378 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



tories, and hothouses, are made ready in the most extensive 

 forms, for the purpose of forwarding plants to be set out at proper 

 seasons, and for the growing of those plants which require 

 artificial heat. Lastly, irrigation is as much as practicable 

 attended to, and engines, and watering-pots, and other contri 

 vances, are in constant requisition for these purposes, and as far 

 as they can be applied. The science of gardening is here a 

 substantial science j and young men are as carefully educated in 

 its various departments as in any of the learned professions, and 

 receive a patronage according to their skill and merit. Under 

 such circumstances, the market gardens near London are man 

 aged with a skill and enterprise worthy of all praise, and sure of 

 rewards much more substantial. 



LXI. COVENT GARDEN MARKET. 



The great market in England for vegetables, fruits, and flowers, 

 is the market of Covent Garden, without question a corruption 

 for Convent, as this place is understood to have been formerly the 

 garden of the convent, and connected with the establishment of 

 Westminster Abbey. The whole square included in the market 

 place is said to embrace five acres ; but this, I think, must take in 

 the buildings, dwelling-houses, hotels, shops, &c., forming the 

 exterior boundary of the square. In the centre of this square is 

 the market-house, of which no verbal description can convey a 

 very exact idea to the reader. It combines open stalls and close 

 shops, sellers within and on the outsides, with a long hall or 

 arcade, running through the centre, sixteen feet in Avidth, and 

 fitted up with shops on each side, and with shelves projecting 

 into the passage, which are spread out with all the fruits and 

 flowers of the season. 



1. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. The outer stalls are for the 

 coarser vegetables, potatoes, cabbages, &c., and for the common 

 foreign fruits. This is by no means the only vegetable and fruit 

 market in London, but it is the principal one ; and some of the 

 other markets, and many of the fruit-shops, scattered over Lon- 



