jays, who are pecking at the purple berries of the woodbine on +the south gable, I approach the house. Polly is picking up chestnuts +on the sward, regardless of the high wind which rattles them about +her head and upon the glass roof of her winter-garden. The garden, I +see, is filled with thrifty plants, which will make it always summer +there. The callas about the fountain will be in flower by Christmas: +the plant appears to keep that holiday in her secret heart all +summer. I close the outer windows as we go along, and congratulate +myself that we are ready for winter. For the winter-garden I have no +responsibility: Polly has entire charge of it. I am only required to +keep it heated, and not too hot either; to smoke it often for the +death of the bugs; to water it once a day; to move this and that into +the sun and out of the sun pretty constantly: but she does all the +work. We never relinquish that theory. + +As we pass around the house, I discover a boy in the ravine filling a +bag with chestnuts and hickorynuts. They are not plenty this year; +and I suggest the propriety of leaving some for us. The boy is a +little slow to take the idea: but he has apparently found the picking +poor, and exhausted it; for, as he turns away down the glen, he hails +me with, + +"Mister, I say, can you tell me where I can find some walnuts?" + +The coolness of this world grows upon me. It is time to go in and +light a wood-fire on the hearth. + + + + + +CALVIN + + + + NOTE. --The following brief Memoir of one of the characters in +this book is added by his friend, in the hope that the record of an +exemplary fife in an humble sphere may be of some service to the +world. + + HARTFORD, January, 1880. + + + + +CALVIN + +A STUDY OF CHARACTER + +Calvin is dead. His life, long to him, but short for the rest of us, +was not marked by startling adventures, but his character was so +uncommon and his qualities were so worthy of imitation, that I have +been asked by those who personally knew him to set down my +recollections of his career. + +His origin and ancestry were shrouded in mystery; even his age was a +matter of pure conjecture. Although he was of the Maltese race, I +have reason to suppose that he was American by birth as he certainly +was in sympathy. Calvin was given to me eight years ago by Mrs. +Stowe, but she knew nothing of his age or origin. He walked into her +house one day out of the great unknown and became at once at home, as +if he had been always a friend of the family. He appeared to have +artistic and literary tastes, and it was as if he had inquired at the +door if that was the residence of the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," +and, upon being assured that it was, bad decided to dwell there. +This is, of course, fanciful, for his antecedents were wholly +unknown, but in his time he could hardly have been in any household +where he would not have heard "Uncle Tom's Cabin" talked about. When +he came to Mrs. Stowe, he was as large as he ever was, and +apparently as old as he ever became. Yet there was in him no +appearance of age; he was in the happy maturity of all his powers, +and you would rather have said that in that maturity he had found the +secret of perpetual youth. And it was as difficult to believe that +he would ever be aged as it was to imagine that he had ever been in +immature youth. There was in him a mysterious perpetuity. + +After some years, when Mrs. Stowe made her winter home in Florida, +Calvin came to live with us. From the first moment, he fell into the +ways of the house and assumed a recognized position in the family,--I +say recognized, because after he became known he was always inquired +for by visitors, and in the letters to the other members of the +family he always received a message. Although the least obtrusive of +beings, his individuality always made itself felt. + +His personal appearance had much to do with this, for he was of royal +mould, and had an air of high breeding. He was large, but he had +nothing of the fat grossness of the celebrated Angora family; though +powerful, he was exquisitely proportioned, and as graceful in every +movement as a young leopard. When he stood up to open a door--he +opened all the doors with old-fashioned latches--he was portentously +tall, and when stretched on the rug before the fire he seemed too +long for this world--as indeed he was. His coat was the finest and +softest I have ever seen, a shade of quiet Maltese; and from his +throat downward, underneath, to the white tips of his feet, he wore +the whitest and most delicate ermine; and no person was ever more +fastidiously neat. In his finely formed head you saw something of +his aristocratic character; the ears were small and cleanly cut, +there was a tinge of pink in the nostrils, his face was handsome, and +the expression of his countenance exceedingly intelligent--I should +call it even a sweet expression, if the term were not inconsistent +with his look of alertness and sagacity. + +It is difficult to convey a just idea of his gayety in connection +with his dignity and gravity, which his name expressed. As we know +nothing of his family, of course it will be understood that Calvin +was his Christian name. He had times of relaxation into utter +playfulness, delighting in a ball of yarn, catching sportively at +stray ribbons when his mistress was at her toilet, and pursuing his +own tail, with hilarity, for lack of anything better. He could amuse +himself by the hour, and he did not care for children; perhaps +something in his past was present to his memory. He had absolutely +no bad habits, and his disposition was perfect. I never saw him +exactly angry, though I have seen his tail grow to an enormous size +when a strange cat appeared upon his lawn. He disliked cats, +evidently regarding them as feline and treacherous, and he had no +association with them. Occasionally there would be heard a night +concert in the shrubbery. Calvin would ask to have the door opened, +and then you would hear a rush and a "pestzt," and the concert would +explode, and Calvin would quietly come in and resume his seat on the +hearth. There was no trace of anger in his manner, but he would n't +have any of that about the house. He had the rare virtue of +magnanimity. Although he had fixed notions about his own rights, and +extraordinary persistency in getting them, he never showed temper at +a repulse; he simply and firmly persisted till he had what he wanted. +His diet was one point; his idea was that of the scholars about +dictionaries,--to "get the best." He knew as well as any one what was +in the house, and would refuse beef if turkey was to be had; and if +there were oysters, he would wait over the turkey to see if the +oysters would not be forthcoming. And yet he was not a gross +gourmand; he would eat bread if he saw me eating it, and thought he +was not being imposed on. His habits of feeding, also, were refined; +he never used a knife, and he would put up his hand and draw the fork +down to his mouth as gracefully as a grown person. Unless necessity +compelled, he would not eat in the kitchen, but insisted upon his +meals in the dining-room, and would wait patiently, unless a stranger +were present; and then he was sure to importune the visitor, hoping +that the latter was ignorant of the rule of the house, and would give +him something. They used to say that he preferred as his table-cloth +on the floor a certain well-known church journal; but this was said +by an Episcopalian. So far as I know, he had no religious +prejudices, except that he did not like the association with +Romanists. He tolerated the servants, because they belonged to the +house, and would sometimes linger by the kitchen stove; but the +moment visitors came in he arose, opened the door, and marched into +the drawing-room. Yet he enjoyed the company of his equals, and +never withdrew, no matter how many callers--whom he recognized as of +his society--might come into the drawing-room. Calvin was fond of +company, but he wanted to choose it; and I have no doubt that his was +an aristocratic fastidiousness rather than one of faith. It is so +with most people. + +The intelligence of Calvin was something phenomenal, in his rank of +life. He established a method of communicating his wants, and even +some of his sentiments; and he could help himself in many things. +There was a furnace register in a retired room, where he used to go +when he wished to be alone, that he always opened when he desired +more heat; but he never shut it, any more than he shut the door after +himself. He could do almost everything but speak; and you would +declare sometimes that you could see a pathetic longing to do that in +his intelligent face. I have no desire to overdraw his qualities, +but if there was one thing in him more noticeable than another, it +was his fondness for nature. He could content himself for hours at a +low window, looking into the ravine and at the great trees, noting +the smallest stir there; he delighted, above all things, to accompany +me walking about the garden, hearing the birds, getting the smell of +the fresh earth, and rejoicing in the sunshine. He followed me and +gamboled like a dog, rolling over on the turf and exhibiting his +delight in a hundred ways. If I worked, he sat and watched me, or +looked off over the bank, and kept his ear open to the twitter in the +cherry-trees. When it stormed, he was sure to sit at the window, +keenly watching the rain or the snow, glancing up and down at its +falling; and a winter tempest always delighted him. I think he was +genuinely fond of birds, but, so far as I know, he usually confined +himself to one a day; he never killed, as some sportsmen do, for the +sake of killing, but only as civilized people do,--from necessity. +He was intimate with the flying-squirrels who dwell in the chestnut- +trees,--too intimate, for almost every day in the summer he would +bring in one, until he nearly discouraged them. He was, indeed, a +superb hunter, and would have been a devastating one, if his bump of +destructiveness had not been offset by a bump of moderation. There +was very little of the brutality of the lower animals about him; I +don't think he enjoyed rats for themselves, but he knew his business, +and for the first few months of his residence with us he waged an +awful campaign against the horde, and after that his simple presence +was sufficient to deter them from coming on the premises. Mice +amused him, but he usually considered them too small game to be taken +seriously; I have seen him play for an hour with a mouse, and then +let him go with a royal condescension. In this whole, matter of +"getting a living," Calvin was a great contrast to the rapacity of +the age in which he lived. + +I hesitate a little to speak of his capacity for friendship and the +affectionateness of his nature, for I know from his own reserve that +he would not care to have it much talked about. We understood each +other perfectly, but we never made any fuss about it; when I spoke +his name and snapped my fingers, he came to me; when I returned home +at night, he was pretty sure to be waiting for me near the gate, and +would rise and saunter along the walk, as if his being there were +purely accidental,--so shy was he commonly of showing feeling; and +when I opened the door, he never rushed in, like a cat, but loitered, +and lounged, as if he had no intention of going in, but would +condescend to. And yet, the fact was, he knew dinner was ready, and +he was bound to be there. He kept the run of dinner-time. It +happened sometimes, during our absence in the summer, that dinner +would be early, and Calvin, walking about the grounds, missed it and +came in late. But he never made a mistake the second day. There was +one thing he never did,--he never rushed through an open doorway. He +never forgot his dignity. If he had asked to have the door opened, +and was eager to go out, he always went deliberately; I can see him +now standing on the sill, looking about at the sky as if he was +thinking whether it were worth while to take an umbrella, until he +was near having his tail shut in. + +His friendship was rather constant than demonstrative. When we +returned from an absence of nearly two years, Calvin welcomed us with +evident pleasure, but showed his satisfaction rather by tranquil +happiness than by fuming about. He had the faculty of making us glad +to get home. It was his constancy that was so attractive. He liked +companionship, but he wouldn't be petted, or fussed over, or sit in +any one's lap a moment; he always extricated himself from such +familiarity with dignity and with no show of temper. If there was +any petting to be done, however, he chose to do it. Often he would +sit looking at me, and then, moved by a delicate affection, come and +pull at my coat and sleeve until he could touch my face with his +nose, and then go away contented. He had a habit of coming to my +study in the morning, sitting quietly by my side or on the table for +hours, watching the pen run over the paper, occasionally swinging his +tail round for a blotter, and then going to sleep among the papers by +the inkstand. Or, more rarely, he would watch the writing from a +perch on my shoulder. Writing always interested him, and, until he +understood it, he wanted to hold the pen. + +He always held himself in a kind of reserve with his friend, as if he +had said, "Let us respect our personality, and not make a "mess" of +friendship." He saw, with Emerson, the risk of degrading it to +trivial conveniency. "Why insist on rash personal relations with +your friend?" "Leave this touching and clawing." Yet I would not +give an unfair notion of his aloofness, his fine sense of the +sacredness of the me and the not-me. And, at the risk of not being +believed, I will relate an incident, which was often repeated. +Calvin had the practice of passing a portion of the night in the +contemplation of its beauties, and would come into our chamber over +the roof of the conservatory through the open window, summer and +winter, and go to sleep on the foot of my bed. He would do this +always exactly in this way; he never was content to stay in the +chamber if we compelled him to go upstairs and through the door. He +had the obstinacy of General Grant. But this is by the way. In the +morning, he performed his toilet and went down to breakfast with the +rest of the family. Now, when the mistress was absent from home, and +at no other time, Calvin would come in the morning, when the bell +rang, to the head of the bed, put up his feet and look into my face, +follow me about when I rose, "assist" at the dressing, and in many +purring ways show his fondness, as if he had plainly said, "I know +that she has gone away, but I am here." Such was Calvin in rare +moments. + +He had his limitations. Whatever passion he had for nature, he had +no conception of art. There was sent to him once a fine and very +expressive cat's head in bronze, by Fremiet. I placed it on the +floor. He regarded it intently, approached it cautiously and +crouchingly, touched it with his nose, perceived the fraud, turned +away abruptly, and never would notice it afterward. On the whole, +his life was not only a successful one, but a happy one. He never +had but one fear, so far as I know: he had a mortal and a reasonable +terror of plumbers. He would never stay in the house when they were +here. No coaxing could quiet him. Of course he did n't share our +fear about their charges, but he must have had some dreadful +experience with them in that portion of his life which is unknown to +us. A plumber was to him the devil, and I have no doubt that, in his +scheme, plumbers were foreordained to do him mischief. + +In speaking of his worth, it has never occurred to me to estimate +Calvin by the worldly standard. I know that it is customary now, +when any one dies, to ask how much he was worth, and that no obituary +in the newspapers is considered complete without such an estimate. +The plumbers in our house were one day overheard to say that, "They +say that she says that he says that he wouldn't take a hundred +dollars for him." It is unnecessary to say that I never made such a +remark, and that, so far as Calvin was concerned, there was no +purchase in money. + +As I look back upon it, Calvin's life seems to me a fortunate one, +for it was natural and unforced. He ate when he was hungry, slept +when he was sleepy, and enjoyed existence to the very tips of his +toes and the end of his expressive and slow-moving tail. He +delighted to roam about the garden, and stroll among the trees, and +to lie on the green grass and luxuriate in all the sweet influences +of summer. You could never accuse him of idleness, and yet he knew +the secret of repose. The poet who wrote so prettily of him that his +little life was rounded with a sleep, understated his felicity; it +was rounded with a good many. His conscience never seemed to +interfere with his slumbers. In fact, he had good habits and a +contented mind. I can see him now walk in at the study door, sit +down by my chair, bring his tail artistically about his feet, and +look up at me with unspeakable happiness in his handsome face. I +often thought that he felt the dumb limitation which denied him the +power of language. But since he was denied speech, he scorned the +inarticulate mouthings of the lower animals. The vulgar mewing and +yowling of the cat species was beneath him; he sometimes uttered a +sort of articulate and well-bred ejaculation, when he wished to call +attention to something that he considered remarkable, or to some want +of his, but he never went whining about. He would sit for hours at a +closed window, when he desired to enter, without a murmur, and when +it was opened, he never admitted that he had been impatient by +"bolting" in. Though speech he had not, and the unpleasant kind of +utterance given to his race he would not use, he had a mighty power +of purr to express his measureless content with congenial society. +There was in him a musical organ with stops of varied power and +expression, upon which I have no doubt he could have performed +Scarlatti's celebrated cat's-fugue. + +Whether Calvin died of old age, or was carried off by one of the +diseases incident to youth, it is impossible to say; for his +departure was as quiet as his advent was mysterious. I only know +that he appeared to us in this world in his perfect stature and +beauty, and that after a time, like Lohengrin, he withdrew. In his +illness there was nothing more to be regretted than in all his +blameless life. I suppose there never was an illness that had more +of dignity, and sweetness and resignation in it. It came on +gradually, in a kind of listlessness and want of appetite. An +alarming symptom was his preference for the warmth of a +furnace-register to the lively sparkle of the open woodfire. +Whatever pain he suffered, he bore it in silence, and seemed only +anxious not to obtrude his malady. We tempted him with the +delicacies of the season, but it soon became impossible for him to +eat, and for two weeks he ate or drank scarcely anything. Sometimes +he made an effort to take something, but it was evident that he made +the effort to please us. The neighbors--and I am convinced that the +advice of neighbors is never good for anything--suggested catnip. He +would n't even smell it. We had the attendance of an amateur +practitioner of medicine, whose real office was the cure of souls, +but nothing touched his case. He took what was offered, but it was +with the air of one to whom the time for pellets was passed. He sat +or lay day after day almost motionless, never once making a display +of those vulgar convulsions or contortions of pain which are so +disagreeable to society. His favorite place was on the brightest +spot of a Smyrna rug by the conservatory, where the sunlight fell and +he could hear the fountain play. If we went to him and exhibited our +interest in his condition, he always purred in recognition of our +sympathy. And when I spoke his name, he looked up with an expression +that said, "I understand it, old fellow, but it's no use." He was to +all who came to visit him a model of calmness and patience in +affliction. + +I was absent from home at the last, but heard by daily postal-card of +his failing condition; and never again saw him alive. One sunny +morning, he rose from his rug, went into the conservatory (he was +very thin then), walked around it deliberately, looking at all the +plants he knew, and then went to the bay-window in the dining-room, +and stood a long time looking out upon the little field, now brown +and sere, and toward the garden, where perhaps the happiest hours of +his life had been spent. It was a last look. He turned and walked +away, laid himself down upon the bright spot in the rug, and quietly +died. + +It is not too much to say that a little shock went through the +neighborhood when it was known that Calvin was dead, so marked was +his individuality; and his friends, one after another, came in to see +him. There was no sentimental nonsense about his obsequies; it was +felt that any parade would have been distasteful to him. John, who +acted as undertaker, prepared a candle-box for him and I believe +assumed a professional decorum; but there may have been the usual +levity underneath, for I heard that he remarked in the kitchen that +it was the "driest wake he ever attended." Everybody, however, felt +a fondness for Calvin, and regarded him with a certain respect. +Between him and Bertha there existed a great friendship, and she +apprehended his nature; she used to say that sometimes she was afraid +of him, he looked at her so intelligently; she was never certain that +he was what he appeared to be. + +When I returned, they had laid Calvin on a table in an upper chamber +by an open window. It was February. He reposed in a candle-box, +lined about the edge with evergreen, and at his head stood a little +wine-glass with flowers. He lay with his head tucked down in his +arms,--a favorite position of his before the fire,--as if asleep in +the comfort of his soft and exquisite fur. It was the involuntary +exclamation of those who saw him, "How natural he looks! "As for +myself, I said nothing. John buried him under the twin hawthorn- +trees,--one white and the other pink,--in a spot where Calvin was +fond of lying and listening to the hum of summer insects and the +twitter of birds. + +Perhaps I have failed to make appear the individuality of character +that was so evident to those who knew him. At any rate, I have set +down nothing concerning him, but the literal truth. He was always a +mystery. I did not know whence he came; I do not know whither he has +gone. I would not weave one spray of falsehood in the wreath I lay +upon his grave. