In the Garden 47 



meadows, in the most sequestered woods the process 

 of insect fertilisation goes on continuously.' The 

 great hawk-moths flit in the early moonlight from one 

 white flower to another ; the rapid Lepidoptera, chased 

 by the bats, drink from the fragrant chalices, or in 

 a playful hunt across the stream tempt the trout 

 from his hiding-place. ' The flowering period of my 

 Japanese honeysuckle,' adds he, ' I have always found 

 a certain index to the commencement of night-fish- 

 ing.' If the pursuit of science tempt him further, he 

 may study the mysterious alchemy by which vegeta- 

 tion transforms earth's rocks and juices into vivid 

 leaf afid nodding flower, draws up the hard flint 

 to support the green corn-stalks, and in decay itself 

 discovers anew the materials of life. 



It is perhaps more to his sorrow than his pride 

 that the complete gardener must be something of an 

 ornithologist. The slender joy of watching the chaf- 

 finch on the apple-tree, or hearing the owl cry in 

 moonlight, is more than counterbalanced by the 

 misery of having to wage continual war upon the 

 little thief who carries no purse, for he steals all he 

 wants, the prolific and impudent sparrow, ' the rook 

 down in the devil's book in roundhand,' and the host 

 of pretty torments who play havoc with the flower- 

 beds and the early peas. The bullfinch ruins his buds 

 and the merle his strawberries, while the very swallows 

 come and build in the chimneys and spoil his medi- 

 tation with their twittering. Yet the thrush piping 



