IX 



jT is a delightful thing to own an The 

 orchard, but it is a blessing not 

 to be enjoyed without fighting 

 for it, since among the difficul- 

 ties of reclaiming a place, one cannot ig- 

 nore the necessary hand-to-hand conflict 

 with the various animal and vegetable en- 

 emies which lie in wait to destroy plants 

 and trees. Eternal vigilance is the price 

 of vegetation as well as of liberty, and the 

 cultivator who dreams that he can for a 

 moment take his ease in his inn, reckons 

 without his guests of the insect-world, 

 who take short naps, and require as much 

 nourishment as Falstaff. I shall have 

 more to say upon this subject at a later 

 date, but the Apple-trees remind me of 

 conflicts with the web-worm, and I find a 

 treatise upon his manners and customs 

 apropos. As an example of pertinacity, 

 Bruce's spider beside him pales her inef- 



99 