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's My Summer in a Garden, by Charles D. Warner + diff --git a/old/cwsig10.zip b/old/cwsig10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0555e6f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwsig10.zip diff --git a/old/cwsig11.txt b/old/cwsig11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..921aaeb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwsig11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3428 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Summer in a Garden by Charles D. Warner +#39 in our series by Charles Dudley Warner + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, +which is, as I understand it, a cruel device of architecture, +representing a man or a woman, obliged to hold up upon his or her +head or shoulders a structure which they did not build, and which +could stand just as well without as with them. But an Introduction +is more apt to be a pillar, such as one may see in Baalbec, standing +up in the air all alone, with nothing on it, and with nothing for it +to do. + +But an Introductory Letter is different. There is in that no +formality, no assumption of function, no awkward propriety or dignity +to be sustained. A letter at the opening of a book may be only a +footpath, leading the curious to a favorable point of observation, +and then leaving them to wander as they will. + +Sluggards have been sent to the ant for wisdom; but writers might +better be sent to the spider, not because he works all night, and +watches all day, but because he works unconsciously. He dare not +even bring his work before his own eyes, but keeps it behind him, as +if too much knowledge of what one is doing would spoil the delicacy +and modesty of one's work. + +Almost all graceful and fanciful work is born like a dream, that +comes noiselessly, and tarries silently, and goes as a bubble bursts. +And yet somewhere work must come in,--real, well-considered work. + +Inness (the best American painter of Nature in her moods of real +human feeling) once said, "No man can do anything in art, unless he +has intuitions; but, between whiles, one must work hard in collecting +the materials out of which intuitions are made." The truth could not +be hit off better. Knowledge is the soil, and intuitions are the +flowers which grow up out of it. The soil must be well enriched and +worked. + +It is very plain, or will be to those who read these papers, now +gathered up into this book, as into a chariot for a race, that the +author has long employed his eyes, his ears, and his understanding, +in observing and considering the facts of Nature, and in weaving +curious analogies. Being an editor of one of the oldest daily news- +papers in New England, and obliged to fill its columns day after day +(as the village mill is obliged to render every day so many sacks of +flour or of meal to its hungry customers), it naturally occurred to +him, "Why not write something which I myself, as well as my readers, +shall enjoy? The market gives them facts enough; politics, lies +enough; art, affectations enough; criminal news, horrors enough; +fashion, more than enough of vanity upon vanity, and vexation of +purse. Why should they not have some of those wandering and joyous +fancies which solace my hours?" + +The suggestion ripened into execution. Men and women read, and +wanted more. These garden letters began to blossom every week; and +many hands were glad to gather pleasure from them. A sign it was of +wisdom. In our feverish days it is a sign of health or of +convalescence that men love gentle pleasure, and enjoyments that do +not rush or roar, but distill as the dew. + +The love of rural life, the habit of finding enjoyment in familiar +things, that susceptibility to Nature which keeps the nerve gently +thrilled in her homliest nooks and by her commonest sounds, is worth +a thousand fortunes of money, or its equivalents. + +Every book which interprets the secret lore of fields and gardens, +every essay that brings men nearer to the understanding of the +mysteries which every tree whispers, every brook murmurs, every weed, +even, hints, is a contribution to the wealth and the happiness of our +kind. And if the lines of the writer shall be traced in quaint +characters, and be filled with a grave humor, or break out at times +into merriment, all this will be no presumption against their wisdom +or his goodness. Is the oak less strong and tough because the mosses +and weather-stains stick in all manner of grotesque sketches along +its bark? Now, truly, one may not learn from this little book either +divinity or horticulture; but if he gets a pure happiness, and a +tendency to repeat the happiness from the simple stores of Nature, he +will gain from our friend's garden what Adam lost in his, and what +neither philosophy nor divinity has always been able to restore. + +Wherefore, thanking you for listening to a former letter, which +begged you to consider whether these curious and ingenious papers, +that go winding about like a half-trodden path between the garden and +the field, might not be given in book-form to your million readers, I +remain, yours to command in everything but the writing of an +Introduction, + +HENRY WARD BEECHER. + + + + + +BY WAY OF DEDICATION + +MY DEAR POLLY,--When a few of these papers had appeared in "The +Courant," I was encouraged to continue them by hearing that they had +at least one reader who read them with the serious mind from which +alone profit is to be expected. It was a maiden lady, who, I am +sure, was no more to blame for her singleness than for her age; and +she looked to these honest sketches of experience for that aid which +the professional agricultural papers could not give in the management +of the little bit of garden which she called her own. She may have +been my only disciple; and I confess that the thought of her yielding +a simple faith to what a gainsaying world may have regarded with +levity has contributed much to give an increased practical turn to my +reports of what I know about gardening. The thought that I had +misled a lady, whose age is not her only singularity, who looked to +me for advice which should be not at all the fanciful product of the +Garden of Gull, would give me great pain. I trust that her autumn is +a peaceful one, and undisturbed by either the humorous or the +satirical side of Nature. + +You know that this attempt to tell the truth about one of the most +fascinating occupations in the world has not been without its +dangers. I have received anonymous letters. Some of them were +murderously spelled; others were missives in such elegant phrase and +dress, that danger was only to be apprehended in them by one skilled +in the mysteries of medieval poisoning, when death flew on the wings +of a perfume. One lady, whose entreaty that I should pause had +something of command in it, wrote that my strictures on "pusley" had +so inflamed her husband's zeal, that, in her absence in the country, +he had rooted up all her beds of portulaca (a sort of cousin of the +fat weed), and utterly cast it out. It is, however, to be expected, +that retributive justice would visit the innocent as well as the +guilty of an offending family. This is only another proof of the +wide sweep of moral forces. I suppose that it is as necessary in the +vegetable world as it is elsewhere to avoid the appearance of evil. + +In offering you the fruit of my garden, which has been gathered from +week to week, without much reference to the progress of the crops or +the drought, I desire to acknowledge an influence which has lent half +the charm to my labor. If I were in a court of justice, or +injustice, under oath, I should not like to say, that, either in the +wooing days of spring, or under the suns of the summer solstice, you +had been, either with hoe, rake, or miniature spade, of the least use +in the garden; but your suggestions have been invaluable, and, +whenever used, have been paid for. Your horticultural inquiries have +been of a nature to astonish the vegetable world, if it listened, and +were a constant inspiration to research. There was almost nothing +that you did not wish to know; and this, added to what I wished to +know, made a boundless field for discovery. What might have become +of the garden, if your advice had been followed, a good Providence +only knows; but I never worked there without a consciousness that you +might at any moment come down the walk, under the grape-arbor, +bestowing glances of approval, that were none the worse for not being +critical; exercising a sort of superintendence that elevated +gardening into a fine art; expressing a wonder that was as +complimentary to me as it was to Nature; bringing an atmosphere which +made the garden a region of romance, the soil of which was set apart +for fruits native to climes unseen. It was this bright presence that +filled the garden, as it did the summer, with light, and now leaves +upon it that tender play of color and bloom which is called among the +Alps the after-glow. + +NOOK FARM, HARTFORD, October, 1870 + +C. D. W. + + + + + +PRELIMINARY + + +The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions, as it is the +latest. Mud-pies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So +long as we are dirty, we are pure. Fondness for the ground comes +back to a man after he has run the round of pleasure and business, +eaten dirt, and sown wild-oats, drifted about the world, and taken +the wind of all its moods. The love of digging in the ground (or of +looking on while he pays another to dig) is as sure to come back to +him as he is sure, at last, to go under the ground, and stay there. +To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and +watch, their renewal of life, this is the commonest delight of the +race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do. When Cicero writes +of the pleasures of old age, that of agriculture is chief among them: + +"Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus ego incredibiliter +delector: quae nec ulla impediuntur senectute, et mihi ad sapientis +vitam proxime videntur accedere." (I am driven to Latin because New +York editors have exhausted the English language in the praising of +spring, and especially of the month of May.) + +Let us celebrate the soil. Most men toil that they may own a piece +of it; they measure their success in life by their ability to buy it. +It is alike the passion of the parvenu and the pride of the +aristocrat. Broad acres are a patent of nobility; and no man but +feels more, of a man in the world if he have a bit of ground that he +can call his own. However small it is on the surface, it is four +thousand miles deep; and that is a very handsome property. And there +is a great pleasure in working in the soil, apart from the ownership +of it. The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done +something for the good of the World. He belongs to the producers. +It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's toil, if it be nothing +more than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn. One cultivates a lawn +even with great satisfaction; for there is nothing more beautiful +than grass and turf in our latitude. The tropics may have their +delights, but they have not turf: and the world without turf is a +dreary desert. The original Garden of Eden could not have had such +turf as one sees in England. The Teutonic races all love turf: they +emigrate in the line of its growth. + +To dig in the mellow soil-to dig moderately, for all pleasure should +be taken sparingly--is a great thing. One gets strength out of the +ground as often as one really touches it with a hoe. Antaeus (this +is a classical article) was no doubt an agriculturist; and such a +prize-fighter as Hercules could n't do anything with him till he got +him to lay down his spade, and quit the soil. It is not simply beets +and potatoes and corn and string-beans that one raises in his well- +hoed garden: it is the average of human life. There is life in the +ground; it goes into the seeds; and it also, when it is stirred up, +goes into the man who stirs it. The hot sun on his back as he bends +to his shovel and hoe, or contemplatively rakes the warm and fragrant +loam, is better than much medicine. The buds are coming out on the +bushes round about; the blossoms of the fruit trees begin to show; +the blood is running up the grapevines in streams; you can smell the +Wild flowers on the near bank; and the birds are flying and glancing +and singing everywhere. To the open kitchen door comes the busy +housewife to shake a white something, and stands a moment to look, +quite transfixed by the delightful sights and sounds. Hoeing in the +garden on a bright, soft May day, when you are not obliged to, is +nearly equal to the delight of going trouting. + +Blessed be agriculture! if one does not have too much of it. All +literature is fragrant with it, in a gentlemanly way. At the foot of +the charming olive-covered hills of Tivoli, Horace (not he of +Chappaqua) had a sunny farm: it was in sight of Hadrian's villa, who +did landscape gardening on an extensive scale, and probably did not +get half as much comfort out of it as Horace did from his more simply +tilled acres. We trust that Horace did a little hoeing and farming +himself, and that his verse is not all fraudulent sentiment. In +order to enjoy agriculture, you do not want too much of it, and you +want to be poor enough to have a little inducement to work moderately +yourself. Hoe while it is spring, and enjoy the best anticipations. +It is not much matter if things do not turn out well. + + + + +FIRST WEEK + +Under this modest title, I purpose to write a series of papers, some +of which will be like many papers of garden-seeds, with nothing vital +in them, on the subject of gardening; holding that no man has any +right to keep valuable knowledge to himself, and hoping that those +who come after me, except tax-gatherers and that sort of person, will +find profit in the perusal of my experience. As my knowledge is +constantly increasing, there is likely to be no end to these papers. +They will pursue no orderly system of agriculture or horticulture, +but range from topic to topic, according to the weather and the +progress of the weeds, which may drive me from one corner of the +garden to the other. + +The principal value of a private garden is not understood. It is not +to give the possessor vegetables or fruit (that can be better and +cheaper done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him patience +and philosophy and the higher virtues, hope deferred and +expectations blighted, leading directly to resignation and sometimes +to alienation. The garden thus becomes a moral agent, a test of +character, as it was in the beginning. I shall keep this central +truth in mind in these articles. I mean to have a moral garden, if +it is not a productive one,--one that shall teach, O my brothers! +O my sisters! the great lessons of life. + +The first pleasant thing about a garden in this latitude is, that you +never know when to set it going. If you want anything to come to +maturity early, you must start it in a hot-house. If you put it out +early, the chances are all in favor of getting it nipped with frost; +for the thermometer will be 90 deg. one day, and go below 32 deg. the +night of the day following. And, if you do not set out plants or sow +seeds early, you fret continually; knowing that your vegetables will +be late, and that, while Jones has early peas, you will be watching +your slow-forming pods. This keeps you in a state of mind. When you +have planted anything early, you are doubtful whether to desire to +see it above ground, or not. If a hot day comes, you long to see the +young plants; but, when a cold north wind brings frost, you tremble +lest the seeds have burst their bands. Your spring is passed in +anxious doubts and fears, which are usually realized; and so a great +moral discipline is worked out for you. + +Now, there is my corn, two or three inches high this 18th of May, and +apparently having no fear of a frost. I was hoeing it this morning +for the first time,--it is not well usually to hoe corn until about +the 18th of May,--when Polly came out to look at the Lima beans. She +seemed to think the poles had come up beautifully. I thought they +did look well: they are a fine set of poles, large and well grown, +and stand straight. They were inexpensive, too. The cheapness came +about from my cutting them on another man's land, and he did not know +it. I have not examined this transaction in the moral light of +gardening; but I know people in this country take great liberties at +the polls. Polly noticed that the beans had not themselves come up +in any proper sense, but that the dirt had got off from them, leaving +them uncovered. She thought it would be well to sprinkle a slight +layer of dirt over them; and I, indulgently, consented. It occurred +to me, when she had gone, that beans always come up that way,--wrong +end first; and that what they wanted was light, and not dirt. + +Observation.--Woman always did, from the first, make a muss in a +garden. + +I inherited with my garden a large patch of raspberries. Splendid +berry the raspberry, when the strawberry has gone. This patch has +grown into such a defiant attitude, that you could not get within +several feet of it. Its stalks were enormous in size, and cast out +long, prickly arms in all directions; but the bushes were pretty much +all dead. I have walked into them a good deal with a pruning-knife; +but it is very much like fighting original sin. The variety is one +that I can recommend. I think it is called Brinckley's Orange. It +is exceedingly prolific, and has enormous stalks. The fruit is also +said to be good; but that does not matter so much, as the plant does +not often bear in this region. The stalks seem to be biennial +institutions; and as they get about their growth one year, and bear +the next year, and then die, and the winters here nearly always kill +them, unless you take them into the house (which is inconvenient if +you have a family of small children), it is very difficult to induce +the plant to flower and fruit. This is the greatest objection there +is to this sort of raspberry. I think of keeping these for +discipline, and setting out some others, more hardy sorts, for fruit. + + + + +SECOND WEEK + +Next to deciding when to start your garden, the most important matter +is, what to put in it. It is difficult to decide what to order for +dinner on a given day: how much more oppressive is it to order in a +lump an endless vista of dinners, so to speak! For, unless your +garden is a boundless prairie (and mine seems to me to be that when I +hoe it on hot days), you must make a selection, from the great +variety of vegetables, of those you will raise in it; and you feel +rather bound to supply your own table from your own garden, and to +eat only as you have sown. + +I hold that no man has a right (whatever his sex, of course) to have +a garden to his own selfish uses. He ought not to please himself, +but every man to please his neighbor. I tried to have a garden that +would give general moral satisfaction. It seemed to me that nobody +could object to potatoes (a most useful vegetable); and I began to +plant them freely. But there was a chorus of protest against them. +"You don't want to take up your ground with potatoes," the neighbors +said; "you can buy potatoes" (the very thing I wanted to avoid doing +is buying things). "What you want is the perishable things that you +cannot get fresh in the market."--"But what kind of perishable +things?" A horticulturist of eminence wanted me to sow lines of +straw-berries and raspberries right over where I had put my potatoes +in drills. I had about five hundred strawberry-plants in another +part of my garden; but this fruit-fanatic wanted me to turn my whole +patch into vines and runners. I suppose I could raise strawberries +enough for all my neighbors; and perhaps I ought to do it. I had a +little space prepared for melons,--muskmelons,--which I showed to an +experienced friend. + +"You are not going to waste your ground on muskmelons?" he asked. +"They rarely ripen in this climate thoroughly, before frost." He had +tried for years without luck. I resolved to not go into such a +foolish experiment. But, the next day, another neighbor happened in. +"Ah! I see you are going to have melons. My family would rather give +up anything else in the garden than musk-melons,--of the nutmeg +variety. They are the most grateful things we have on the table." +So there it was. There was no compromise: it was melons, or no +melons, and somebody offended in any case. I half resolved to plant +them a little late, so that they would, and they would n't. But I +had the same difficulty about string-beans (which I detest), and +squash (which I tolerate), and parsnips, and the whole round of green +things. + +I have pretty much come to the conclusion that you have got to put +your foot down in gardening. If I had actually taken counsel of my +friends, I should not have had a thing growing in the garden to-day +but weeds. And besides, while you are waiting, Nature does not wait. +Her mind is made up. She knows just what she will raise; and she has +an infinite variety of early and late. The most humiliating thing to +me about a garden is the lesson it teaches of the inferiority of man. +Nature is prompt, decided, inexhaustible. She thrusts up her plants +with a vigor and freedom that I admire; and the more worthless the +plant, the more rapid and splendid its growth. She is at it early +and late, and all night; never tiring, nor showing the least sign of +exhaustion. + +"Eternal gardening is the price of liberty," is a motto that I should +put over the gateway of my garden, if I had a gate. And yet it is +not wholly true; for there is no liberty in gardening. The man who +undertakes a garden is relentlessly pursued. He felicitates himself +that, when he gets it once planted, he will have a season of rest and +of enjoyment in the sprouting and growing of his seeds. It is a +green anticipation. He has planted a seed that will keep him awake +nights; drive rest from his bones, and sleep from his pillow. Hardly +is the garden planted, when he must begin to hoe it. The weeds have +sprung up all over it in a night. They shine and wave in redundant +life. The docks have almost gone to seed; and their roots go deeper +than conscience. Talk about the London Docks!--the roots of these +are like the sources of the Aryan race. And the weeds are not all. +I awake in the morning (and a thriving garden will wake a person up +two hours before he ought to be out of bed) and think of the +tomato-plants,--the leaves like fine lace-work, owing to black bugs +that skip around, and can't be caught. Somebody ought to get up +before the dew is off (why don't the dew stay on till after a +reasonable breakfast?) and sprinkle soot on the leaves. I wonder if +it is I. Soot is so much blacker than the bugs, that they are +disgusted, and go away. You can't get up too early, if you have a +garden. You must be early due yourself, if you get ahead of the +bugs. I think, that, on the whole, it would be best to sit up all +night, and sleep daytimes. Things appear to go on in the night in +the garden uncommonly. It would be less trouble to stay up than it +is to get up so early. + +I have been setting out some new raspberries, two sorts,--a silver +and a gold color. How fine they will look on the table next year in +a cut-glass dish, the cream being in a ditto pitcher! I set them +four and five feet apart. I set my strawberries pretty well apart +also. The reason is, to give room for the cows to run through when +they break into the garden,--as they do sometimes. A cow needs a +broader track than a locomotive; and she generally makes one. I am +sometimes astonished, to see how big a space in, a flower-bed her +foot will cover. The raspberries are called Doolittle and Golden +Cap. I don't like the name of the first variety, and, if they do +much, shall change it to Silver Top. You never can tell what a thing +named Doolittle will do. The one in the Senate changed color, and +got sour. They ripen badly,--either mildew, or rot on the bush. +They are apt to Johnsonize,--rot on the stem. I shall watch the +Doolittles. + + + + +THIRD WEEK + +I believe that I have found, if not original sin, at least vegetable +total depravity in my garden; and it was there before I went into it. +It is the bunch, or joint, or snakegrass,--whatever it is called. As +I do not know the names of all the weeds and plants, I have to do as +Adam did in his garden,--name things as I find them. This grass has +a slender, beautiful stalk: and when you cut it down, or pull up a +long root of it, you fancy it is got rid of; but in a day or two it +will come up in the same spot in half a dozen vigorous blades. +Cutting down and pulling up is what it thrives on. Extermination +rather helps it. If you follow a slender white root, it will be +found to run under the ground until it meets another slender white +root; and you will soon unearth a network of them, with a knot +somewhere, sending out dozens of sharp-pointed, healthy shoots, every +joint prepared to be an independent life and plant. The only way to +deal with it is to take one part hoe and two parts fingers, and +carefully dig it out, not leaving a joint anywhere. It will take a +little time, say all summer, to dig out thoroughly a small patch; but +if you once dig it out, and keep it out, you will have no further +trouble. + +I have said it was total depravity. Here it is. If you attempt to +pull up and root out any sin in you, which shows on the surface,--if +it does not show, you do not care for it,--you may have noticed how +it runs into an interior network of sins, and an ever-sprouting +branch of them roots somewhere; and that you cannot pull out one +without making a general internal disturbance, and rooting up your +whole being. I suppose it is less trouble to quietly cut them off at +the top--say once a week, on Sunday, when you put on your religious +clothes and face so that no one will see them, and not try to +eradicate the network within. + +Remark.