WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 91 



with the earth, and companionship with 

 gently growing things and patient processes ; 

 that exercise which soothes the spirit and 

 develops the deltoid muscles. 



In half an hour I can hoe myself right 

 away from this world, as we commonly see it, 

 into a large place, where there are no obsta- 

 cles. What an occupation it is for thought! 

 The mind broods, like a hen on eggs. The 

 trouble is that you are not thinking about 

 anything, but are really vegetating, like the 

 plants around you. I begin to know what 

 the joy of the grape-vine is in running up 

 the trellis, which is similar to that of the 

 squirrel in running up a tree. We all have 

 something in our nature that requires con- 

 tact with the earth. In the solitude of 

 garden labor, one gets into a sort of com- 

 munion with the vegetable life, which makes 

 the old mythology possible. For instance, I 

 can believe that the dryads are plenty this 

 summer : my garden is like an ash-heap. 

 Almost all the moisture it has had in weeks 

 has been the sweat of honest industry. 



