OF EARTH. 



15 



an indifferent microscope, of which be pleased to take this brief ac- 

 count. 



Gravelly and arenous earths of several sorts, before they were washed, 

 appeared to consist mostly of rough crystals, of which some were very 



And tore the tall trees from their ancient base. 



Long the dark covert of the feathery race ; 



Banish'd their bow'rs, abroad they mount in air. 



While shines the recent glebe beneath the share. 



For the lean gravel of the sloping field. 



And mould'ring stones, where snakes their mansions build. 



Where in dark windings filthy reptiles breed. 



And find sweet food their lurking young to feed ; 



To bees ungenial, scarcely will supply 



Their cassia-flow'rs, and dewy rosemary. 



In that blest ground, which from its opening chinks. 



At will a steaming mist emits, or drinks ; 



Which blooms with native grass for ever fair. 



Nor blunts with eating rust the sliding share. 



Round thy tall elms the joyous vines shall weave. 



And floods of luscious oil thy olives give ; 



This, with due culture, thou shalt surely find 



Obedient to thy plough, and to thy cattle kind. 



Such fertile lands rich Capua's peasants till. 



And such the soil beneath Vesevus' hill ; 



And that, where o'er Acerrae's prostrate tow'rs 



Clanius his swelling tide too fiercely pours. 



Rules to know diff'rent soils I next dispense ; 

 How to distinguish from the rare the dense. 

 This best for vines, that golden grain approves, 

 Ceres, the dense ; the rare, Lyaeus loves. 

 First choose a spot that's for the purpose fit. 

 Then dig the solid earth ; and sink a pit ; 

 Next, to its bed th' ejected soil restore. 

 And press with trampling feet the surface o'er; 

 If the mould fail, 'tis light ; that soil inclines 

 To fatten herds, and swell thy cluster'd vines. 

 But o'er the pit replenish'd, if the ground 

 Still rise and in superfluous heaps abound. 

 O'er the thick glebe let sturdy bullocks toil. 

 Cleave the compacted clods and sluggish soil. 

 The land that's bitter, or with salt imbu'd. 

 Too wild for culture, for the plough too rude,, 

 Where apples boast no more their purple hues. 

 And drooping Bacchus yields degen'rate juices 