--This moral vegetable figure is at the service of any +clergyman who will have the manliness to come forward and help me at +a day's hoeing on my potatoes. None but the orthodox need apply. + +I, however, believe in the intellectual, if not the moral, qualities +of vegetables, and especially weeds. There was a worthless vine that +(or who) started up about midway between a grape-trellis and a row of +bean-poles, some three feet from each, but a little nearer the +trellis. When it came out of the ground, it looked around to see +what it should do. The trellis was already occupied. The bean-pole +was empty. There was evidently a little the best chance of light, +air, and sole proprietorship on the pole. And the vine started for +the pole, and began to climb it with determination. Here was as +distinct an act of choice, of reason, as a boy exercises when he goes +into a forest, and, looking about, decides which tree he will climb. +And, besides, how did the vine know enough to travel in exactly the +right direction, three feet, to find what it wanted? This is +intellect. The weeds, on the other hand, have hateful moral +qualities. To cut down a weed is, therefore, to do a moral action. +I feel as if I were destroying sin. My hoe becomes an instrument of +retributive justice. I am an apostle of Nature. This view of the +matter lends a dignity to the art of hoeing which nothing else does, +and lifts it into the region of ethics. Hoeing becomes, not a +pastime, but a duty. And you get to regard it so, as the days and +the weeds lengthen. + +Observation.--Nevertheless, what a man needs in gardening is a +cast-iron back,--with a hinge in it. The hoe is an ingenious +instrument, calculated to call out a great deal of strength at a +great disadvantage. + +The striped bug has come, the saddest of the year. He is a moral +double-ender, iron-clad at that. He is unpleasant in two ways. He +burrows in the ground so that you cannot find him, and he flies away +so that you cannot catch him. He is rather handsome, as bugs go, but +utterly dastardly, in that he gnaws the stem of the plant close to +the ground, and ruins it without any apparent advantage to himself. +I find him on the hills of cucumbers (perhaps it will be a +cholera-year, and we shall not want any), the squashes (small loss), +and the melons (which never ripen). The best way to deal with the +striped bug is to sit down by the hills, and patiently watch for him. +If you are spry, you can annoy him. This, however, takes time. It +takes all day and part of the night. For he flieth in darkness, and +wasteth at noonday. If you get up before the dew is off the plants,- +-it goes off very early,--you can sprinkle soot on the plant (soot is +my panacea: if I can get the disease of a plant reduced to the +necessity of soot, I am all right)and soot is unpleasant to the bug. +But the best thing to do is to set a toad to catch the bugs. The +toad at once establishes the most intimate relations with the bug. +It is a pleasure to see such unity among the lower animals. The +difficulty is to make the toad stay and watch the hill. If you know +your toad, it is all right. If you do not, you must build a tight +fence round the plants, which the toad cannot jump over. This, +however, introduces a new element. I find that I have a zoological +garden on my hands. It is an unexpected result of my little +enterprise, which never aspired to the completeness of the Paris +"Jardin des Plantes." + + + + +FOURTH WEEK + +Orthodoxy is at a low ebb. Only two clergymen accepted my offer to +come and help hoe my potatoes for the privilege of using my vegetable +total-depravity figure about the snake-grass, or quack-grass as some +call it; and those two did not bring hoes. There seems to be a lack +of disposition to hoe among our educated clergy. I am bound to say +that these two, however, sat and watched my vigorous combats with the +weeds, and talked most beautifully about the application of the +snake-grass figure. As, for instance, when a fault or sin showed on +the surface of a man, whether, if you dug down, you would find that +it ran back and into the original organic bunch of original sin +within the man. The only other clergyman who came was from out of +town,--a half Universalist, who said he wouldn't give twenty cents +for my figure. He said that the snake-grass was not in my garden +originally, that it sneaked in under the sod, and that it could be +entirely rooted out with industry and patience. I asked the +Universalist-inclined man to take my hoe and try it; but he said he +had n't time, and went away. + +But, jubilate, I have got my garden all hoed the first time! I feel +as if I had put down the rebellion. Only there are guerrillas left +here and there, about the borders and in corners, unsubdued,--Forrest +docks, and Quantrell grass, and Beauregard pig-weeds. This first +hoeing is a gigantic task: it is your first trial of strength with +the never-sleeping forces of Nature. Several times, in its progress, +I was tempted to do as Adam did, who abandoned his garden on account +of the weeds. (How much my mind seems to run upon Adam, as if there +had been only two really moral gardens,--Adam's and mine!) The only +drawback to my rejoicing over the finishing of the first hoeing is, +that the garden now wants hoeing the second time. I suppose, if my +garden were planted in a perfect circle, and I started round it with +a hoe, I should never see an opportunity to rest. The fact is, that +gardening is the old fable of perpetual labor; and I, for one, can +never forgive Adam Sisyphus, or whoever it was, who let in the roots +of discord. I had pictured myself sitting at eve, with my family, in +the shade of twilight, contemplating a garden hoed. Alas! it is a +dream not to be realized in this world. + +My mind has been turned to the subject of fruit and shade trees in a +garden. There are those who say that trees shade the garden too +much, and interfere with the growth of the vegetables. There may be +something in this: but when I go down the potato rows, the rays of +the sun glancing upon my shining blade, the sweat pouring from my +face, I should be grateful for shade. What is a garden for? The +pleasure of man. I should take much more pleasure in a shady garden. +Am I to be sacrificed, broiled, roasted, for the sake of the +increased vigor of a few vegetables? The thing is perfectly absurd. +If I were rich, I think I would have my garden covered with an +awning, so that it would be comfortable to work in it. It might roll +up and be removable, as the great awning of the Roman Coliseum was,-- +not like the Boston one, which went off in a high wind. Another very +good way to do, and probably not so expensive as the awning, would be +to have four persons of foreign birth carry a sort of canopy over you +as you hoed. And there might be a person at each end of the row with +some cool and refreshing drink. Agriculture is still in a very +barbarous stage. I hope to live yet to see the day when I can do my +gardening, as tragedy is done, to slow and soothing music, and +attended by some of the comforts I have named. These things come so +forcibly into my mind sometimes as I work, that perhaps, when a +wandering breeze lifts my straw hat, or a bird lights on a near +currant-bush, and shakes out a full-throated summer song, I almost +expect to find the cooling drink and the hospitable entertainment at +the end of the row. But I never do. There is nothing to be done but +to turn round, and hoe back to the other end. + +Speaking of those yellow squash-bugs, I think I disheartened them by +covering the plants so deep with soot and wood-ashes that they could +not find them; and I am in doubt if I shall ever see the plants +again. But I have heard of another defense against the bugs. Put a +fine wire-screen over each hill, which will keep out the bugs and +admit the rain. I should say that these screens would not cost much +more than the melons you would be likely to get from the vines if you +bought them; but then think of the moral satisfaction of watching the +bugs hovering over the screen, seeing, but unable to reach the tender +plants within. That is worth paying for. + +I left my own garden yesterday, and went over to where Polly was +getting the weeds out of one of her flower-beds. She was working +away at the bed with a little hoe. Whether women ought to have the +ballot or not (and I have a decided opinion on that point, which I +should here plainly give, did I not fear that it would injure my +agricultural influence), 'I am compelled to say that this was rather +helpless hoeing. It was patient, conscientious, even pathetic +hoeing; but it was neither effective nor finished. When completed, +the bed looked somewhat as if a hen had scratched it: there was that +touching unevenness about it. I think no one could look at it and +not be affected. To be sure, Polly smoothed it off with a rake, and +asked me if it was n't nice; and I said it was. It was not a +favorable time for me to explain the difference between puttering +hoeing, and the broad, free sweep of the instrument, which kills the +weeds, spares the plants, and loosens the soil without leaving it in +holes and hills. But, after all, as life is constituted, I think +more of Polly's honest and anxious care of her plants than of the +most finished gardening in the world. + + + + +FIFTH WEEK + +I left my garden for a week, just at the close of the dry spell. A +season of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the +transformation was wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly +jumped forward. The tomatoes which I left slender plants, eaten of +bugs and debating whether they would go backward or forward, had +become stout and lusty, with thick stems and dark leaves, and some of +them had blossomed. The corn waved like that which grows so rank out +of the French-English mixture at Waterloo. The squashes--I will not +speak of the squashes. The most remarkable growth was the asparagus. +There was not a spear above ground when I went away; and now it had +sprung up, and gone to seed, and there were stalks higher than my +head. I am entirely aware of the value of words, and of moral +obligations. When I say that the asparagus had grown six feet in +seven days, I expect and wish to be believed. I am a little +particular about the statement; for, if there is any prize offered +for asparagus at the next agricultural fair, I wish to compete,- +-speed to govern. What I claim is the fastest asparagus. As for +eating purposes, I have seen better. A neighbor of mine, who looked +in at the growth of the bed, said, "Well, he'd be -----": but I told +him there was no use of affirming now; he might keep his oath till I +wanted it on the asparagus affidavit. In order to have this sort of +asparagus, you want to manure heavily in the early spring, fork it +in, and top-dress (that sounds technical) with a thick layer of +chloride of sodium: if you cannot get that, common salt will do, and +the neighbors will never notice whether it is the orthodox Na. Cl. +58-5, or not. + +I scarcely dare trust myself to speak of the weeds. They grow as if +the devil was in them. I know a lady, a member of the church, and a +very good sort of woman, considering the subject condition of that +class, who says that the weeds work on her to that extent, that, in +going through her garden, she has the greatest difficulty in keeping +the ten commandments in anything like an unfractured condition. I +asked her which one, but she said, all of them: one felt like +breaking the whole lot. The sort of weed which I most hate (if I can +be said to hate anything which grows in my own garden) is the +"pusley," a fat, ground-clinging, spreading, greasy thing, and the +most propagatious (it is not my fault if the word is not in the +dictionary) plant I know. I saw a Chinaman, who came over with a +returned missionary, and pretended to be converted, boil a lot of it +in a pot, stir in eggs, and mix and eat it with relish,--"Me likee +he." It will be a good thing to keep the Chinamen on when they come +to do our gardening. I only fear they will cultivate it at the +expense of the strawberries and melons. Who can say that other +weeds, which we despise, may not be the favorite food of some remote +people or tribe? We ought to abate our conceit. It is possible that +we destroy in our gardens that which is really of most value in some +other place. Perhaps, in like manner, our faults and vices are +virtues in some remote planet. I cannot see, however, that this +thought is of the slightest value to us here, any more than weeds +are. + +There is another subject which is forced upon my notice. I like +neighbors, and I like chickens; but I do not think they ought to be +united near a garden. Neighbors' hens in your garden are an +annoyance. Even if they did not scratch up the corn, and peck the +strawberries, and eat the tomatoes, it is not pleasant to see them +straddling about in their jerky, high-stepping, speculative manner, +picking inquisitively here and there. It is of no use to tell the +neighbor that his hens eat your tomatoes: it makes no impression on +him, for the tomatoes are not his. The best way is to casually +remark to him that he has a fine lot of chickens, pretty well grown, +and that you like spring chickens broiled. He will take them away at +once. + +The neighbors' small children are also out of place in your garden, +in strawberry and currant time. I hope I appreciate the value of +children. We should soon come to nothing without them, though the +Shakers have the best gardens in the world. Without them the common +school would languish. But the problem is, what to do with them in a +garden. For they are not good to eat, and there is a law against +making away with them. The law is not very well enforced, it is +true; for people do thin them out with constant dosing, paregoric, +and soothing-syrups, and scanty clothing. But I, for one, feel that +it would not be right, aside from the law, to take the life, even of +the smallest child, for the sake of a little fruit, more or less, in +the garden. I may be wrong; but these are my sentiments, and I am +not ashamed of them. When we come, as Bryant says in his "Iliad," to +leave the circus of this life, and join that innumerable caravan +which moves, it will be some satisfaction to us, that we have never, +in the way of gardening, disposed of even the humblest child +unnecessarily. My plan would be to put them into Sunday-schools more +thoroughly, and to give the Sunday-schools an agricultural turn; +teaching the children the sacredness of neighbors' vegetables. I +think that our Sunday-schools do not sufficiently impress upon +children the danger, from snakes and otherwise, of going into the +neighbors' gardens. + + + + +SIXTH WEEK + +Somebody has sent me a new sort of hoe, with the wish that I should +speak favorably of it, if I can consistently. I willingly do so, but +with the understanding that I am to be at liberty to speak just as +courteously of any other hoe which I may receive. If I understand +religious morals, this is the position of the religious press with +regard to bitters and wringing-machines. In some cases, the +responsibility of such a recommendation is shifted upon the wife of +the editor or clergy-man. Polly says she is entirely willing to make +a certificate, accompanied with an affidavit, with regard to this +hoe; but her habit of sitting about the garden walk, on an inverted +flower-pot, while I hoe, some what destroys the practical value of +her testimony. + +As to this hoe, I do not mind saying that it has changed my view of +the desirableness and value of human life. It has, in fact, made +life a holiday to me. It is made on the principle that man is an +upright, sensible, reasonable being, and not a groveling wretch. It +does away with the necessity of the hinge in the back. The handle is +seven and a half feet long. There are two narrow blades, sharp on +both edges, which come together at an obtuse angle in front; and as +you walk along with this hoe before you, pushing and pulling with a +gentle motion, the weeds fall at every thrust and withdrawal, and the +slaughter is immediate and widespread. When I got this hoe I was +troubled with sleepless mornings, pains in the back, kleptomania with +regard to new weeders; when I went into my garden I was always sure +to see something. In this disordered state of mind and body I got +this hoe. The morning after a day of using it I slept perfectly and +late. I regained my respect for the eighth commandment. After two +doses of the hoe in the garden, the weeds entirely disappeared. +Trying it a third morning, I was obliged to throw it over the fence +in order to save from destruction the green things that ought to grow +in the garden. Of course, this is figurative language. What I mean +is, that the fascination of using this hoe is such that you are +sorely tempted to employ it upon your vegetables, after the weeds are +laid low, and must hastily withdraw it, to avoid unpleasant results. +I make this explanation, because I intend to put nothing into these +agricultural papers that will not bear the strictest scientific +investigation; nothing that the youngest child cannot understand and +cry for; nothing that the oldest and wisest men will not need to +study with care. + +I need not add that the care of a garden with this hoe becomes the +merest pastime. I would not be without one for a single night. The +only danger is, that you may rather make an idol of the hoe, and +somewhat neglect your garden in explaining it, and fooling about with +it. I almost think that, with one of these in the hands of an +ordinary day-laborer, you might see at night where he had been +working. + +Let us have peas. I have been a zealous advocate of the birds. I +have rejoiced in their multiplication. I have endured their concerts +at four o'clock in the morning without a murmur. Let them come, I +said, and eat the worms, in order that we, later, may enjoy the +foliage and the fruits of the earth. We have a cat, a magnificent +animal, of the sex which votes (but not a pole-cat),--so large and +powerful that, if he were in the army, he would be called Long Tom. +He is a cat of fine disposition, the most irreproachable morals I +ever saw thrown away in a cat, and a splendid hunter. He spends his +nights, not in social dissipation, but in gathering in rats, mice, +flying-squirrels, and also birds. When he first brought me a bird, I +told him that it was wrong, and tried to convince him, while he was +eating it, that he was doing wrong; for he is a reasonable cat, and +understands pretty much everything except the binomial theorem and +the time down the cycloidal arc. But with no effect. The killing of +birds went on, to my great regret and shame. + +The other day I went to my garden to get a mess of peas. I had seen, +the day before, that they were just ready to pick. How I had lined +the ground, planted, hoed, bushed them! The bushes were very fine,-- +seven feet high, and of good wood. How I had delighted in the +growing, the blowing, the podding! What a touching thought it was +that they had all podded for me! When I went to pick them, I found +the pods all split open, and the peas gone. The dear little birds, +who are so fond of the strawberries, had eaten them all. Perhaps +there were left as many as I planted: I did not count them. I made a +rapid estimate of the cost of the seed, the interest of the ground, +the price of labor, the value of the bushes, the anxiety of weeks of +watchfulness. I looked about me on the face of Nature. The wind +blew from the south so soft and treacherous! A thrush sang in the +woods so deceitfully! All Nature seemed fair. But who was to give +me back my peas? The fowls of the air have peas; but what has man? + +I went into the house. I called Calvin. (That is the name of our +cat, given him on account of his gravity, morality, and uprightness. +We never familiarly call him John). I petted Calvin. I lavished +upon him an enthusiastic fondness. I told him that he had no fault; +that the one action that I had called a vice was an heroic exhibition +of regard for my interests. I bade him go and do likewise +continually. I now saw how much better instinct is than mere +unguided reason. Calvin knew. If he had put his opinion into +English (instead of his native catalogue), it would have been: "You +need not teach your grandmother to suck eggs." It was only the round +of Nature. The worms eat a noxious something in the ground. The +birds eat the worms. Calvin eats the birds. We eat--no, we do not +eat Calvin. There the chain stops. When you ascend the scale of +being, and come to an animal that is, like ourselves, inedible, you +have arrived at a result where you can rest. Let us respect the cat. +He completes an edible chain. + +I have little heart to discuss methods of raising peas. It occurs to +me that I can have an iron peabush, a sort of trellis, through which +I could discharge electricity at frequent intervals, and electrify +the birds to death when they alight: for they stand upon my beautiful +brush in order to pick out the peas. An apparatus of this kind, with +an operator, would cost, however, about as much as the peas. A +neighbor suggests that I might put up a scarecrow near the vines, +which would keep the birds away. I am doubtful about it: the birds +are too much accustomed to seeing a person in poor clothes in the +garden to care much for that. Another neighbor suggests that the +birds do not open the pods; that a sort of blast, apt to come after +rain, splits the pods, and the birds then eat the peas. It may be +so. There seems to be complete unity of action between the blast and +the birds. But, good neighbors, kind friends, I desire that you will +not increase, by talk, a disappointment which you cannot assuage. + + + + +SEVENTH WEEK + +A garden is an awful responsibility. You never know what you may be +aiding to grow in it. I heard a sermon, not long ago, in which the +preacher said that the Christian, at the moment of his becoming one, +was as perfect a Christian as he would be if he grew to be an arch- +angel; that is, that he would not change thereafter at all, but only +develop. I do not know whether this is good theology, or not; and I +hesitate to support it by an illustration from my garden, especially +as I do not want to run the risk of propagating error, and I do not +care to give away these theological comparisons to clergymen who make +me so little return in the way of labor. But I find, in dissecting a +pea-blossom, that hidden in the center of it is a perfect miniature +pea-pod, with the peas all in it,--as perfect a pea-pod as it will +ever be, only it is as tiny as a chatelaine ornament. Maize and some +other things show the same precocity. This confirmation of the +theologic theory is startling, and sets me meditating upon the moral +possibilities of my garden. I may find in it yet the cosmic egg. + +And, speaking of moral things, I am half determined to petition the +Ecumenical Council to issue a bull of excommunication against +"pusley." Of all the forms which "error" has taken in this world, +I think that is about the worst. In the Middle Ages the monks in St. +Bernard's ascetic community at Clairvaux excommunicated a vineyard +which a less rigid monk had planted near, so that it bore nothing. +In 1120 a bishop of Laon excommunicated the caterpillars in his +diocese; and, the following year, St. Bernard excommunicated the +flies in the Monastery of Foigny; and in 1510 the ecclesiastical +court pronounced the dread sentence against the rats of Autun, Macon, +and Lyons. These examples are sufficient precedents. It will be +well for the council, however, not to publish the bull either just +before or just after a rain; for nothing can kill this pestilent +heresy when the ground is wet. + +It is the time of festivals. Polly says we ought to have one,--a +strawberry-festival. She says they are perfectly delightful: it is +so nice to get people together!