Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



for the most part been made by Englishmen 

 resident here. The Portuguese are great and 

 successful growers of specimen plants in pots, 

 but they seem to have little aptitude or inclina- 

 tion for the cultivation of extensive gardens. 

 A result of this is that there is no tradition of 

 gardening among the working classes, and that 

 the professional gardener in our English sense 

 is almost unknown. One has to do one's best 

 with labourers, strong, willing, and hard-working, 

 but with only the labourer's limited knowledge. 



The soil is of volcanic origin, rich, dark, 

 often reddish in colour, containing no lime. It 

 becomes very sticky after rain ; in dry weather 

 it cakes and does not easily become converted 

 into dust. This absence of dust renders the 

 atmosphere in Madeira quite different from 

 that of North and South Africa, and is no 

 doubt very beneficial to persons with weak 

 chests and throats. 



The range of temperature, whether daily or 

 annual, is remarkably small. It is quite common 

 for the variation not to exceed ten degrees 

 Fahrenheit in the twenty-four hours ; and my 

 registering thermometer, placed in a well-shaded 

 position, has during the whole of the year 1908 



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