100 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



nourishment of all classes ; and from their facility 

 of combination by boiling with fatty substances, 

 together with their large supply of saccharine, 

 besides their farinaceous material, afford a most 

 nutritious food, evinced by the surprising muscular 

 power of the Madeiran peasantry." The pear- 

 shaped, green, wrinkled fruit called pepinella 

 (Secfiium edule), or chou-chou by the English, is 

 not unlike a cucumber, and yields a constant supply 

 in the winter months. Spinach, cabbages, and cauli- 

 flowers are, I believe, only grown for the require- 

 ments of the English, and to provision the passing 

 ships, and with these the list of vegetables closes 

 and somehow is a disappointing one and many an 

 English person longs for the fresh vegetables from 

 a home-garden. 



Nor is the list of fruits a long one. The orange- 

 tree has practically died out. The apathy of the 

 native made him consider the task of fighting 

 the disease called scale, induced by an insect, 

 too arduous a one, as constant washing of the 

 trees is necessary to prevent its ravages ; and he 

 remained content to see all the orange-groves 

 disappear, and the fruit is now imported from 

 the Azores, Portugal, and even South America. 

 At one time, we are told, the vast banana planta- 