--this hot weather. They create such +a good feeling! I myself am very fond of festivals. I always go,-- +when I can consistently. Besides the strawberries, there are ice +creams and cake and lemonade, and that sort of thing: and one always +feels so well the next day after such a diet! But as social +reunions, if there are good things to eat, nothing can be pleasanter; +and they are very profitable, if you have a good object. I agreed +that we ought to have a festival; but I did not know what object to +devote it to. We are not in need of an organ, nor of any pulpit- +cushions. I do not know that they use pulpit-cushions now as much as +they used to, when preachers had to have something soft to pound, so +that they would not hurt their fists. I suggested pocket +handkerchiefs, and flannels for next winter. But Polly says that +will not do at all. You must have some charitable object,--something +that appeals to a vast sense of something; something that it will be +right to get up lotteries and that sort of thing for. I suggest a +festival for the benefit of my garden; and this seems feasible. In +order to make everything pass off pleasantly, invited guests will +bring or send their own strawberries and cream, which I shall be +happy to sell to them at a slight advance. There are a great many +improvements which the garden needs; among them a sounding-board, so +that the neighbors' children can hear when I tell them to get a +little farther off from the currant-bushes. I should also like a +selection from the ten commandments, in big letters, posted up +conspicuously, and a few traps, that will detain, but not maim, for +the benefit of those who cannot read. But what is most important is, +that the ladies should crochet nets to cover over the strawberries. +A good-sized, well-managed festival ought to produce nets enough to +cover my entire beds; and I can think of no other method of +preserving the berries from the birds next year. I wonder how many +strawberries it would need for a festival and whether they would +cost more than the nets. + +I am more and more impressed, as the summer goes on, with the +inequality of man's fight with Nature; especially in a civilized +state. In savagery, it does not much matter; for one does not take a +square hold, and put out his strength, but rather accommodates +himself to the situation, and takes what he can get, without raising +any dust, or putting himself into everlasting opposition. But the +minute he begins to clear a spot larger than he needs to sleep in for +a night, and to try to have his own way in the least, Nature is at +once up, and vigilant, and contests him at every step with all her +ingenuity and unwearied vigor. This talk of subduing Nature is +pretty much nonsense. I do not intend to surrender in the midst of +the summer campaign, yet I cannot but think how much more peaceful my +relations would now be with the primal forces, if I had, let Nature +make the garden according to her own notion. (This is written with +the thermometer at ninety degrees, and the weeds starting up with a +freshness and vigor, as if they had just thought of it for the first +time, and had not been cut down and dragged out every other day since +the snow went off.) + +We have got down the forests, and exterminated savage beasts; but +Nature is no more subdued than before: she only changes her tactics,- +-uses smaller guns, so to speak. She reenforces herself with a +variety of bugs, worms, and vermin, and weeds, unknown to the savage +state, in order to make war upon the things of our planting; and +calls in the fowls of the air, just as we think the battle is won, to +snatch away the booty. When one gets almost weary of the struggle, +she is as fresh as at the beginning,--just, in fact, ready for the +fray. I, for my part, begin to appreciate the value of frost and +snow; for they give the husbandman a little peace, and enable him, +for a season, to contemplate his incessant foe subdued. I do not +wonder that the tropical people, where Nature never goes to sleep, +give it up, and sit in lazy acquiescence. + +Here I have been working all the season to make a piece of lawn. It +had to be graded and sowed and rolled; and I have been shaving it +like a barber. When it was soft, everything had a tendency to go on +to it,--cows, and especially wandering hackmen. Hackmen (who are a +product of civilization) know a lawn when they see it. They rather +have a fancy for it, and always try to drive so as to cut the sharp +borders of it, and leave the marks of their wheels in deep ruts of +cut-up, ruined turf. The other morning, I had just been running the +mower over the lawn, and stood regarding its smoothness, when I +noticed one, two, three puffs of fresh earth in it; and, hastening +thither, I found that the mole had arrived to complete the work of +the hackmen. In a half-hour he had rooted up the ground like a pig. +I found his run-ways. I waited for him with a spade. He did not +appear; but, the next time I passed by, he had ridged the ground in +all directions,--a smooth, beautiful animal, with fur like silk, if +you could only catch him. He appears to enjoy the lawn as much as +the hackmen did. He does not care how smooth it is. He is +constantly mining, and ridging it up. I am not sure but he could be +countermined. I have half a mind to put powder in here and there, +and blow the whole thing into the air. Some folks set traps for the +mole; but my moles never seem to go twice in the same place. I am +not sure but it would bother them to sow the lawn with interlacing +snake-grass (the botanical name of which, somebody writes me, is +devil-grass: the first time I have heard that the Devil has a +botanical name), which would worry them, if it is as difficult for +them to get through it as it is for me. + +I do not speak of this mole in any tone of complaint. He is only a +part of the untiring resources which Nature brings against the humble +gardener. I desire to write nothing against him which I should wish +to recall at the last,--nothing foreign to the spirit of that +beautiful saying of the dying boy, "He had no copy-book, which, +dying, he was sorry he had blotted." + + + + + +EIGHTH WEEK + +My garden has been visited by a High Official Person. President +Gr-nt was here just before the Fourth, getting his mind quiet for +that event by a few days of retirement, staying with a friend at the +head of our street; and I asked him if he wouldn't like to come down +our way Sunday afternoon and take a plain, simple look at my garden, +eat a little lemon ice-cream and jelly-cake, and drink a glass of +native lager-beer. I thought of putting up over my gate, "Welcome +to the Nation's Gardener; "but I hate nonsense, and did n't do it. +I, however, hoed diligently on Saturday: what weeds I could n't +remove I buried, so that everything would look all right. The +borders of my drive were trimmed with scissors; and everything that +could offend the Eye of the Great was hustled out of the way. + +In relating this interview, it must be distinctly understood that I +am not responsible for anything that the President said; nor is he, +either. He is not a great speaker; but whatever he says has an +esoteric and an exoteric meaning; and some of his remarks about my +vegetables went very deep. I said nothing to him whatever about +politics, at which he seemed a good deal surprised: he said it was +the first garden he had ever been in, with a man, when the talk was +not of appointments. I told him that this was purely vegetable; +after which he seemed more at his ease, and, in fact, delighted with +everything he saw. He was much interested in my strawberry-beds, +asked what varieties I had, and requested me to send him some seed. +He said the patent-office seed was as difficult to raise as an +appropriation for the St. Domingo business. The playful bean seemed +also to please him; and he said he had never seen such impressive +corn and potatoes at this time of year; that it was to him an +unexpected pleasure, and one of the choicest memories that he should +take away with him of his visit to New England. + +N. B.--That corn and those potatoes which General Gr-nt looked at I +will sell for seed, at five dollars an ear, and one dollar a potato. +Office-seekers need not apply. + +Knowing the President's great desire for peas, I kept him from that +part of the garden where the vines grow. But they could not be +concealed. Those who say that the President is not a man easily +moved are knaves or fools. When he saw my pea-pods, ravaged by the +birds, he burst into tears. A man of war, he knows the value of +peas. I told him they were an excellent sort, "The Champion of +England." As quick as a flash he said, "Why don't you call them 'The +Reverdy Johnson'?" + +It was a very clever bon-mot; but I changed the subject. + +The sight of my squashes, with stalks as big as speaking-trumpets, +restored the President to his usual spirits. He said the summer +squash was the most ludicrous vegetable he knew. It was nearly all +leaf and blow, with only a sickly, crook-necked fruit after a mighty +fuss. It reminded him of the member of Congress from...; but I +hastened to change the subject. + +As we walked along, the keen eye of the President rested upon some +handsome sprays of "pusley," which must have grown up since Saturday +night. It was most fortunate; for it led his Excellency to speak of +the Chinese problem. He said he had been struck with one, coupling +of the Chinese and the "pusley" in one of my agricultural papers; and +it had a significance more far-reaching than I had probably supposed. +He had made the Chinese problem a special study. He said that I was +right in saying that "pusley" was the natural food of the Chinaman, +and that where the "pusley" was, there would the Chinaman be also. +For his part, he welcomed the Chinese emigration: we needed the +Chinaman in our gardens to eat the "pusley; "and he thought the whole +problem solved by this simple consideration. To get rid of rats and +"pusley," he said, was a necessity of our civilization. He did not +care so much about the shoe-business; he did not think that the +little Chinese shoes that he had seen would be of service in the +army: but the garden-interest was quite another affair. We want to +make a garden of our whole country: the hoe, in the hands of a man +truly great, he was pleased to say, was mightier than the pen. He +presumed that General B-tl-r had never taken into consideration the +garden-question, or he would not assume the position he does with +regard to the Chinese emigration. He would let the Chinese come, +even if B-tl-r had to leave, I thought he was going to say, but I +changed the subject. + +During our entire garden interview (operatically speaking, the +garden-scene), the President was not smoking. I do not know how the +impression arose that he "uses tobacco in any form;" for I have seen +him several times, and he was not smoking. Indeed, I offered him a +Connecticut six; but he wittily said that he did not like a weed in a +garden,--a remark which I took to have a personal political bearing, +and changed the subject. + +The President was a good deal surprised at the method and fine +appearance of my garden, and to learn that I had the sole care of it. +He asked me if I pursued an original course, or whether I got my +ideas from writers on the subject. I told him that I had had no time +to read anything on the subject since I began to hoe, except +"Lothair," from which I got my ideas of landscape gardening; and that +I had worked the garden entirely according to my own notions, except +that I had borne in mind his injunction, "to fight it out on this +line if"--The President stopped me abruptly, and said it was +unnecessary to repeat that remark: he thought he had heard it before. +Indeed, he deeply regretted that he had ever made it. Sometimes, he +said, after hearing it in speeches, and coming across it in +resolutions, and reading it in newspapers, and having it dropped +jocularly by facetious politicians, who were boring him for an +office, about twenty-five times a day, say for a month, it would get +to running through his head, like the "shoo-fly" song which B-tl-r +sings in the House, until it did seem as if he should go distracted. +He said, no man could stand that kind of sentence hammering on his +brain for years. + +The President was so much pleased with my management of the garden, +that he offered me (at least, I so understood him) the position of +head gardener at the White House, to have care of the exotics. I +told him that I thanked him, but that I did not desire any foreign +appointment. I had resolved, when the administration came in, not to +take an appointment; and I had kept my resolution. As to any home +office, I was poor, but honest; and, of course, it would be useless +for me to take one. The President mused a moment, and then smiled, +and said he would see what could be done for me. I did not change +the subject; but nothing further was said by General Gr-nt. + +The President is a great talker (contrary to the general impression); +but I think he appreciated his quiet hour in my garden. He said it +carried him back to his youth farther than anything he had seen +lately. He looked forward with delight to the time when he could +again have his private garden, grow his own lettuce and tomatoes, and +not have to get so much "sarce" from Congress. + +The chair in which the President sat, while declining to take a glass +of lager I have had destroyed, in order that no one may sit in it. +It was the only way to save it, if I may so speak. It would have +been impossible to keep it from use by any precautions. There are +people who would have sat in it, if the seat had been set with iron +spikes. Such is the adoration of Station. + + + + +NINTH WEEK + +I am more and more impressed with the moral qualities of vegetables, +and contemplate forming a science which shall rank with comparative +anatomy and comparative philology,--the science of comparative +vegetable morality. We live in an age of protoplasm. And, if +life-matter is essentially the same in all forms of life, I purpose +to begin early, and ascertain the nature of the plants for which I am +responsible. I will not associate with any vegetable which is +disreputable, or has not some quality that can contribute to my moral +growth. I do not care to be seen much with the squashes or the dead- +beets. Fortunately I can cut down any sorts I do not like with the +hoe, and, probably, commit no more sin in so doing than the +Christians did in hewing down the Jews in the Middle Ages. + +This matter of vegetable rank has not been at all studied as it +should be. Why do we respect some vegetables and despise others, +when all of them come to an equal honor or ignominy on the table? +The bean is a graceful, confiding, engaging vine; but you never can +put beans into poetry, nor into the highest sort of prose. There is +no dignity in the bean. Corn, which, in my garden, grows alongside +the bean, and, so far as I can see, with no affectation of +superiority, is, however, the child of song. It waves in all +literature. But mix it with beans, and its high tone is gone. +Succotash is vulgar. It is the bean in it. The bean is a vulgar +vegetable, without culture, or any flavor of high society among +vegetables. Then there is the cool cucumber, like so many people, +good for nothing when it is ripe and the wildness has gone out of it. +How inferior in quality it is to the melon, which grows upon a +similar vine, is of a like watery consistency, but is not half so +valuable! The cucumber is a sort of low comedian in a company where +the melon is a minor gentleman. I might also contrast the celery +with the potato. The associations are as opposite as the dining-room +of the duchess and the cabin of the peasant. I admire the potato, +both in vine and blossom; but it is not aristocratic. I began +digging my potatoes, by the way, about the 4th of July; and I fancy I +have discovered the right way to do it. I treat the potato just as I +would a cow. I do not pull them up, and shake them out, and destroy +them; but I dig carefully at the side of the hill, remove the fruit +which is grown, leaving the vine undisturbed: and my theory is, that +it will go on bearing, and submitting to my exactions, until the +frost cuts it down. It is a game that one would not undertake with a +vegetable of tone. + +The lettuce is to me a most interesting study. Lettuce is like +conversation: it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you +scarcely notice the bitter in it. Lettuce, like most talkers, is, +however, apt to run rapidly to seed. Blessed is that sort which +comes to a head, and so remains, like a few people I know; growing +more solid and satisfactory and tender at the same time, and whiter +at the center, and crisp in their maturity. Lettuce, like conver- +sation, requires a good deal of oil to avoid friction, and keep the +company smooth; a pinch of attic salt; a dash of pepper; a quantity +of mustard and vinegar, by all means, but so mixed that you will +notice no sharp contrasts; and a trifle of sugar. You can put +anything, and the more things the better, into salad, as into a +conversation; but everything depends upon the skill of mixing. I +feel that I am in the best society when I am with lettuce. It is in +the select circle of vegetables. The tomato appears well on the +table; but you do not want to ask its origin. It is a most agreeable +parvenu. Of course, I have said nothing about the berries. They +live in another and more ideal region; except, perhaps, the currant. +Here we see, that, even among berries, there are degrees of breeding. +The currant is well enough, clear as truth, and exquisite in color; +but I ask you to notice how far it is from the exclusive hauteur of +the aristocratic strawberry, and the native refinement of the quietly +elegant raspberry. + +I do not know that chemistry, searching for protoplasm, is able to +discover the tendency of vegetables. It can only be found out by +outward observation. I confess that I am suspicious of the bean, for +instance. There are signs in it of an unregulated life. I put up +the most attractive sort of poles for my Limas. They stand high and +straight, like church-spires, in my theological garden,--lifted up; +and some of them have even budded, like Aaron's rod. No church- +steeple in a New England village was ever better fitted to draw to it +the rising generation on Sunday, than those poles to lift up my beans +towards heaven. Some of them did run up the sticks seven feet, and +then straggled off into the air in a wanton manner; but more than +half of them went gallivanting off to the neighboring grape-trellis, +and wound their tendrils with the tendrils of the grape, with a +disregard of the proprieties of life which is a satire upon human +nature. And the grape is morally no better. I think the ancients, +who were not troubled with the recondite mystery of protoplasm, were +right in the mythic union of Bacchus and Venus. + +Talk about the Darwinian theory of development, and the principle of +natural selection! I should like to see a garden let to run in +accordance with it. If I had left my vegetables and weeds to a free +fight, in which the strongest specimens only should come to maturity, +and the weaker go to the wall, I can clearly see that I should have +had a pretty mess of it. It would have been a scene of passion and +license and brutality. The "pusley" would have strangled the +strawberry; the upright corn, which has now ears to hear the guilty +beating of the hearts of the children who steal the raspberries, +would have been dragged to the earth by the wandering bean; the +snake-grass would have left no place for the potatoes under ground; +and the tomatoes would have been swamped by the lusty weeds. With a +firm hand, I have had to make my own "natural selection." Nothing +will so well bear watching as a garden, except a family of children +next door. Their power of selection beats mine. If they could read +half as well as they can steal awhile away, I should put up a notice, +"Children, beware! There is Protoplasm here." But I suppose it would +have no effect. I believe they would eat protoplasm as quick as +anything else, ripe or green. I wonder if this is going to be a +cholera-year. Considerable cholera is the only thing that would let +my apples and pears ripen. Of course I do not care for the fruit; +but I do not want to take the responsibility of letting so much +"life-matter," full of crude and even wicked vegetable-human +tendencies, pass into the composition of the neighbors' children, +some of whom may be as immortal as snake-grass. There ought to be a +public meeting about this, and resolutions, and perhaps a clambake. +At least, it ought to be put into the catechism, and put in strong. + + + + +TENTH WEEK + +I think I have discovered the way to keep peas from the birds. I +tried the scarecrow plan, in a way which I thought would outwit the +shrewdest bird. The brain of the bird is not large; but it is all +concentrated on one object, and that is the attempt to elude the +devices of modern civilization which injure his chances of food. I +knew that, if I put up a complete stuffed man, the bird would detect +the imitation at once: the perfection of the thing would show him +that it was a trick. People always overdo the matter when they +attempt deception. I therefore hung some loose garments, of a bright +color, upon a rake-head, and set them up among the vines. The +supposition was, that the bird would think there was an effort to +trap him, that there was a man behind, holding up these garments, and +would sing, as he kept at a distance, "You can't catch me with any +such double device." The bird would know, or think he knew, that I +would not hang up such a scare, in the expectation that it would pass +for a man, and deceive a bird; and he would therefore look for a +deeper plot. I expected to outwit the bird by a duplicity that was +simplicity itself I may have over-calculated the sagacity and +reasoning power of the bird. At any rate, I did over-calculate the +amount of peas I should gather. + +But my game was only half played. In another part of the garden were +other peas, growing and blowing. To-these I took good care not to +attract the attention of the bird by any scarecrow whatever! I left +the old scarecrow conspicuously flaunting above the old vines; and by +this means I hope to keep the attention of the birds confined to that +side of the garden. I am convinced that this is the true use of a +scarecrow: it is a lure, and not a warning. If you wish to save men +from any particular vice, set up a tremendous cry of warning about +some other; and they will all give their special efforts to the one +to which attention is called. This profound truth is about the only +thing I have yet realized out of my pea-vines. + +However, the garden does begin to yield. I know of nothing that +makes one feel more complacent, in these July days, than to have his +vegetables from his own garden. What an effect it has on the +market-man and the butcher! It is a kind of declaration of +independence. The market-man shows me his peas and beets and +tomatoes, and supposes he shall send me out some with the meat. "No, +I thank you," I say carelessly; "I am raising my own this year." +Whereas I have been wont to remark, "Your vegetables look a little +wilted this weather," I now say, "What a fine lot of vegetables +you've got!" When a man is not going to buy, he can afford to be +generous. To raise his own vegetables makes a person feel, somehow, +more liberal. I think the butcher is touched by the influence, and +cuts off a better roast for me, The butcher is my friend when he sees +that I am not wholly dependent on him. + +It is at home, however, that the effect is most marked, though +sometimes in a way that I had not expected. I have never read of any +Roman supper that seemed to me equal to a dinner of my own +vegetables; when everything on the table is the product of my own +labor, except the clams, which I have not been able to raise yet, and +the chickens, which have withdrawn from the garden just when they +were most attractive. It is strange what a taste you suddenly have +for things you never liked before. The squash has always been to me +a dish of contempt; but I eat it now as if it were my best friend. I +never cared for the beet or the bean; but I fancy now that I could +eat them all, tops and all, so completely have they been transformed +by the soil in which they grew. I think the squash is less squashy, +and the beet has a deeper hue of rose, for my care of them. + +I had begun to nurse a good deal of pride in presiding over a table +whereon was the fruit of my honest industry. But woman!