178 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



truce until the parties recover their ex 

 hausted energies. All winter long, the 

 forces of chemistry will be mustering 

 under ground, repairing the losses, call 

 ing 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 per 

 mitted 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 de 

 termined assault. There are already 

 signs of an internecine fight with the 

 devil-grass, which has intrenched itself 



