86 MY GARDEN WHAT FRUITS WERE CULTIVATED. 



in an equable frame of mind, the tying up of a 

 long, scraggly vine about the first of May. 

 How the branches twist around and tangle 

 themselves up ! How they fall out of hand and 

 strike every possible thing on their way to the 

 ground ! How his fingers seem all thumbs, 

 while with many contortions of face in his anx- 

 iety and excessive care he tries to tie a lofty 

 spray so as not to knock off a prominent bud, 

 but in the meantime, with his elbows, does the 

 business for a half dozen others unseen ! And 

 how at last the ground is sprinkled with little 

 purple germs, each representing two or three 

 clusters that might have ripened in the autumn. 

 Well may he sigh with Whittier, "'It might have 

 been ! " Premising that the vine was Jiis own, 

 the amateur who could look serene through such 

 an experience would be ready for translation at 

 once, providing he had not neglected his other 

 duties as he had the tying his vines in season. 



