Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



is always a matter of doubt at what season a 

 new importation will flower or fruit in this 

 climate. The absence of well-defined seasons 

 causes many newly introduced plants to lose 

 their heads, and it may be years before 

 they settle down to a regular life. Some 

 time ago a very learned horticulturist im- 

 ported a number of gooseberry bushes, and 

 their first crop was produced in the month 

 of February. The grower sent a basket to 

 Covent Garden, and received in reply a tele- 

 gram asking him to send more, as they had 

 fetched a high price. Our cultivator hugged 

 to himself visions of an easy fortune ; London's 

 welcome to gooseberries in February would no 

 doubt continue to be a warm one, the only 

 trouble was to grow enough. But he reckoned 

 without his bushes ; the following year they 

 produced their fruit in May, when it did not 

 pay for the carriage, and the year after in July, 

 when it was valueless. Yet perhaps a gardener 

 with ample leisure and some ingenuity would 

 discover how to bend the seasons to his will. 

 Something remains to be essayed in this direc- 

 tion, as in many others here. 



In a sense we have no spring ; we have no 



264 



