194 FRL'IT RANCHING. 



creeping up of midnight. It means an unceasing 

 vigilance. It calls for the constant, daily exercise 

 of a high intelligence. Once again, it calls for work, 

 long and strenuous hours — at all events, throughout 

 the summer. Hear the cry of the tender of orchards ! 



Awake ! awake ! 



The doe and the fawn 

 Steal from the dew-dripping brake 



At the first soft whisper of dawn. 



Awake ! awake ! 



The wings of the mist, 

 The shivering, slumbering lake 



Like swallows already have kissed. 



Awake ! awake ! 



The spear-shafts of morn 

 On the mountains quiver and break 



In flashes of fiery scorn. 



Awake ! awake ! 



Oh play not the drone ! 

 But move like the startled snake 



As it darts from the sun-drenched stone. 



Awake ! awake ! 



To shuffle and shirk 

 Avail not. For worry and ache 



The cure of cures is work — 

 Work — work ! 



Nor will this imperative call to work by any means 

 cease when you have guided your orchard through its 

 childhood's years. Even when it begins to repay 

 you for your love and unremitting care, you will still 

 find that it makes no light demands upon your ener- 

 gies. Spraying will have to be done, once, twice, 

 perhaps three times, during the spring and summer. 

 The soil will have to be kept free from weeds, and the 

 surface maintained in a state of fine pulverisation. 