--John Stuart +Mill is right when he says that we do not know anything about women. +Six thousand years is as one day with them. I thought I had +something to do with those vegetables. But when I saw Polly seated +at her side of the table, presiding over the new and susceptible +vegetables, flanked by the squash and the beans, and smiling upon the +green corn and the new potatoes, as cool as the cucumbers which lay +sliced in ice before her, and when she began to dispense the fresh +dishes, I saw at once that the day of my destiny was over. You would +have thought that she owned all the vegetables, and had raised them +all from their earliest years. Such quiet, vegetable airs! Such +gracious appropriation! At length I said,-- + +"Polly, do you know who planted that squash, or those squashes?" + +"James, I suppose." + +"Well, yes, perhaps James did plant them, to a certain extent. But +who hoed them?" + +"We did." + +"We did!" I said, in the most sarcastic manner. + +And I suppose we put on the sackcloth and ashes, when the striped bug +came at four o'clock A.M., and we watched the tender leaves, and +watered night and morning the feeble plants. "I tell you, Polly," +said I, uncorking the Bordeaux raspberry vinegar, "there is not a pea +here that does not represent a drop of moisture wrung from my brow, +not a beet that does not stand for a back-ache, not a squash that has +not caused me untold anxiety; and I did hope--but I will say no +more." + +Observation.--In this sort of family discussion, "I will say no +more" is the most effective thing you can close up with. + +I am not an alarmist. I hope I am as cool as anybody this hot +summer. But I am quite ready to say to Polly, or any other woman, +"You can have the ballot; only leave me the vegetables, or, what is +more important, the consciousness of power in vegetables." I see how +it is. Woman is now supreme in the house. She already stretches out +her hand to grasp the garden. She will gradually control everything. +Woman is one of the ablest and most cunning creatures who have ever +mingled in human affairs. I understand those women who say they +don't want the ballot. They purpose to hold the real power while we +go through the mockery of making laws. They want the power without +the responsibility. (Suppose my squash had not come up, or my beans- +-as they threatened at one time--had gone the wrong way: where would +I have been?) We are to be held to all the responsibilities. Woman +takes the lead in all the departments, leaving us politics only. And +what is politics? Let me raise the vegetables of a nation, says +Polly, and I care not who makes its politics. Here I sat at the +table, armed with the ballot, but really powerless among my own +vegetables. While we are being amused by the ballot, woman is +quietly taking things into her own hands. + + + + +ELEVENTH WEEK + +Perhaps, after all, it is not what you get out of a garden, but what +you put into it, that is the most remunerative. What is a man? A +question frequently asked, and never, so far as I know, +satisfactorily answered. He commonly spends his seventy years, if so +many are given him, in getting ready to enjoy himself. How many +hours, how many minutes, does one get of that pure content which is +happiness? I do not mean laziness, which is always discontent; but +that serene enjoyment, in which all the natural senses have easy +play, and the unnatural ones have a holiday. There is probably +nothing that has such a tranquilizing effect, and leads into such +content as gardening. By gardening, I do not mean that insane desire +to raise vegetables which some have; but the philosophical occupation +of contact with the earth, and companionship with gently growing +things and patient processes; that exercise which soothes the spirit, +and develops the deltoid muscles. + +In half an hour I can hoe myself right away from this world, as we +commonly see it, into a large place, where there are no obstacles. +What an occupation it is for thought! The mind broods like a hen on +eggs. The trouble is, that you are not thinking about anything, but +are really vegetating like the plants around you. I begin to know +what the joy of the grape-vine is in running up the trellis, which is +similar to that of the squirrel in running up a tree. We all have +something in our nature that requires contact with the earth. In the +solitude of garden-labor, one gets into a sort of communion with the +vegetable life, which makes the old mythology possible. For +instance, I can believe that the dryads are plenty this summer: my +garden is like an ash-heap. Almost all the moisture it has had in +weeks has been the sweat of honest industry. + +The pleasure of gardening in these days, when the thermometer is at +ninety, is one that I fear I shall not be able to make intelligible +to my readers, many of whom do not appreciate the delight of soaking +in the sunshine. I suppose that the sun, going through a man, as it +will on such a day, takes out of him rheumatism, consumption, and +every other disease, except sudden death--from sun-stroke. But, +aside from this, there is an odor from the evergreens, the hedges, +the various plants and vines, that is only expressed and set afloat +at a high temperature, which is delicious; and, hot as it may be, a +little breeze will come at intervals, which can be heard in the +treetops, and which is an unobtrusive benediction. I hear a quail or +two whistling in the ravine; and there is a good deal of fragmentary +conversation going on among the birds, even on the warmest days. The +companionship of Calvin, also, counts for a good deal. He usually +attends me, unless I work too long in one place; sitting down on the +turf, displaying the ermine of his breast, and watching my movements +with great intelligence. He has a feline and genuine love for the +beauties of Nature, and will establish himself where there is a good +view, and look on it for hours. He always accompanies us when we go +to gather the vegetables, seeming to be desirous to know what we are +to have for dinner. He is a connoisseur in the garden; being fond of +almost all the vegetables, except the cucumber,--a dietetic hint to +man. I believe it is also said that the pig will not eat tobacco. +These are important facts. It is singular, however, that those who +hold up the pigs as models to us never hold us up as models to the +pigs. + +I wish I knew as much about natural history and the habits of animals +as Calvin does. He is the closest observer I ever saw; and there are +few species of animals on the place that he has not analyzed. I +think he has, to use a euphemism very applicable to him, got outside +of every one of them, except the toad. To the toad he is entirely +indifferent; but I presume he knows that the toad is the most useful +animal in the garden. I think the Agricultural Society ought to +offer a prize for the finest toad. When Polly comes to sit in the +shade near my strawberry-beds, to shell peas, Calvin is always lying +near in apparent obliviousness; but not the slightest unusual sound +can be made in the bushes, that he is not alert, and prepared to +investigate the cause of it. It is this habit of observation, so +cultivated, which has given him such a trained mind, and made him so +philosophical. It is within the capacity of even the humblest of us +to attain this. + +And, speaking of the philosophical temper, there is no class of men +whose society is more to be desired for this quality than that of +plumbers. They are the most agreeable men I know; and the boys in +the business begin to be agreeable very early. I suspect the secret +of it is, that they are agreeable by the hour. In the driest days, +my fountain became disabled: the pipe was stopped up. A couple of +plumbers, with the implements of their craft, came out to view the +situation. There was a good deal of difference of opinion about +where the stoppage was. I found the plumbers perfectly willing to +sit down and talk about it,--talk by the hour. Some of their guesses +and remarks were exceedingly ingenious; and their general +observations on other subjects were excellent in their way, and could +hardly have been better if they had been made by the job. The work +dragged a little, as it is apt to do by the hour. The plumbers had +occasion to make me several visits. Sometimes they would find, upon +arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool; and one +would go back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his +comrade would await his return with the most exemplary patience, and +sit down and talk,--always by the hour. I do not know but it is a +habit to have something wanted at the shop. They seemed to me very +good workmen, and always willing to stop and talk about the job, or +anything else, when I went near them. Nor had they any of that +impetuous hurry that is said to be the bane of our American +civilization. To their credit be it said, that I never observed +anything of it in them. They can afford to wait. Two of them will +sometimes wait nearly half a day while a comrade goes for a tool. +They are patient and philosophical. It is a great pleasure to meet +such men. One only wishes there was some work he could do for them +by the hour. There ought to be reciprocity. I think they have very +nearly solved the problem of Life: it is to work for other people, +never for yourself, and get your pay by the hour. You then have no +anxiety, and little work. If you do things by the job, you are +perpetually driven: the hours are scourges. If you work by the hour, +you gently sail on the stream of Time, which is always bearing you on +to the haven of Pay, whether you make any effort, or not. Working by +the hour tends to make one moral. A plumber working by the job, +trying to unscrew a rusty, refractory nut, in a cramped position, +where the tongs continually slipped off, would swear; but I never +heard one of them swear, or exhibit the least impatience at such a +vexation, working by the hour. Nothing can move a man who is paid by +the hour. How sweet the flight of time seems to his calm mind! + + + + +TWELFTH WEEK + +Mr. Horace Greeley, the introduction of whose name confers an honor +upon this page (although I ought to say that it is used entirely +without his consent), is my sole authority in agriculture. In +politics I do not dare to follow him; but in agriculture he is +irresistible. When, therefore, I find him advising Western farmers +not to hill up their corn, I think that his advice must be political. +You must hill up your corn. People always have hilled up their corn. +It would take a constitutional amendment to change the practice, that +has pertained ever since maize was raised. "It will stand the +drought better," says Mr. Greeley, "if the ground is left level." I +have corn in my garden, ten and twelve feet high, strong and lusty, +standing the drought like a grenadier; and it is hilled. In advising +this radical change, Mr. Greeley evidently has a political purpose. +He might just as well say that you should not hill beans, when +everybody knows that a "hill of beans" is one of the most expressive +symbols of disparagement. When I become too lazy to hill my corn, I, +too, shall go into politics. + +I am satisfied that it is useless to try to cultivate "pusley." I set +a little of it one side, and gave it some extra care. It did not +thrive as well as that which I was fighting. The fact is, there is a +spirit of moral perversity in the plant, which makes it grow the +more, the more it is interfered with. I am satisfied of that. I +doubt if any one has raised more "pusley" this year than I have; and +my warfare with it has been continual. Neither of us has slept much. +If you combat it, it will grow, to use an expression that will be +understood by many, like the devil. I have a neighbor, a good +Christian man, benevolent, and a person of good judgment. He planted +next to me an acre of turnips recently. A few days after, he went to +look at his crop; and he found the entire ground covered with a thick +and luxurious carpet of "pusley," with a turnip-top worked in here +and there as an ornament. I have seldom seen so thrifty a field. I +advised my neighbor next time to sow "pusley" and then he might get a +few turnips. I wish there was more demand in our city markets for +"pusley" as a salad. I can recommend it. + +It does not take a great man to soon discover that, in raising +anything, the greater part of the plants goes into stalk and leaf, +and the fruit is a most inconsiderable portion. I plant and hoe a +hill of corn: it grows green and stout, and waves its broad leaves +high in the air, and is months in perfecting itself, and then yields +us not enough for a dinner. It grows because it delights to do so, +--to take the juices out of my ground, to absorb my fertilizers, to +wax luxuriant, and disport itself in the summer air, and with very +little thought of making any return to me. I might go all through my +garden and fruit trees with a similar result. I have heard of places +where there was very little land to the acre. It is universally true +that there is a great deal of vegetable show and fuss for the result +produced. I do not complain of this. One cannot expect vegetables +to be better than men: and they make a great deal of ostentatious +splurge; and many of them come to no result at last. Usually, the +more show of leaf and wood, the less fruit. This melancholy +reflection is thrown in here in order to make dog-days seem cheerful +in comparison. + +One of the minor pleasures of life is that of controlling vegetable +activity and aggressions with the pruning-knife. Vigorous and rapid +growth is, however, a necessity to the sport. To prune feeble plants +and shrubs is like acting the part of dry-nurse to a sickly orphan. +You must feel the blood of Nature bound under your hand, and get the +thrill of its life in your nerves. To control and culture a strong, +thrifty plant in this way is like steering a ship under full headway, +or driving a locomotive with your hand on the lever, or pulling the +reins over a fast horse when his blood and tail are up. I do not +understand, by the way, the pleasure of the jockey in setting up the +tail of the horse artificially. If I had a horse with a tail not +able to sit up, I should feed the horse, and curry him into good +spirits, and let him set up his own tail. When I see a poor, +spiritless horse going by with an artificially set-up tail, it is +only a signal of distress. I desire to be surrounded only by +healthy, vigorous plants and trees, which require constant cutting-in +and management. Merely to cut away dead branches is like perpetual +attendance at a funeral, and puts one in low spirits. I want to have +a garden and orchard rise up and meet me every morning, with the +request to "lay on, Macduff." I respect old age; but an old currant- +bush, hoary with mossy bark, is a melancholy spectacle. + +I suppose the time has come when I am expected to say something about +fertilizers: all agriculturists do. When you plant, you think you +cannot fertilize too much: when you get the bills for the manure, you +think you cannot fertilize too little. Of course you do not expect +to get the value of the manure back in fruits and vegetables; but +something is due to science,--to chemistry in particular. You must +have a knowledge of soils, must have your soil analyzed, and then go +into a course of experiments to find what it needs. It needs +analyzing,--that, I am clear about: everything needs that. You had +better have the soil analyzed before you buy: if there is "pusley" +in it, let it alone. See if it is a soil that requires much hoeing, +and how fine it will get if there is no rain for two months. But +when you come to fertilizing, if I understand the agricultural +authorities, you open a pit that will ultimately swallow you up, +--farm and all. It is the great subject of modern times, how to +fertilize without ruinous expense; how, in short, not to starve the +earth to death while we get our living out of it. Practically, the +business is hardly to the taste of a person of a poetic turn of mind. +The details of fertilizing are not agreeable. Michael Angelo, who +tried every art, and nearly every trade, never gave his mind to +fertilizing. It is much pleasanter and easier to fertilize with a +pen, as the agricultural writers do, than with a fork. And this +leads me to say, that, in carrying on a garden yourself, you must +have a "consulting" gardener; that is, a man to do the heavy and +unpleasant work. To such a man, I say, in language used by +Demosthenes to the Athenians, and which is my advice to all +gardeners, "Fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!" + + + + +THIRTEENTH WEEK + +I find that gardening has unsurpassed advantages for the study of +natural history; and some scientific facts have come under my own +observation, which cannot fail to interest naturalists and +un-naturalists in about the same degree. Much, for instance, has +been written about the toad, an animal without which no garden would +be complete. But little account has been made of his value: the +beauty of his eye alone has been dwelt on; and little has been said +of his mouth, and its important function as a fly and bug trap. His +habits, and even his origin, have been misunderstood. Why, as an +illustration, are toads so plenty after a thunder-shower? All my +life long, no one has been able to answer me that question. Why, +after a heavy shower, and in the midst of it, do such multitudes of +toads, especially little ones, hop about on the gravel-walks? For +many years, I believed that they rained down; and I suppose many +people think so still. They are so small, and they come in such +numbers only in the shower, that the supposition is not a violent +one. "Thick as toads after a shower," is one of our best proverbs. +I asked an explanation 'of this of a thoughtful woman,--indeed, a +leader in the great movement to have all the toads hop in any +direction, without any distinction of sex or religion. Her reply +was, that the toads come out during the shower to get water. This, +however, is not the fact. I have discovered that they come out not +to get water. I deluged a dry flower-bed, the other night, with +pailful after pailful of water. Instantly the toads came out of +their holes in the dirt, by tens and twenties and fifties, to escape +death by drowning. The big ones fled away in a ridiculous streak of +hopping; and the little ones sprang about in the wildest confusion. +The toad is just like any other land animal: when his house is full +of water, he quits it. These facts, with the drawings of the water +and the toads, are at the service of the distinguished scientists of +Albany in New York, who were so much impressed by the Cardiff Giant. + +The domestic cow is another animal whose ways I have a chance to +study, and also to obliterate in the garden. One of my neighbors has +a cow, but no land; and he seems desirous to pasture her on the +surface of the land of other people: a very reasonable desire. The +man proposed that he should be allowed to cut the grass from my +grounds for his cow. I knew the cow, having often had her in my +garden; knew her gait and the size of her feet, which struck me as a +little large for the size of the body. Having no cow myself, but +acquaintance with my neighbor's, I told him that I thought it would +be fair for him to have the grass. He was, therefore, to keep the +grass nicely cut, and to keep his cow at home. I waited some time +after the grass needed cutting; and, as my neighbor did not appear, I +hired it cut. No sooner was it done than he promptly appeared, and +raked up most of it, and carried it away. He had evidently been +waiting that opportunity. When the grass grew again, the neighbor +did not appear with his scythe; but one morning I found the cow +tethered on the sward, hitched near the clothes-horse, a short +distance from the house. This seemed to be the man's idea of the +best way to cut the grass. I disliked to have the cow there, because +I knew her inclination to pull up the stake, and transfer her field +of mowing to the garden, but especially because of her voice. She +has the most melancholy "moo" I ever heard. It is like the wail of +one uninfallible, excommunicated, and lost. It is a most distressing +perpetual reminder of the brevity of life and the shortness of feed. +It is unpleasant to the family. We sometimes hear it in the middle +of the night, breaking the silence like a suggestion of coming +calamity. It is as bad as the howling of a dog at a funeral. + +I told the man about it; but he seemed to think that he was not +responsible for the cow's voice. I then told him to take her away; +and he did, at intervals, shifting her to different parts of the +grounds in my absence, so that the desolate voice would startle us +from unexpected quarters. If I were to unhitch the cow, and turn her +loose, I knew where she would go. If I were to lead her away, the +question was, Where? for I did not fancy leading a cow about till I +could find somebody who was willing to pasture her. To this dilemma +had my excellent neighbor reduced me. But I found him, one Sunday +morning,--a day when it would not do to get angry, tying his cow at +the foot of the hill; the beast all the time going on in that +abominable voice. I told the man that I could not have the cow in +the grounds. He said, "All right, boss;" but he did not go away. I +asked him to clear out. The man, who is a French sympathizer from +the Republic of Ireland, kept his temper perfectly. He said he +wasn't doing anything, just feeding his cow a bit: he wouldn't make +me the least trouble in the world. I reminded him that he had been +told again and again not to come here; that he might have all the +grass, but he should not bring his cow upon the premises. The +imperturbable man assented to everything that I said, and kept on +feeding his cow. Before I got him to go to fresh scenes and pastures +new, the Sabbath was almost broken; but it was saved by one thing: it +is difficult to be emphatic when no one is emphatic on the other +side. The man and his cow have taught me a great lesson, which I +shall recall when I keep a cow. I can recommend this cow, if anybody +wants one, as a steady boarder, whose keeping will cost the owner +little; but, if her milk is at all like her voice, those who drink it +are on the straight road to lunacy. + +I think I have said that we have a game-preserve. We keep quails, or +try to, in the thickly wooded, bushed, and brushed ravine. This bird +is a great favorite with us, dead or alive, on account of its taste- +ful plumage, its tender flesh, its domestic virtues, and its pleasant +piping. Besides, although I appreciate toads and cows, and all that +sort of thing, I like to have a game-preserve more in the English +style. And we did. For in July, while the game-law was on, and the +young quails were coming on, we were awakened one morning by firing,- +-musketry-firing, close at hand. My first thought was, that war was +declared; but, as I should never pay much attention to war declared +at that time in the morning, I went to sleep again. But the +occurrence was repeated,--and not only early in the morning, but at +night. There was calling of dogs, breaking down of brush, and firing +of guns. It is hardly pleasant to have guns fired in the direction +of the house, at your own quails. The hunters could be sometimes +seen, but never caught. Their best time was about sunrise; but, +before one could dress and get to the front, they would retire. + +One morning, about four o'clock, I heard the battle renewed. I +sprang up, but not in arms, and went to a window. Polly (like +another 'blessed damozel') flew to another window,-- + + "The blessed damozel leaned out + From the gold bar of heaven," + +and reconnoitered from behind the blinds. + + "The wonder was not yet quite gone + From that still look of hers," + +when an armed man and a legged dog appeared in the opening. I was +vigilantly watching him. + + . . . . "And now + She spoke through the still weather." + +"Are you afraid to speak to him?" asked Polly. + +Not exactly, + + . . . ."she spoke as when + The stars sang in their spheres. + +"Stung by this inquiry, I leaned out of the window till + + "The bar I leaned on (was) warm," + +and cried,-- + +"Halloo, there! What are you doing?" + +"Look out he don't shoot you," called out Polly from the other +window, suddenly going on another tack. + +I explained that a sportsman would not be likely to shoot a gentleman +in his own house, with bird-shot, so long as quails were to be had. + +"You have no business here: what are you after?" I repeated. + +"Looking for a lost hen," said the man as he strode away. + +The reply was so satisfactory and conclusive that I shut the blinds +and went to bed. + +But one evening I overhauled one of the poachers. Hearing his dog in +the thicket, I rushed through the brush, and came in sight of the +hunter as he was retreating down the road. He came to a halt; and we +had some conversation in a high key. Of course I threatened to +prosecute him. I believe that is the thing to do in such cases; but +how I was to do it, when I did not know his name or ancestry, and +couldn't see his face, never occurred to me. (I remember, now, that +a farmer once proposed to prosecute me when I was fishing in a +trout-brook on his farm, and asked my name for that purpose.) He +said he should smile to see me prosecute him. + +"You can't do it: there ain't no notice up about trespassing." + +This view of the common law impressed me; and I said, + +"But these are private grounds." + +"Private h---!" was all his response. + +You can't argue much with a man who has a gun in his hands, when you +have none. Besides, it might be a needle-gun, for aught I knew. I +gave it up, and we separated. + +There is this disadvantage about having a game preserve attached to +your garden: it makes life too lively. + + + + +FOURTEENTH WEEK + +In these golden latter August days, Nature has come to a serene +equilibrium. Having flowered and fruited, she is enjoying herself. +I can see how things are going: it is a down-hill business after +this; but, for the time being, it is like swinging in a hammock,- +-such a delicious air, such a graceful repose! I take off my hat as +I stroll into the garden and look about; and it does seem as if +Nature had sounded a truce. I did n't ask for it. I went out with a +hoe; but the serene sweetness disarms me. Thrice is he armed who has +a long-handled hoe, with a double blade. Yet to-day I am almost +ashamed to appear in such a belligerent fashion, with this terrible +mitrailleuse of gardening. + +The tomatoes are getting tired of ripening, and are beginning to go +into a worthless condition,--green. The cucumbers cumber the +ground,--great yellow, over-ripe objects, no more to be compared to +the crisp beauty of their youth than is the fat swine of the sty to +the clean little pig. The nutmeg-melons, having covered themselves +with delicate lace-work, are now ready to leave the vine. I know +they are ripe if they come easily off the stem. + +Moral Observations.