CHAPTER V 



Tulips— Genistas — Effects of drought. 



The garden record for May ought to be a record of 

 abundance of flowers and rich greenery, both in field 

 and garden. But the May of 1893 will long be 

 remembered as a May in Avhich the garden was burnt 

 up, and everything AA^as thrown out of its proper 

 season. There were flowers in abundance; but the 

 flowers of May owed nothing to the April showers, 

 for the long drought was accompanied with brilliant 

 sunshine, and for the most part of the time with dry 

 easterly and north-easterly winds, making the earth, 

 even in the most favoured soils, hard and parched, 

 and Avith little or no refreshment from dews, 'the 

 heaven over our head being as brass, and the earth 

 beneath us as iron.' The result of this was that 

 the gardens, and indeed the whole country, pre- 

 sented an appearance such as few of us could 



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