WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 6/ 



with Nature ; especially in a civilized state. In 

 savagery, it does not so 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 ever 

 lasting 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 ingenu 

 ity and unwearied vigor. This talk of subduing 

 Nature is pretty much nonsense. I do not in 

 tend 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 