--You can tell when people are ripe by their +willingness to let go. Richness and ripeness are not exactly the +same. The rich are apt to hang to the stem with tenacity. I have +nothing against the rich. If I were not virtuous, I should like to +be rich. But we cannot have everything, as the man said when he was +down with small-pox and cholera, and the yellow fever came into the +neighborhood. + +Now, the grapes, soaked in this liquid gold, called air, begin to +turn, mindful of the injunction, "to turn or burn." The clusters +under the leaves are getting quite purple, but look better than they +taste. I think there is no danger but they will be gathered as soon +as they are ripe. One of the blessings of having an open garden is, +that I do not have to watch my fruit: a dozen youngsters do that, and +let it waste no time after it matures. I wish it were possible to +grow a variety of grape like the explosive bullets, that should +explode in the stomach: the vine would make such a nice border for +the garden,--a masked battery of grape. The pears, too, are getting +russet and heavy; and here and there amid the shining leaves one +gleams as ruddy as the cheek of the Nutbrown Maid. The Flemish +Beauties come off readily from the stem, if I take them in my hand: +they say all kinds of beauty come off by handling. + +The garden is peace as much as if it were an empire. Even the man's +cow lies down under the tree where the man has tied her, with such an +air of contentment, that I have small desire to disturb her. She is +chewing my cud as if it were hers. Well, eat on and chew on, +melancholy brute. I have not the heart to tell the man to take you +away: and it would do no good if I had; he wouldn't do it. The man +has not a taking way. Munch on, ruminant creature. + +The frost will soon come; the grass will be brown. I will be +charitable while this blessed lull continues: for our benevolences +must soon be turned to other and more distant objects,--the +amelioration of the condition of the Jews, the education of +theological young men in the West, and the like. + +I do not know that these appearances are deceitful; but I +sufficiently know that this is a wicked world, to be glad that I have +taken it on shares. In fact, I could not pick the pears alone, not +to speak of eating them. When I climb the trees, and throw down the +dusky fruit, Polly catches it in her apron; nearly always, however, +letting go when it drops, the fall is so sudden. The sun gets in her +face; and, every time a pear comes down it is a surprise, like having +a tooth out, she says. + +"If I could n't hold an apron better than that!" + +But the sentence is not finished: it is useless to finish that sort +of a sentence in this delicious weather. Besides, conversation is +dangerous. As, for instance, towards evening I am preparing a bed +for a sowing of turnips,--not that I like turnips in the least; but +this is the season to sow them. Polly comes out, and extemporizes +her usual seat to "consult me" about matters while I work. I well +know that something is coming. + +"This is a rotation of crops, is n't it?" + +"Yes: I have rotated the gone-to-seed lettuce off, and expect to +rotate the turnips in; it is a political fashion." + +"Is n't it a shame that the tomatoes are all getting ripe at once? +What a lot of squashes! I wish we had an oyster-bed. Do you want me +to help you any more than I am helping?" + +"No, I thank you." (I wonder what all this is about?) + +"Don't you think we could sell some strawberries next year?" + +"By all means, sell anything. We shall no doubt get rich out of this +acre." + +"Don't be foolish." + +And now! + +"Don't you think it would be nice to have a?".... + +And Polly unfolds a small scheme of benevolence, which is not quite +enough to break me, and is really to be executed in an economical +manner. "Would n't that be nice?" + +"Oh, yes! And where is the money to come from?" + +"I thought we had agreed to sell the strawberries." + +"Certainly. But I think we would make more money if we sold the +plants now." + +"Well," said Polly, concluding the whole matter, "I am going to do +it." And, having thus "consulted" me, Polly goes away; and I put in +the turnip-seeds quite thick, determined to raise enough to sell. +But not even this mercenary thought can ruffle my mind as I rake off +the loamy bed. I notice, however, that the spring smell has gone out +of the dirt. That went into the first crop. + +In this peaceful unison with yielding nature, I was a little taken +aback to find that a new enemy had turned up. The celery had just +rubbed through the fiery scorching of the drought, and stood a faint +chance to grow; when I noticed on the green leaves a big green-and- +black worm, called, I believe, the celery-worm: but I don't know who +called him; I am sure I did not. It was almost ludicrous that he +should turn up here, just at the end of the season, when I supposed +that my war with the living animals was over. Yet he was, no doubt, +predestinated; for he went to work as cheerfully as if he had arrived +in June, when everything was fresh and vigorous. It beats me--Nature +does. I doubt not, that, if I were to leave my garden now for a +week, it would n't know me on my return. The patch I scratched over +for the turnips, and left as clean as earth, is already full of +ambitious "pusley," which grows with all the confidence of youth and +the skill of old age. It beats the serpent as an emblem of +immortality. While all the others of us in the garden rest and sit +in comfort a moment, upon the summit of the summer, it is as rampant +and vicious as ever. It accepts no armistice. + + + + +FIFTEENTH WEEK + +It is said that absence conquers all things, love included; but it +has a contrary effect on a garden. I was absent for two or three +weeks. I left my garden a paradise, as paradises go in this +protoplastic world; and when I returned, the trail of the serpent was +over it all, so to speak. (This is in addition to the actual snakes +in it, which are large enough to strangle children of average size.) +I asked Polly if she had seen to the garden while I was away, and she +said she had. I found that all the melons had been seen to, and the +early grapes and pears. The green worm had also seen to about half +the celery; and a large flock of apparently perfectly domesticated +chickens were roaming over the ground, gossiping in the hot September +sun, and picking up any odd trifle that might be left. On the whole, +the garden could not have been better seen to; though it would take a +sharp eye to see the potato-vines amid the rampant grass and weeds. + +The new strawberry-plants, for one thing, had taken advantage of my +absence. Every one of them had sent out as many scarlet runners as +an Indian tribe has. Some of them had blossomed; and a few had gone +so far as to bear ripe berries,--long, pear-shaped fruit, hanging +like the ear-pendants of an East Indian bride. I could not but +admire the persistence of these zealous plants, which seemed +determined to propagate themselves both by seeds and roots, and make +sure of immortality in some way. Even the Colfax variety was as +ambitious as the others. After having seen the declining letter of +Mr. Colfax, I did not suppose that this vine would run any more, and +intended to root it out. But one can never say what these +politicians mean; and I shall let this variety grow until after the +next election, at least; although I hear that the fruit is small, and +rather sour. If there is any variety of strawberries that really +declines to run, and devotes itself to a private life of fruit- +bearing, I should like to get it. I may mention here, since we are +on politics, that the Doolittle raspberries had sprawled all over the +strawberry-bed's: so true is it that politics makes strange +bedfellows. + +But another enemy had come into the strawberries, which, after all +that has been said in these papers, I am almost ashamed to mention. +But does the preacher in the pulpit, Sunday after Sunday, year after +year, shrink from speaking of sin? I refer, of course, to the +greatest enemy of mankind, "p-sl-y." The ground was carpeted with +it. I should think that this was the tenth crop of the season; and +it was as good as the first. I see no reason why our northern soil +is not as prolific as that of the tropics, and will not produce as +many crops in the year. The mistake we make is in trying to force +things that are not natural to it. I have no doubt that, if we turn +our attention to "pusley," we can beat the world. + +I had no idea, until recently, how generally this simple and thrifty +plant is feared and hated. Far beyond what I had regarded as the +bounds of civilization, it is held as one of the mysteries of a +fallen world; accompanying the home missionary on his wanderings, and +preceding the footsteps of the Tract Society. I was not long ago in +the Adirondacks. We had built a camp for the night, in the heart of +the woods, high up on John's Brook and near the foot of Mount Marcy: +I can see the lovely spot now. It was on the bank of the crystal, +rocky stream, at the foot of high and slender falls, which poured +into a broad amber basin. Out of this basin we had just taken trout +enough for our supper, which had been killed, and roasted over the +fire on sharp sticks, and eaten before they had an opportunity to +feel the chill of this deceitful world. We were lying under the hut +of spruce-bark, on fragrant hemlock-boughs, talking, after supper. +In front of us was a huge fire of birchlogs; and over it we could see +the top of the falls glistening in the moonlight; and the roar of the +falls, and the brawling of the stream near us, filled all the ancient +woods. It was a scene upon which one would think no thought of sin +could enter. We were talking with old Phelps, the guide. Old Phelps +is at once guide, philosopher, and friend. He knows the woods and +streams and mountains, and their savage inhabitants, as well as we +know all our rich relations and what they are doing; and in lonely +bear-hunts and sable-trappings he has thought out and solved most of +the problems of life. As he stands in his wood-gear, he is as +grizzly as an old cedar-tree; and he speaks in a high falsetto voice, +which would be invaluable to a boatswain in a storm at sea. + +We had been talking of all subjects about which rational men are +interested,--bears, panthers, trapping, the habits of trout, the +tariff, the internal revenue (to wit the injustice of laying such a +tax on tobacco, and none on dogs:---There ain't no dog in the United +States," says the guide, at the top of his voice, "that earns his +living"), the Adventists, the Gorner Grat, Horace Greeley, religion, +the propagation of seeds in the wilderness (as, for instance, where +were the seeds lying for ages that spring up into certain plants and +flowers as soon as a spot is cleared anywhere in the most remote +forest; and why does a growth of oak-trees always come up after a +growth of pine has been removed?)--in short, we had pretty nearly +reached a solution of many mysteries, when Phelps suddenly exclaimed +with uncommon energy,-- + +"Wall, there's one thing that beats me!" + +"What's that?" we asked with undisguised curiosity. + +"That's 'pusley'!" he replied, in the tone of a man who has come to +one door in life which is hopelessly shut, and from which he retires +in despair. + +"Where it comes from I don't know, nor what to do with it. It's in +my garden; and I can't get rid of it. It beats me." + +About "pusley" the guide had no theory and no hope. A feeling of awe +came over me, as we lay there at midnight, hushed by the sound of the +stream and the rising wind in the spruce-tops. Then man can go +nowhere that "pusley" will not attend him. Though he camp on the +Upper Au Sable, or penetrate the forest where rolls the Allegash, and +hear no sound save his own allegations, he will not escape it. It +has entered the happy valley of Keene, although there is yet no +church there, and only a feeble school part of the year. Sin travels +faster than they that ride in chariots. I take my hoe, and begin; +but I feel that I am warring against something whose roots take hold +on H. + +By the time a man gets to be eighty, he learns that he is compassed +by limitations, and that there has been a natural boundary set to his +individual powers. As he goes on in life, he begins to doubt his +ability to destroy all evil and to reform all abuses, and to suspect +that there will be much left to do after he has done. I stepped into +my garden in the spring, not doubting that I should be easily master +of the weeds. I have simply learned that an institution which is at +least six thousand years old, and I believe six millions, is not to +be put down in one season. + +I have been digging my potatoes, if anybody cares to know it. I +planted them in what are called "Early Rose,"--the rows a little +less than three feet apart; but the vines came to an early close in +the drought. Digging potatoes is a pleasant, soothing occupation, +but not poetical. It is good for the mind, unless they are too small +(as many of mine are), when it begets a want of gratitude to the +bountiful earth. What small potatoes we all are, compared with what +we might be! We don't plow deep enough, any of us, for one thing. I +shall put in the plow next year, and give the tubers room enough. I +think they felt the lack of it this year: many of them seemed ashamed +to come out so small. There is great pleasure in turning out the +brown-jacketed fellows into the sunshine of a royal September day, +and seeing them glisten as they lie thickly strewn on the warm soil. +Life has few such moments. But then they must be picked up. The +picking-up, in this world, is always the unpleasant part of it. + + + + +SIXTEENTH WEEK + +I do not hold myself bound to answer the question, Does gardening +pay? It is so difficult to define what is meant by paying. There is +a popular notion that, unless a thing pays, you had better let it +alone; and I may say that there is a public opinion that will not let +a man or woman continue in the indulgence of a fancy that does not +pay. And public opinion is stronger than the legislature, and nearly +as strong as the ten commandments: I therefore yield to popular +clamor when I discuss the profit of my garden. + +As I look at it, you might as well ask, Does a sunset pay? I know +that a sunset is commonly looked on as a cheap entertainment; but it +is really one of the most expensive. It is true that we can all have +front seats, and we do not exactly need to dress for it as we do for +the opera; but the conditions under which it is to be enjoyed are +rather dear. Among them I should name a good suit of clothes, +including some trifling ornament,--not including back hair for one +sex, or the parting of it in the middle for the other. I should add +also a good dinner, well cooked and digestible; and the cost of a +fair education, extended, perhaps, through generations in which +sensibility and love of beauty grew. What I mean is, that if a man +is hungry and naked, and half a savage, or with the love of beauty +undeveloped in him, a sunset is thrown away on him: so that it +appears that the conditions of the enjoyment of a sunset are as +costly as anything in our civilization. + +Of course there is no such thing as absolute value in this world. +You can only estimate what a thing is worth to you. Does gardening +in a city pay? You might as well ask if it pays to keep hens, or a +trotting-horse, or to wear a gold ring, or to keep your lawn cut, or +your hair cut. It is as you like it. In a certain sense, it is a +sort of profanation to consider if my garden pays, or to set a money- +value upon my delight in it. I fear that you could not put it in +money. Job had the right idea in his mind when he asked, "Is there +any taste in the white of an egg?" Suppose there is not! What! +shall I set a price upon the tender asparagus or the crisp lettuce, +which made the sweet spring a reality? Shall I turn into merchandise +the red strawberry, the pale green pea, the high-flavored raspberry, +the sanguinary beet, that love-plant the tomato, and the corn which +did not waste its sweetness on the desert air, but, after flowing in +a sweet rill through all our summer life, mingled at last with the +engaging bean in a pool of succotash? Shall I compute in figures +what daily freshness and health and delight the garden yields, let +alone the large crop of anticipation I gathered as soon as the first +seeds got above ground? I appeal to any gardening man of sound mind, +if that which pays him best in gardening is not that which he cannot +show in his trial-balance. Yet I yield to public opinion, when I +proceed to make such a balance; and I do it with the utmost +confidence in figures. + +I select as a representative vegetable, in order to estimate the cost +of gardening, the potato. In my statement, I shall not include the +interest on the value of the land. I throw in the land, because it +would otherwise have stood idle: the thing generally raised on city +land is taxes. I therefore make the following statement of the cost +and income of my potato-crop, a part of it estimated in connection +with other garden labor. I have tried to make it so as to satisfy +the income-tax collector:-- + +Plowing.......................................$0.50 +Seed..........................................$1.50 +Manure........................................ 8.00 +Assistance in planting and digging, 3 days.... 6.75 +Labor of self in planting, hoeing, digging, + picking up, 5 days at 17 cents........... 0.85 + _____ + Total Cost................$17.60 + + +Two thousand five hundred mealy potatoes, + at 2 cents..............................$50.00 +Small potatoes given to neighbor's pig....... .50 + + Total return..............$50.50 + + Balance, profit in cellar......$32.90 + + +Some of these items need explanation. I have charged nothing for my +own time waiting for the potatoes to grow. My time in hoeing, +fighting weeds, etc., is put in at five days: it may have been a +little more. Nor have I put in anything for cooling drinks while +hoeing. I leave this out from principle, because I always recommend +water to others. I had some difficulty in fixing the rate of my own +wages. It was the first time I had an opportunity of paying what I +thought labor was worth; and I determined to make a good thing of it +for once. I figured it right down to European prices,--seventeen +cents a day for unskilled labor. Of course, I boarded myself. I +ought to say that I fixed the wages after the work was done, or I +might have been tempted to do as some masons did who worked for me at +four dollars a day. They lay in the shade and slept the sleep of +honest toil full half the time, at least all the time I was away. I +have reason to believe that when the wages of mechanics are raised to +eight and ten dollars a day, the workmen will not come at all: they +will merely send their cards. + +I do not see any possible fault in the above figures. I ought to say +that I deferred putting a value on the potatoes until I had footed up +the debit column. This is always the safest way to do. I had +twenty-five bushels. I roughly estimated that there are one hundred +good ones to the bushel. Making my own market price, I asked two +cents apiece for them. This I should have considered dirt cheap last +June, when I was going down the rows with the hoe. If any one thinks +that two cents each is high, let him try to raise them. + +Nature is "awful smart." I intend to be complimentary in saying so. +She shows it in little things. I have mentioned my attempt to put in +a few modest turnips, near the close of the season. I sowed the +seeds, by the way, in the most liberal manner. Into three or four +short rows I presume I put enough to sow an acre; and they all came +up,--came up as thick as grass, as crowded and useless as babies in a +Chinese village. Of course, they had to be thinned out; that is, +pretty much all pulled up; and it took me a long time; for it takes a +conscientious man some time to decide which are the best and +healthiest plants to spare. After all, I spared too many. That is +the great danger everywhere in this world (it may not be in the +next): things are too thick; we lose all in grasping for too much. +The Scotch say, that no man ought to thin out his own turnips, +because he will not sacrifice enough to leave room for the remainder +to grow: he should get his neighbor, who does not care for the +plants, to do it. But this is mere talk, and aside from the point: +if there is anything I desire to avoid in these agricultural papers, +it is digression. I did think that putting in these turnips so late +in the season, when general activity has ceased, and in a remote part +of the garden, they would pass unnoticed. But Nature never even +winks, as I can see. The tender blades were scarcely out of the +ground when she sent a small black fly, which seemed to have been +born and held in reserve for this purpose,--to cut the leaves. They +speedily made lace-work of the whole bed. Thus everything appears to +have its special enemy,--except, perhaps, p----y: nothing ever +troubles that. + +Did the Concord Grape ever come to more luscious perfection than this +year? or yield so abundantly? The golden sunshine has passed into +them, and distended their purple skins almost to bursting. Such +heavy clusters! such bloom! such sweetness! such meat and drink in +their round globes! What a fine fellow Bacchus would have been, if +he had only signed the pledge when he was a young man! I have taken +off clusters that were as compact and almost as large as the Black +Hamburgs. It is slow work picking them. I do not see how the +gatherers for the vintage ever get off enough. It takes so long to +disentangle the bunches from the leaves and the interlacing vines and +the supporting tendrils; and then I like to hold up each bunch and +look at it in the sunlight, and get the fragrance and the bloom of +it, and show it to Polly, who is making herself useful, as taster and +companion, at the foot of the ladder, before dropping it into the +basket. But we have other company. The robin, the most knowing and +greedy bird out of paradise (I trust he will always be kept out), has +discovered that the grape-crop is uncommonly good, and has come back, +with his whole tribe and family, larger than it was in pea-time. He +knows the ripest bunches as well as anybody, and tries them all. If +he would take a whole bunch here and there, say half the number, and +be off with it, I should not so much care. But he will not. He +pecks away at all the bunches, and spoils as many as he can. It is +time he went south. + +There is no prettier sight, to my eye, than a gardener on a ladder in +his grape-arbor, in these golden days, selecting the heaviest +clusters of grapes, and handing them down to one and another of a +group of neighbors and friends, who stand under the shade of the +leaves, flecked with the sunlight, and cry, "How sweet!" "What nice +ones!" and the like,--remarks encouraging to the man on the ladder. +It is great pleasure to see people eat grapes. + +Moral Truth.