1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



133 



For the New England Farmer. 

 VIKQIL ON AGBICUIiTlTRE. 



NUMBER ONE. 



Among the readers of the Farmer there are, 

 probably, but few who have not heard of Virgil 

 — the prince of Latin poets. He lived and flour- 

 ished nearly two thousand years before us, or 

 just previous to the Christian era. His writings 

 are, therefore, interesting and valuable, as show- 

 ing something of the state of the world, and the 

 public mind, in those ancient times. 



His inimitable Georgics, or that portion of his 

 writings which relate to farming matters, were 

 composed at the earnest request of Augustus Cae- 

 sar — Emperor of the Romans. They were writ- 

 ten to inspire a love for the farmer's life in the 

 hearts of his countrymen. Long continued civil 

 •wars had depopulated and laid waste the lands 

 usually appropriated to agriculture ; the peasants 

 had become soldiers, and their once beautiful 

 farms and vineyards were changed to scenes of 

 desolation ; famine and insurrection were the in- 

 evitable consequences of this dismal state of af- 

 fairs. 



Augustus resolved to awaken an interest in the 

 all-important, but now neglected art, of the hus- 

 bandman ; and began by prevailing upon Virgil 

 to employ his genius in recommending it to the 

 people by all the insinuating charms of poetry. 

 Seven of the most vigorous years of his life were 

 spent in the composition of his four Georgics — or 

 agricultural poems — and the result of his labors 

 fully answered the expectations of Augustus. 

 None, but a person of transcendent genius, ma- 

 tured judgment and imagination, could have writ- 

 ten so charmingly upon the most common, and 

 too often despised subjects. 



Virgil himself was the owner of a farm in 

 Mantua, a city of Lombardy. According to his 

 writings, he believed in all the gods of the an- 

 cient Romans — for they were many — and was 

 somewhat tainted with the vague and foolish su- 

 perstitions which, in his day, shrouded the minds 

 of all, both high and low. But the intelligent 

 reader can easily distinguish between reasonable- 

 ness and absurdity. 



He certainly possessed a remarkable mind and 

 a benevolent heart, or he could not have arisen 

 so far above the surrounding ignorance and moral 

 gloom as to become, in some respects, a beacon- 

 light, not only to his own generation, but to suc- 

 ceeding ages far down in the vista of time. 



The Georgics are but a small part of his writ- 

 ings, but more useful, perhaps, than those which 

 are more elaborate, and prolix. A few extracts 

 only can be given — and these, perha])s, not the 

 best that could have been selected. Every read- 

 er of the Farmer would be charmed, amused, and, 

 I think, instiTActed, by perusing the whole of his 

 works, and especially the portion now under con- 

 sideration. 



His first Georgic commences by giving the gen- 

 eral design of each of the four poems. 



What makes a plenteous harvest, when to turn 

 The fruitful soil, and when to sow the corn ; 

 The care of sheep, of oxen, and of kine ; 

 And how to raise on elms the teeming vine ; 

 The birth and genius of the frugal bee, 

 I sing, Msecenas, and I sing to thee. 



* » » « » 



While yet the spring is young, while earth unbinds 

 Her frozen bosom to the western winds j 



While mountain snows dissolve against the sun. 

 And stre ims, yet new, from precipices run ; 

 Even in this early dawning of the year, 

 Produce tlie plow, and yoke the sturdy steer, 

 And goad him till he groans beneath his toil. 

 Till the bright share is buried in the soil. 

 But ere we stir the yet unbroken ground, 

 The various course of seasons must be found ; 

 The weather, and the setting of the winds, 

 The culture suiting to the sev'ral kinds 

 Of seeds and plants, and what will thrive and rise, 

 And what the genius of the soil denies. 



***** 

 Nor is the profit small the peasant makes 

 Who smooths with harrows or who pounds with rakes 

 The crumbling clods : nor Ceres from on high 

 Regards his labors with a grudging eye ; 

 Nor his, who plows across the furrowed grounds, 

 And on the back of earth inflicts new wounds ; 

 For he with frequent exercise, commands 

 Th' unwilling soil, and tames the stubborn lands. 



***** 

 The sire of gods and men, with hard decrees 

 Forbids our plenty to be bought with ease, 

 And wills that mortal men, inured to toil, 

 Should -exercise, with pains, the grudging soil ; 

 Himself invented first the shining share. 

 And whetted human industry liy care ; 

 Himself did handicrafts and arts ordain. 

 Nor suffer'd sloth to rust his active reign. 



***** 

 First Ceres taught, tlie ground with grain to sow, 

 And armed with iron shares the crooked plow. 

 When now Dodonian oaks no more supplied. 

 Their mast, and trees their forest-fruit denied. 

 Soon was his labor doubled to the swain, 

 And blasting mildews blackened all his grain : 

 Though thistles choked the fields, and killed the com, 

 And an unthrifty crop of weeds was born : 

 Then burs and brambles, an unbidden crew 

 Of graceless guests, th' unhappy field subdue. 

 And oats unblest, and darnel domineers. 

 And shoots its head above the shining ears ; 

 So that, unless the land with daily care 

 Is exercised, and, with an iron war 

 Of rakes and harrows, the proud foes expelled. 

 And birds with clamors frighted from the field — 

 Unless the boughs are lopped that shade the plain. 

 And heaven invoked with vows for fruitful rain — 

 On others' crops you may with envy look, 

 And shake for food the long-abandon'd oak. 



***** 

 Yet is not the success for years assured. 

 Though chosen is the seed, and fully cured, 

 Unless the peasant, with his annual pain. 

 Renews his choice, and culls the largest grain. 



***** 

 But sweet vicissitudes of rest and toil 

 Make easy labor, and renew the soil. 

 Yet sprinkle sordid ashes all around, 

 And load with fatt'ning dung thy fallow ground. 

 Thus change of seeds for meagre soils is best ; 

 And earth manur'd, not idle, though at rest. 



***** 

 But. when cold weather and continued rain 

 The lab'ring Iiusband in his house restrain, 

 Let him forecast his work with timely care, 

 Which else is huddled, when the skies are fair : 

 Then let him mark the sheep, or whet the shining share. 

 Or hollow trees for boats, or number o'er 

 His sacks, or measure his increasing store. 

 Or sharpen stakes, or head the forks, or twine 

 The sallow twigs to tie the straggling vine ; 

 Or wicker baskets weave, or air the corn, 

 Or grin-Jed grain betwixt two marbles turn. 



***** 

 In genial winter, swains enjoy their store ; 

 Forget their hardships, and recruit for more. 

 The farmer to full bowls invites his friends. 

 And, what he got with pains, with pleasure spends. 



The second Georgic describes the different 

 methods of propagating and raising all kinds of 

 trees and vines, and points out the soils best 

 adapted to each variety. 



Thus far of tillage, and of heav'nly signs ; 



Now sing, my Muse, the growth of gen'rous vines, 



The shady groves, the woodland progeny. 



And the slow product of Minerva's tree. 



***** 

 'Tis usual now an inmate graft to see 

 With insolence invade a foreign tree : 

 Thus pears and quinces from the crab-tree come ; 

 And thus the ruddy cornel bears the plum. 



