Georgics 1.272-283

Contributors Madeline Salehi

Mark well the flowering almonds in the wood:

If odorous blooms the bearing branches load,

The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign;

Great heats will folllow, and large crops of grain.

But if a wood of leaves o'ershade the tree,

Such and so barren will thy harvest be:

In vain the hind shall vex the threshing-floor;

For empty chaff and straw will be thy store.

Some steep their seed, and some in cauldrons boil,

With vigorous nitre and with lees of oil,

O'er gentle fires, the exuberant juice to drain,

And swell the flattering husks with fruitful grain.