Sometime early in the year, Calving drawing on, Seeders and tractors Lose their dormant chill, Began demanding preparation, Murmuring anticipation: "Clean the seed for planting!" "Till the soil and ready it for seed!"
The farmer, wanting rest, Anxiously awaits first sprouts, Anticipates the time to till the noxious weeds, Watches capricious sky for signs of rain or hail; Tends fences; guards his fields, Where ripening grain cannot predict the yields.
June scrambling begins: The readying for harvest, The hopeful storage plans, The preparation of harvesters Expensive beyond budgets, Soon to lumber out and gather Dying summer in....
Autumn's chilling breath Calls quickening to the work: The gathering of straw, The hauling-in of hay, The opened stubble fields for cows; The planting of winter wheat, That first must sprout before frost.... (If not the seeding may beΒ Β lost).