--I have no doubt that grapes taste best in other +people's mouths. It is an old notion that it is easier to be +generous than to be stingy. I am convinced that the majority of +people would be generous from selfish motives, if they had the +opportunity. + +Philosophical Observation.--Nothing shows one who his friends are +like prosperity and ripe fruit. I had a good friend in the country, +whom I almost never visited except in cherry-time. By your fruits +you shall know them. + + + + + +SEVENTEENTH WEEK + +I like to go into the garden these warm latter days, and muse. To +muse is to sit in the sun, and not think of anything. I am not sure +but goodness comes out of people who bask in the sun, as it does out +of a sweet apple roasted before the fire. The late September and +October sun of this latitude is something like the sun of extreme +Lower Italy: you can stand a good deal of it, and apparently soak a +winter supply into the system. If one only could take in his winter +fuel in this way! The next great discovery will, very likely, be the +conservation of sunlight. In the correlation of forces, I look to +see the day when the superfluous sunshine will be utilized; as, for +instance, that which has burned up my celery this year will be +converted into a force to work the garden. + +This sitting in the sun amid the evidences of a ripe year is the +easiest part of gardening I have experienced. But what a combat has +gone on here! What vegetable passions have run the whole gamut of +ambition, selfishness, greed of place, fruition, satiety, and now +rest here in the truce of exhaustion! What a battle-field, if one +may look upon it so! The corn has lost its ammunition, and stacked +arms in a slovenly, militia sort of style. The ground vines are +torn, trampled, and withered; and the ungathered cucumbers, worthless +melons, and golden squashes lie about like the spent bombs and +exploded shells of a battle-field. So the cannon-balls lay on the +sandy plain before Fort Fisher after the capture. So the great +grassy meadow at Munich, any morning during the October Fest, is +strewn with empty beermugs. History constantly repeats itself. +There is a large crop of moral reflections in my garden, which +anybody is at liberty to gather who passes this way. + +I have tried to get in anything that offered temptation to sin. +There would be no thieves if there was nothing to steal; and I +suppose, in the thieves' catechism, the provider is as bad as the +thief; and, probably, I am to blame for leaving out a few winter +pears, which some predatory boy carried off on Sunday. At first I +was angry, and said I should like to have caught the urchin in the +act; but, on second thought, I was glad I did not. The interview +could not have been pleasant: I shouldn't have known what to do with +him. The chances are, that he would have escaped away with his +pockets full, and jibed at me from a safe distance. And, if I had +got my hands on him, I should have been still more embarrassed. If I +had flogged him, he would have got over it a good deal sooner than I +should. That sort of boy does not mind castigation any more than he +does tearing his trousers in the briers. If I had treated him with +kindness, and conciliated him with grapes, showing him the enormity +of his offense, I suppose he would have come the next night, and +taken the remainder of the grapes. The truth is, that the public +morality is lax on the subject of fruit. If anybody puts arsenic or +gunpowder into his watermelons, he is universally denounced as a +stingy old murderer by the community. A great many people regard +growing fruit as lawful prey, who would not think of breaking into +your cellar to take it. I found a man once in my raspberry-bushes, +early in the season, when we were waiting for a dishful to ripen. +Upon inquiring what he was about, he said he was only eating some; +and the operation seemed to be so natural and simple, that I disliked +to disturb him. And I am not very sure that one has a right to the +whole of an abundant crop of fruit until he has gathered it. At +least, in a city garden, one might as well conform his theory to the +practice of the community. + +As for children (and it sometimes looks as if the chief products of +my garden were small boys and hens), it is admitted that they are +barbarians. There is no exception among them to this condition of +barbarism. This is not to say that they are not attractive; for they +have the virtues as well as the vices of a primitive people. It is +held by some naturalists that the child is only a zoophyte, with a +stomach, and feelers radiating from it in search of something to fill +it. It is true that a child is always hungry all over: but he is +also curious all over; and his curiosity is excited about as early as +his hunger. He immediately begins to put out his moral feelers into +the unknown and the infinite to discover what sort of an existence +this is into which he has come. His imagination is quite as hungry +as his stomach. And again and again it is stronger than his other +appetites. You can easily engage his imagination in a story which +will make him forget his dinner. He is credulous and superstitious, +and open to all wonder. In this, he is exactly like the savage +races. Both gorge themselves on the marvelous; and all the unknown +is marvelous to them. I know the general impression is that children +must be governed through their stomachs. I think they can be +controlled quite as well through their curiosity; that being the more +craving and imperious of the two. I have seen children follow about +a person who told them stories, and interested them with his charming +talk, as greedily as if his pockets had been full of bon-bons. + +Perhaps this fact has no practical relation to gardening; but it +occurs to me that, if I should paper the outside of my high board +fence with the leaves of "The Arabian Nights," it would afford me a +good deal of protection,--more, in fact, than spikes in the top, +which tear trousers and encourage profanity, but do not save much +fruit. A spiked fence is a challenge to any boy of spirit. But if +the fence were papered with fairy-tales, would he not stop to read +them until it was too late for him to climb into the garden? I don't +know. Human nature is vicious. The boy might regard the picture of +the garden of the Hesperides only as an advertisement of what was +over the fence. I begin to find that the problem of raising fruit is +nothing to that of getting it after it has matured. So long as the +law, just in many respects, is in force against shooting birds and +small boys, the gardener may sow in tears and reap in vain. + +The power of a boy is, to me, something fearful. Consider what he +can do. You buy and set out a choice pear-tree; you enrich the earth +for it; you train and trim it, and vanquish the borer, and watch its +slow growth. At length it rewards your care by producing two or +three pears, which you cut up and divide in the family, declaring the +flavor of the bit you eat to be something extraordinary. The next +year, the little tree blossoms full, and sets well; and in the autumn +has on its slender, drooping limbs half a bushel of fruit, daily +growing more delicious in the sun. You show it to your friends, +reading to them the French name, which you can never remember, on the +label; and you take an honest pride in the successful fruit of long +care. That night your pears shall be required of you by a boy! +Along comes an irresponsible urchin, who has not been growing much +longer than the tree, with not twenty-five cents worth of clothing on +him, and in five minutes takes off every pear, and retires into safe +obscurity. In five minutes the remorseless boy has undone your work +of years, and with the easy nonchalance, I doubt not, of any agent of +fate, in whose path nothing is sacred or safe. + +And it is not of much consequence. The boy goes on his way,--to +Congress, or to State Prison: in either place he will be accused of +stealing, perhaps wrongfully. You learn, in time, that it is better +to have had pears and lost them than not to have had pears at all. +You come to know that the least (and rarest) part of the pleasure of +raising fruit is the vulgar eating it. You recall your delight in +conversing with the nurseryman, and looking at his illustrated +catalogues, where all the pears are drawn perfect in form, and of +extra size, and at that exact moment between ripeness and decay which +it is so impossible to hit in practice. Fruit cannot be raised on +this earth to taste as you imagine those pears would taste. For +years you have this pleasure, unalloyed by any disenchanting reality. +How you watch the tender twigs in spring, and the freshly forming +bark, hovering about the healthy growing tree with your pruning-knife +many a sunny morning! That is happiness. Then, if you know it, you +are drinking the very wine of life; and when the sweet juices of the +earth mount the limbs, and flow down the tender stem, ripening and +reddening the pendent fruit, you feel that you somehow stand at the +source of things, and have no unimportant share in the processes of +Nature. Enter at this moment boy the destroyer, whose office is that +of preserver as well; for, though he removes the fruit from your +sight, it remains in your memory immortally ripe and desirable. The +gardener needs all these consolations of a high philosophy. + + + + +EIGHTEENTH WEEK + +Regrets are idle; yet history is one long regret. Everything might +have turned out so differently! If Ravaillac had not been imprisoned +for debt, he would not have stabbed Henry of Navarre. If William of +Orange had escaped assassination by Philip's emissaries; if France +had followed the French Calvin, and embraced Protestant Calvinism, as +it came very near doing towards the end of the sixteenth century; if +the Continental ammunition had not given out at Bunker's Hill; if +Blucher had not "come up" at Waterloo,--the lesson is, that things do +not come up unless they are planted. When you go behind the +historical scenery, you find there is a rope and pulley to effect +every transformation which has astonished you. It was the rascality +of a minister and a contractor five years before that lost the +battle; and the cause of the defeat was worthless ammunition. I +should like to know how many wars have been caused by fits of +indigestion, and how many more dynasties have been upset by the love +of woman than by the hate of man. It is only because we are ill +informed that anything surprises us; and we are disappointed because +we expect that for which we have not provided. + +I had too vague expectations of what my garden would do of itself. A +garden ought to produce one everything,--just as a business ought to +support a man, and a house ought to keep itself. We had a convention +lately to resolve that the house should keep itself; but it won't. +There has been a lively time in our garden this summer; but it seems +to me there is very little to show for it. It has been a terrible +campaign; but where is the indemnity? Where are all "sass" and +Lorraine? It is true that we have lived on the country; but we +desire, besides, the fruits of the war. There are no onions, for one +thing. I am quite ashamed to take people into my garden, and have +them notice the absence of onions. It is very marked. In onion is +strength; and a garden without it lacks flavor. The onion in its +satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables; and it is +the only one that represents the essence of things. It can almost be +said to have a soul. You take off coat after coat, and the onion is +still there; and, when the last one is removed, who dare say that the +onion itself is destroyed, though you can weep over its departed +spirit? If there is any one thing on this fallen earth that the +angels in heaven weep over--more than another, it is the onion. + +I know that there is supposed to be a prejudice against the onion; +but I think there is rather a cowardice in regard to it. I doubt not +that all men and women love the onion; but few confess their love. +Affection for it is concealed. Good New-Englanders are as shy of +owning it as they are of talking about religion. Some people have +days on which they eat onions,--what you might call "retreats," or +their "Thursdays." The act is in the nature of a religious ceremony, +an Eleusinian mystery; not a breath of it must get abroad. On that +day they see no company; they deny the kiss of greeting to the +dearest friend; they retire within themselves, and hold communion +with one of the most pungent and penetrating manifestations of the +moral vegetable world. Happy is said to be the family which can eat +onions together. They are, for the time being, separate from the +world, and have a harmony of aspiration. There is a hint here for +the reformers. Let them become apostles of the onion; let them eat, +and preach it to their fellows, and circulate tracts of it in the +form of seeds. In the onion is the hope of universal brotherhood. +If all men will eat onions at all times, they will come into a +universal sympathy. Look at Italy. I hope I am not mistaken as to +the cause of her unity. It was the Reds who preached the gospel +which made it possible. All the Reds of Europe, all the sworn +devotees of the mystic Mary Ann, eat of the common vegetable. Their +oaths are strong with it. It is the food, also, of the common people +of Italy. All the social atmosphere of that delicious land is laden +with it. Its odor is a practical democracy. In the churches all are +alike: there is one faith, one smell. The entrance of Victor Emanuel +into Rome is only the pompous proclamation of a unity which garlic +had already accomplished; and yet we, who boast of our democracy, eat +onions in secret. + +I now see that I have left out many of the most moral elements. +Neither onions, parsnips, carrots, nor cabbages are here. I have +never seen a garden in the autumn before, without the uncouth cabbage +in it; but my garden gives the impression of a garden without a head. +The cabbage is the rose of Holland. I admire the force by which it +compacts its crisp leaves into a solid head. The secret of it would +be priceless to the world. We should see less expansive foreheads +with nothing within. Even the largest cabbages are not always the +best. But I mention these things, not from any sympathy I have with +the vegetables named, but to show how hard it is to go contrary to +the expectations of society. Society expects every man to have +certain things in his garden. Not to raise cabbage is as if one had +no pew in church. Perhaps we shall come some day to free churches +and free gardens; when I can show my neighbor through my tired +garden, at the end of the season, when skies are overcast, and brown +leaves are swirling down, and not mind if he does raise his eyebrows +when he observes, "Ah! I see you have none of this, and of that." At +present we want the moral courage to plant only what we need; to +spend only what will bring us peace, regardless of what is going on +over the fence. We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be +wholly ruined without it; and I presume I shall make a garden next +year that will be as popular as possible. + +And this brings me to what I see may be a crisis in life. I begin to +feel the temptation of experiment. Agriculture, horticulture, +floriculture,--these are vast fields, into which one may wander away, +and never be seen more. It seemed to me a very simple thing, this +gardening; but it opens up astonishingly. It is like the infinite +possibilities in worsted-work. Polly sometimes says to me, "I wish +you would call at Bobbin's, and match that skein of worsted for me, +when you are in town." Time was, I used to accept such a commission +with alacrity and self-confidence. I went to Bobbin's, and asked one +of his young men, with easy indifference, to give me some of that. +The young man, who is as handsome a young man as ever I looked at, +and who appears to own the shop, and whose suave superciliousness +would be worth everything to a cabinet minister who wanted to repel +applicants for place, says, "I have n't an ounce: I have sent to +Paris, and I expect it every day. I have a good deal of difficulty +in getting that shade in my assortment." To think that he is in +communication with Paris, and perhaps with Persia! Respect for such +a being gives place to awe. I go to another shop, holding fast to my +scarlet clew. There I am shown a heap of stuff, with more colors and +shades than I had supposed existed in all the world. What a blaze of +distraction! I have been told to get as near the shade as I could; +and so I compare and contrast, till the whole thing seems to me about +of one color. But I can settle my mind on nothing. The affair +assumes a high degree of importance. I am satisfied with nothing but +perfection. I don't know what may happen if the shade is not +matched. I go to another shop, and another, and another. At last a +pretty girl, who could make any customer believe that green is blue, +matches the shade in a minute. I buy five cents worth. That was the +order. Women are the most economical persons that ever were. I have +spent two hours in this five-cent business; but who shall say they +were wasted, when I take the stuff home, and Polly says it is a +perfect match, and looks so pleased, and holds it up with the work, +at arm's length, and turns her head one side, and then takes her +needle, and works it in? Working in, I can see, my own obligingness +and amiability with every stitch. Five cents is dirt cheap for such +a pleasure. + +The things I may do in my garden multiply on my vision. How +fascinating have the catalogues of the nurserymen become! Can I +raise all those beautiful varieties, each one of which is preferable +to the other? Shall I try all the kinds of grapes, and all the sorts +of pears? I have already fifteen varieties of strawberries (vines); +and I have no idea that I have hit the right one. Must I subscribe +to all the magazines and weekly papers which offer premiums of the +best vines? Oh, that all the strawberries were rolled into one, that +I could inclose all its lusciousness in one bite! Oh for the good +old days when a strawberry was a strawberry, and there was no +perplexity about it! There are more berries now than churches; and +no one knows what to believe. I have seen gardens which were all +experiment, given over to every new thing, and which produced little +or nothing to the owners, except the pleasure of expectation. People +grow pear-trees at great expense of time and money, which never yield +them more than four pears to the tree. The fashions of ladies' +bonnets are nothing to the fashions of nurserymen. He who attempts +to follow them has a business for life; but his life may be short. +If I enter upon this wide field of horticultural experiment, I shall +leave peace behind; and I may expect the ground to open, and swallow +me and all my fortune. May Heaven keep me to the old roots and herbs +of my forefathers! Perhaps in the world of modern reforms this is +not possible; but I intend now to cultivate only the standard things, +and learn to talk knowingly of the rest. Of course, one must keep up +a reputation. I have seen people greatly enjoy themselves, and +elevate themselves in their own esteem, in a wise and critical talk +about all the choice wines, while they were sipping a decoction, the +original cost of which bore no relation to the price of grapes. + + + + +NINETEENTH WEEK + +The closing scenes are not necessarily funereal. A garden should be +got ready for winter as well as for summer. When one goes into +winter-quarters, he wants everything neat and trim. Expecting high +winds, we bring everything into close reef. Some men there are who +never shave (if they are so absurd as ever to shave), except when +they go abroad, and who do not take care to wear polished boots in +the bosoms of their families. I like a man who shaves (next to one +who does n't shave) to satisfy his own conscience, and not for +display, and who dresses as neatly at home as he does anywhere. Such +a man will be likely to put his garden in complete order before the +snow comes, so that its last days shall not present a scene of +melancholy ruin and decay. + +I confess that, after such an exhausting campaign, I felt a great +temptation to retire, and call it a drawn engagement. But better +counsels prevailed. I determined that the weeds should not sleep on +the field of battle. I routed them out, and leveled their works. I +am master of the situation. If I have made a desert, I at least have +peace; but it is not quite a desert. The strawberries, the +raspberries, the celery, the turnips, wave green above the clean +earth, with no enemy in sight. In these golden October days no work +is more fascinating than this getting ready for spring. The sun is +no longer a burning enemy, but a friend, illuminating all the open +space, and warming the mellow soil. And the pruning and clearing +away of rubbish, and the fertilizing, go on with something of the +hilarity of a wake, rather than the despondency of other funerals. +When the wind begins to come out of the northwest of set purpose, and +to sweep the ground with low and searching fierceness, very different +from the roistering, jolly bluster of early fall, I have put the +strawberries under their coverlet of leaves, pruned the grape-vines +and laid them under the soil, tied up the tender plants, given the +fruit trees a good, solid meal about the roots; and so I turn away, +writing Resurgam on the gatepost. And Calvin, aware that the summer +is past and the harvest is ended, and that a mouse in the kitchen is +worth two birds gone south, scampers away to the house with his tail +in the air. + +And yet I am not perfectly at rest in my mind. I know that this is +only a truce until the parties recover their exhausted energies. All +winter long the forces of chemistry will be mustering under ground, +repairing the losses, calling up the reserves, getting new strength +from my surface-fertilizing bounty, and making ready for the spring +campaign. They will open it before I am ready: while the snow is +scarcely melted, and the ground is not passable, they will begin to +move on my works; and the fight will commence. Yet how deceitfully +it will open to the music of birds and the soft enchantment of the +spring mornings! I shall even be permitted to win a few skirmishes: +the secret forces will even wait for me to plant and sow, and show my +full hand, before they come on in heavy and determined assault. +There are already signs of an internecine fight with the devil-grass, +which has intrenched itself in a considerable portion of my +garden-patch. It contests the ground inch by inch; and digging it +out is very much such labor as eating a piece of choke-cherry pie +with the stones all in. It is work, too, that I know by experience I +shall have to do alone. Every man must eradicate his own devil- +grass. The neighbors who have leisure to help you in grape-picking +time are all busy when devil-grass is most aggressive. My neighbors' +visits are well timed: it is only their hens which have seasons for +their own. + +I am told that abundant and rank weeds are signs of a rich soil; but +I have noticed that a thin, poor soil grows little but weeds. I am +inclined to think that the substratum is the same, and that the only +choice in this world is what kind of weeds you will have. I am not +much attracted by the gaunt, flavorless mullein, and the wiry thistle +of upland country pastures, where the grass is always gray, as if the +world were already weary and sick of life. The awkward, uncouth +wickedness of remote country-places, where culture has died out after +the first crop, is about as disagreeable as the ranker and richer +vice of city life, forced by artificial heat and the juices of an +overfed civilization. There is no doubt that, on the whole, the rich +soil is the best: the fruit of it has body and flavor. To what +affluence does a woman (to take an instance, thank Heaven, which is +common) grow, with favoring circumstances, under the stimulus of the +richest social and intellectual influences! I am aware that there +has been a good deal said in poetry about the fringed gentian and the +harebell of rocky districts and waysides, and I know that it is +possible for maidens to bloom in very slight soil into a wild-wood +grace and beauty; yet, the world through, they lack that wealth of +charms, that tropic affluence of both person and mind, which higher +and more stimulating culture brings,--the passion as well as the soul +glowing in the Cloth-of-Gold rose. Neither persons nor plants are +ever fully themselves until they are cultivated to their highest. I, +for one, have no fear that society will be too much enriched. The +only question is about keeping down the weeds; and I have learned by +experience, that we need new sorts of hoes, and more disposition to +use them. + +Moral Deduction.