GRUBS ON GOOSEBERRY LEAVES. 73 



then somehow there seems to come a blight 

 upon all that is green smoke from the sur- 

 rounding chimneys and railway engines on 

 all sides (for where can you find a place close 

 to 



" The smoke and stir of this dim spot 

 That men call ' London ' " 



where steaming engines do not snort and 

 whistle ?) ; and " blacks " from the smut- 

 laden atmosphere probably explain why the 

 young green leaves begin so soon to shrivel 

 and grow weak. 



" God the first garden made, 

 And the first city, Cain." 



That, of course, means a country garden, 

 which is free from this smoky blight ; but I 

 fancy that neither country nor town garden 

 is free from another terror which besets my 

 garden in the early spring. I mean the locust- 

 swarm of young grubs which devour the 

 leaves of my gooseberry and apple trees so 

 soon as they are out. The golden laburnums 

 and lilacs rarely retain their full beauty for 

 more than three or four days ; the leaves of 

 the pink and white May trees are promptly 

 consumed. 



Last year I spent many an hour in what I 

 then regarded as the needful but nasty opera- 



