194 A GARDEN KALENDAR 



and small, in the vintage of his grapes, in the brewing of 

 his beer, strong, medium, and small (not being one of 

 those who think that, because they are virtuous, there shall 

 be no more cakes and ale), and in the curing and smoking 

 of his hams. 



He shared with the wise farmer another grand quality, 

 which has Divine approbation like the husbandman he 

 had long patience. The adversaries of the gardener are 

 legion, but he fought them bravely. Sometimes we hear 

 complaints that never before has there been such untoward 

 weather, such a congregation of all manner of flies, such 

 a great army of caterpillars, but we find in the " Kalendar " 

 a record of the same plagues and visitations, so that even 



he who was 



" ever pleased 



With sight of animals enjoying life, 

 And felt their happiness augment his own," 



was constrained to apply " more quicklime wherewith 

 to kill the small snails and grubs which continue to annoy 

 the beds " ; to save his grapes by bottles and bird-lime from 

 innumerable swarms of wasps ; to propitiate the bugs by 

 sowing radishes with his " holy-oaks " ; to denounce the 

 fleas which ate his savoys ; and to trap the mice which de- 

 voured the seed of his Succado Melons. We find him 

 weeping, like Marius over the ruins of Carthage, when his 

 honeysuckles, which but a week ago were the most sweet 

 and lovely object which eye could behold, were defiled 

 and disfigured by the Smother-fly. 



No man ever loved birds more dearly or knew -more 

 about them than Gilbert White. Selborne parish produced 

 one hundred and twenty species, nearly half of those 

 known in Great Britain at that day, and he was familiar 

 with their habitats and their habits ; he knew them by their 

 flight as well as by their colour and shape, and could tell 

 when and where they would come and go (the thatched 

 roofs of the houses at Selborne sheltered many martins' 

 nests) ; when they would begin and when they would 