--The difference between soil and society is +evident. We bury decay in the earth; we plant in it the perishing; +we feed it with offensive refuse: but nothing grows out of it that is +not clean; it gives us back life and beauty for our rubbish. Society +returns us what we give it. + +Pretending to reflect upon these things, but in reality watching the +blue-jays, who are pecking at the purple berries of the woodbine on +the south gable, I approach the house. Polly is picking up chestnuts +on the sward, regardless of the high wind which rattles them about +her head and upon the glass roof of her winter-garden. The garden, I +see, is filled with thrifty plants, which will make it always summer +there. The callas about the fountain will be in flower by Christmas: +the plant appears to keep that holiday in her secret heart all +summer. I close the outer windows as we go along, and congratulate +myself that we are ready for winter. For the winter-garden I have no +responsibility: Polly has entire charge of it. I am only required to +keep it heated, and not too hot either; to smoke it often for the +death of the bugs; to water it once a day; to move this and that into +the sun and out of the sun pretty constantly: but she does all the +work. We never relinquish that theory. + +As we pass around the house, I discover a boy in the ravine filling a +bag with chestnuts and hickorynuts. They are not plenty this year; +and I suggest the propriety of leaving some for us. The boy is a +little slow to take the idea: but he has apparently found the picking +poor, and exhausted it; for, as he turns away down the glen, he hails +me with, + +"Mister, I say, can you tell me where I can find some walnuts?" + +The coolness of this world grows upon me. It is time to go in and +light a wood-fire on the hearth. + + + + + + +CALVIN + + + + +NOTE.--The following brief Memoir of one of the characters in +this book is added by his friend, in the hope that the record +of an exemplary fife in an humble sphere may be of some service +to the world. + + HARTFORD, January, 1880. + + + + +CALVIN + +A STUDY OF CHARACTER + + +Calvin is dead. His life, long to him, but short for the rest of us, +was not marked by startling adventures, but his character was so +uncommon and his qualities were so worthy of imitation, that I have +been asked by those who personally knew him to set down my +recollections of his career. + +His origin and ancestry were shrouded in mystery; even his age was a +matter of pure conjecture. Although he was of the Maltese race, I +have reason to suppose that he was American by birth as he certainly +was in sympathy. Calvin was given to me eight years ago by Mrs. +Stowe, but she knew nothing of his age or origin. He walked into her +house one day out of the great unknown and became at once at home, as +if he had been always a friend of the family. He appeared to have +artistic and literary tastes, and it was as if he had inquired at the +door if that was the residence of the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," +and, upon being assured that it was, bad decided to dwell there. +This is, of course, fanciful, for his antecedents were wholly +unknown, but in his time he could hardly have been in any household +where he would not have heard "Uncle Tom's Cabin" talked about. When +he came to Mrs. Stowe, he was as large as he ever was, and +apparently as old as he ever became. Yet there was in him no +appearance of age; he was in the happy maturity of all his powers, +and you would rather have said that in that maturity he had found the +secret of perpetual youth. And it was as difficult to believe that +he would ever be aged as it was to imagine that he had ever been in +immature youth. There was in him a mysterious perpetuity. + +After some years, when Mrs. Stowe made her winter home in Florida, +Calvin came to live with us. From the first moment, he fell into the +ways of the house and assumed a recognized position in the family,--I +say recognized, because after he became known he was always inquired +for by visitors, and in the letters to the other members of the +family he always received a message. Although the least obtrusive of +beings, his individuality always made itself felt. + +His personal appearance had much to do with this, for he was of royal +mould, and had an air of high breeding. He was large, but he had +nothing of the fat grossness of the celebrated Angora family; though +powerful, he was exquisitely proportioned, and as graceful in every +movement as a young leopard. When he stood up to open a door--he +opened all the doors with old-fashioned latches--he was portentously +tall, and when stretched on the rug before the fire he seemed too +long for this world--as indeed he was. His coat was the finest and +softest I have ever seen, a shade of quiet Maltese; and from his +throat downward, underneath, to the white tips of his feet, he wore +the whitest and most delicate ermine; and no person was ever more +fastidiously neat. In his finely formed head you saw something of +his aristocratic character; the ears were small and cleanly cut, +there was a tinge of pink in the nostrils, his face was handsome, and +the expression of his countenance exceedingly intelligent--I should +call it even a sweet expression, if the term were not inconsistent +with his look of alertness and sagacity. + +It is difficult to convey a just idea of his gayety in connection +with his dignity and gravity, which his name expressed. As we know +nothing of his family, of course it will be understood that Calvin +was his Christian name. He had times of relaxation into utter +playfulness, delighting in a ball of yarn, catching sportively at +stray ribbons when his mistress was at her toilet, and pursuing his +own tail, with hilarity, for lack of anything better. He could amuse +himself by the hour, and he did not care for children; perhaps +something in his past was present to his memory. He had absolutely +no bad habits, and his disposition was perfect. I never saw him +exactly angry, though I have seen his tail grow to an enormous size +when a strange cat appeared upon his lawn. He disliked cats, +evidently regarding them as feline and treacherous, and he had no +association with them. Occasionally there would be heard a night +concert in the shrubbery. Calvin would ask to have the door opened, +and then you would hear a rush and a "pestzt," and the concert would +explode, and Calvin would quietly come in and resume his seat on the +hearth. There was no trace of anger in his manner, but he would n't +have any of that about the house. He had the rare virtue of +magnanimity. Although he had fixed notions about his own rights, and +extraordinary persistency in getting them, he never showed temper at +a repulse; he simply and firmly persisted till he had what he wanted. +His diet was one point; his idea was that of the scholars about +dictionaries,--to "get the best." He knew as well as any one what was +in the house, and would refuse beef if turkey was to be had; and if +there were oysters, he would wait over the turkey to see if the +oysters would not be forthcoming. And yet he was not a gross +gourmand; he would eat bread if he saw me eating it, and thought he +was not being imposed on. His habits of feeding, also, were refined; +he never used a knife, and he would put up his hand and draw the fork +down to his mouth as gracefully as a grown person. Unless necessity +compelled, he would not eat in the kitchen, but insisted upon his +meals in the dining-room, and would wait patiently, unless a stranger +were present; and then he was sure to importune the visitor, hoping +that the latter was ignorant of the rule of the house, and would give +him something. They used to say that he preferred as his table-cloth +on the floor a certain well-known church journal; but this was said +by an Episcopalian. So far as I know, he had no religious +prejudices, except that he did not like the association with +Romanists. He tolerated the servants, because they belonged to the +house, and would sometimes linger by the kitchen stove; but the +moment visitors came in he arose, opened the door, and marched into +the drawing-room. Yet he enjoyed the company of his equals, and +never withdrew, no matter how many callers--whom he recognized as of +his society--might come into the drawing-room. Calvin was fond of +company, but he wanted to choose it; and I have no doubt that his was +an aristocratic fastidiousness rather than one of faith. It is so +with most people. + +The intelligence of Calvin was something phenomenal, in his rank of +life. He established a method of communicating his wants, and even +some of his sentiments; and he could help himself in many things. +There was a furnace register in a retired room, where he used to go +when he wished to be alone, that he always opened when he desired +more heat; but he never shut it, any more than he shut the door after +himself. He could do almost everything but speak; and you would +declare sometimes that you could see a pathetic longing to do that in +his intelligent face. I have no desire to overdraw his qualities, +but if there was one thing in him more noticeable than another, it +was his fondness for nature. He could content himself for hours at a +low window, looking into the ravine and at the great trees, noting +the smallest stir there; he delighted, above all things, to accompany +me walking about the garden, hearing the birds, getting the smell of +the fresh earth, and rejoicing in the sunshine. He followed me and +gamboled like a dog, rolling over on the turf and exhibiting his +delight in a hundred ways. If I worked, he sat and watched me, or +looked off over the bank, and kept his ear open to the twitter in the +cherry-trees. When it stormed, he was sure to sit at the window, +keenly watching the rain or the snow, glancing up and down at its +falling; and a winter tempest always delighted him. I think he was +genuinely fond of birds, but, so far as I know, he usually confined +himself to one a day; he never killed, as some sportsmen do, for the +sake of killing, but only as civilized people do,--from necessity. +He was intimate with the flying-squirrels who dwell in the chestnut- +trees,--too intimate, for almost every day in the summer he would +bring in one, until he nearly discouraged them. He was, indeed, a +superb hunter, and would have been a devastating one, if his bump of +destructiveness had not been offset by a bump of moderation. There +was very little of the brutality of the lower animals about him; I +don't think he enjoyed rats for themselves, but he knew his business, +and for the first few months of his residence with us he waged an +awful campaign against the horde, and after that his simple presence +was sufficient to deter them from coming on the premises. Mice +amused him, but he usually considered them too small game to be taken +seriously; I have seen him play for an hour with a mouse, and then +let him go with a royal condescension. In this whole, matter of +"getting a living," Calvin was a great contrast to the rapacity of +the age in which he lived. + +I hesitate a little to speak of his capacity for friendship and the +affectionateness of his nature, for I know from his own reserve that +he would not care to have it much talked about. We understood each +other perfectly, but we never made any fuss about it; when I spoke +his name and snapped my fingers, he came to me; when I returned home +at night, he was pretty sure to be waiting for me near the gate, and +would rise and saunter along the walk, as if his being there were +purely accidental,--so shy was he commonly of showing feeling; and +when I opened the door, he never rushed in, like a cat, but loitered, +and lounged, as if he had no intention of going in, but would +condescend to. And yet, the fact was, he knew dinner was ready, and +he was bound to be there. He kept the run of dinner-time. It +happened sometimes, during our absence in the summer, that dinner +would be early, and Calvin, walking about the grounds, missed it and +came in late. But he never made a mistake the second day. There was +one thing he never did,--he never rushed through an open doorway. He +never forgot his dignity. If he had asked to have the door opened, +and was eager to go out, he always went deliberately; I can see him +now standing on the sill, looking about at the sky as if he was +thinking whether it were worth while to take an umbrella, until he +was near having his tail shut in. + +His friendship was rather constant than demonstrative. When we +returned from an absence of nearly two years, Calvin welcomed us with +evident pleasure, but showed his satisfaction rather by tranquil +happiness than by fuming about. He had the faculty of making us glad +to get home. It was his constancy that was so attractive. He liked +companionship, but he wouldn't be petted, or fussed over, or sit in +any one's lap a moment; he always extricated himself from such +familiarity with dignity and with no show of temper. If there was +any petting to be done, however, he chose to do it. Often he would +sit looking at me, and then, moved by a delicate affection, come and +pull at my coat and sleeve until he could touch my face with his +nose, and then go away contented. He had a habit of coming to my +study in the morning, sitting quietly by my side or on the table for +hours, watching the pen run over the paper, occasionally swinging his +tail round for a blotter, and then going to sleep among the papers by +the inkstand. Or, more rarely, he would watch the writing from a +perch on my shoulder. Writing always interested him, and, until he +understood it, he wanted to hold the pen. + +He always held himself in a kind of reserve with his friend, as if he +had said, "Let us respect our personality, and not make a "mess" of +friendship." He saw, with Emerson, the risk of degrading it to +trivial conveniency. "Why insist on rash personal relations with +your friend?" "Leave this touching and clawing." Yet I would not +give an unfair notion of his aloofness, his fine sense of the +sacredness of the me and the not-me. And, at the risk of not being +believed, I will relate an incident, which was often repeated. +Calvin had the practice of passing a portion of the night in the +contemplation of its beauties, and would come into our chamber over +the roof of the conservatory through the open window, summer and +winter, and go to sleep on the foot of my bed. He would do this +always exactly in this way; he never was content to stay in the +chamber if we compelled him to go upstairs and through the door. He +had the obstinacy of General Grant. But this is by the way. In the +morning, he performed his toilet and went down to breakfast with the +rest of the family. Now, when the mistress was absent from home, and +at no other time, Calvin would come in the morning, when the bell +rang, to the head of the bed, put up his feet and look into my face, +follow me about when I rose, "assist" at the dressing, and in many +purring ways show his fondness, as if he had plainly said, "I know +that she has gone away, but I am here." Such was Calvin in rare +moments. + +He had his limitations. Whatever passion he had for nature, he had +no conception of art. There was sent to him once a fine and very +expressive cat's head in bronze, by Fremiet. I placed it on the +floor. He regarded it intently, approached it cautiously and +crouchingly, touched it with his nose, perceived the fraud, turned +away abruptly, and never would notice it afterward. On the whole, +his life was not only a successful one, but a happy one. He never +had but one fear, so far as I know: he had a mortal and a reasonable +terror of plumbers. He would never stay in the house when they were +here. No coaxing could quiet him. Of course he did n't share our +fear about their charges, but he must have had some dreadful +experience with them in that portion of his life which is unknown to +us. A plumber was to him the devil, and I have no doubt that, in his +scheme, plumbers were foreordained to do him mischief. + +In speaking of his worth, it has never occurred to me to estimate +Calvin by the worldly standard. I know that it is customary now, +when any one dies, to ask how much he was worth, and that no obituary +in the newspapers is considered complete without such an estimate. +The plumbers in our house were one day overheard to say that, "They +say that she says that he says that he wouldn't take a hundred +dollars for him." It is unnecessary to say that I never made such a +remark, and that, so far as Calvin was concerned, there was no +purchase in money. + +As I look back upon it, Calvin's life seems to me a fortunate one, +for it was natural and unforced. He ate when he was hungry, slept +when he was sleepy, and enjoyed existence to the very tips of his +toes and the end of his expressive and slow-moving tail. He +delighted to roam about the garden, and stroll among the trees, and +to lie on the green grass and luxuriate in all the sweet influences +of summer. You could never accuse him of idleness, and yet he knew +the secret of repose. The poet who wrote so prettily of him that his +little life was rounded with a sleep, understated his felicity; it +was rounded with a good many. His conscience never seemed to +interfere with his slumbers. In fact, he had good habits and a +contented mind. I can see him now walk in at the study door, sit +down by my chair, bring his tail artistically about his feet, and +look up at me with unspeakable happiness in his handsome face. I +often thought that he felt the dumb limitation which denied him the +power of language. But since he was denied speech, he scorned the +inarticulate mouthings of the lower animals. The vulgar mewing and +yowling of the cat species was beneath him; he sometimes uttered a +sort of articulate and well-bred ejaculation, when he wished to call +attention to something that he considered remarkable, or to some want +of his, but he never went whining about. He would sit for hours at a +closed window, when he desired to enter, without a murmur, and when +it was opened, he never admitted that he had been impatient by +"bolting" in. Though speech he had not, and the unpleasant kind of +utterance given to his race he would not use, he had a mighty power +of purr to express his measureless content with congenial society. +There was in him a musical organ with stops of varied power and +expression, upon which I have no doubt he could have performed +Scarlatti's celebrated cat's-fugue. + +Whether Calvin died of old age, or was carried off by one of the +diseases incident to youth, it is impossible to say; for his +departure was as quiet as his advent was mysterious. I only know +that he appeared to us in this world in his perfect stature and +beauty, and that after a time, like Lohengrin, he withdrew. In his +illness there was nothing more to be regretted than in all his +blameless life. I suppose there never was an illness that had more +of dignity, and sweetness and resignation in it. It came on +gradually, in a kind of listlessness and want of appetite. An +alarming symptom was his preference for the warmth of a +furnace-register to the lively sparkle of the open woodfire. +Whatever pain he suffered, he bore it in silence, and seemed only +anxious not to obtrude his malady. We tempted him with the +delicacies of the season, but it soon became impossible for him to +eat, and for two weeks he ate or drank scarcely anything. Sometimes +he made an effort to take something, but it was evident that he made +the effort to please us. The neighbors--and I am convinced that the +advice of neighbors is never good for anything--suggested catnip. He +would n't even smell it. We had the attendance of an amateur +practitioner of medicine, whose real office was the cure of souls, +but nothing touched his case. He took what was offered, but it was +with the air of one to whom the time for pellets was passed. He sat +or lay day after day almost motionless, never once making a display +of those vulgar convulsions or contortions of pain which are so +disagreeable to society. His favorite place was on the brightest +spot of a Smyrna rug by the conservatory, where the sunlight fell and +he could hear the fountain play. If we went to him and exhibited our +interest in his condition, he always purred in recognition of our +sympathy. And when I spoke his name, he looked up with an expression +that said, "I understand it, old fellow, but it's no use." He was to +all who came to visit him a model of calmness and patience in +affliction. + +I was absent from home at the last, but heard by daily postal-card of +his failing condition; and never again saw him alive. One sunny +morning, he rose from his rug, went into the conservatory (he was +very thin then), walked around it deliberately, looking at all the +plants he knew, and then went to the bay-window in the dining-room, +and stood a long time looking out upon the little field, now brown +and sere, and toward the garden, where perhaps the happiest hours of +his life had been spent. It was a last look. He turned and walked +away, laid himself down upon the bright spot in the rug, and quietly +died. + +It is not too much to say that a little shock went through the +neighborhood when it was known that Calvin was dead, so marked was +his individuality; and his friends, one after another, came in to see +him. There was no sentimental nonsense about his obsequies; it was +felt that any parade would have been distasteful to him. John, who +acted as undertaker, prepared a candle-box for him and I believe +assumed a professional decorum; but there may have been the usual +levity underneath, for I heard that he remarked in the kitchen that +it was the "driest wake he ever attended." Everybody, however, felt +a fondness for Calvin, and regarded him with a certain respect. +Between him and Bertha there existed a great friendship, and she +apprehended his nature; she used to say that sometimes she was afraid +of him, he looked at her so intelligently; she was never certain that +he was what he appeared to be. + +When I returned, they had laid Calvin on a table in an upper chamber +by an open window. It was February. He reposed in a candle-box, +lined about the edge with evergreen, and at his head stood a little +wine-glass with flowers. He lay with his head tucked down in his +arms,--a favorite position of his before the fire,--as if asleep in +the comfort of his soft and exquisite fur. It was the involuntary +exclamation of those who saw him, "How natural he looks! "As for +myself, I said nothing. John buried him under the twin hawthorn- +trees,--one white and the other pink,--in a spot where Calvin was +fond of lying and listening to the hum of summer insects and the +twitter of birds. + +Perhaps I have failed to make appear the individuality of character +that was so evident to those who knew him. At any rate, I have set +down nothing concerning him, but the literal truth. He was always a +mystery. I did not know whence he came; I do not know whither he has +gone. I would not weave one spray of falsehood in the wreath I lay +upon his grave. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Summer in a Garden & Calvin +by Charles Dudley Warner + diff --git a/old/cwsig11.zip b/old/cwsig11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0da2068 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cwsig11.zip |
