Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



of much trouble from the phylloxera, which 

 appeared in 1874, the cultivation has attained 

 something of its former importance. But the 

 Oidium did worse than temporarily ruin the 

 island vineyards ; it destroyed the confidence 

 of the English wine-drinker. " There is," says 

 Mr. Greg — in an essay rich with generous 

 appreciation of Madeira of the right sort — 

 " there is indeed a fashion to decry the wine, 

 and he has suffered much from blight, and the 

 rougishness of vintners ; for when the demand 

 in former years ran high, these sorry rascals 

 substituted for the real Simon Pure low-priced 

 fluids liable to turn acid, and so did he fall 

 into disrepute." * 



So the English market was lost, and, as 

 regards the finer wines at any rate, it is not 

 likely to be regained, as long as the merchants 

 maintain their policy of shipping wines blended 

 to a particular quality, rather than vintage 

 wines. If there is one thing that commends 

 a wine more than another to the Englishman, 

 it is the knowledge that it is of a good year ; 

 and he who might be induced to lay down 

 a pipe of an exceptional vintage will discover 



* "Through a Glass lightly." By T. T. Greg. London, 1897, 



176 



