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 



