Page:The Farm and Fruit of Old a translation in verse of the 1st and 2nd Georgics of Virgil, by a market-gardener (1862).djvu/53

The maiden loam, and trench the hilly sweep,
To northern gales parade the clods supine, 311
Then plant the laughing family of vine.
A mealy soil is found the prime of land,
And this effect the searching winds command,
The penetration of the winter's cold, 315
And brawny spadesman heaving the loose mould.
But they, who seize precaution as it flies,
Select a quarter, for their nurseries,
Like that where soon the fruiting plants are grown,
Their mother new lest haply they disown: 320
Nay more, the aspect on the rind they mark,
That each may stand exactly as it stood,
With face to noon, and back to northern arc—
So custom lords it o'er the youthful wood.
Now first inquire, if wiser it be found 325
To plant the vine on hills or level ground.
In rich champain lands, closely you may plant,
The closeness will not make the Wine-god faint.
But if the slope a waving outline shows,
And hilly stretch, be liberal to your rows: 330
Despite the ground, let every path and vine
Be boned exact, and squared by cutting line.
As oft, in mighty war, a legion train