FRUIT GROWING 59 



Alas ! there was the same trouble with the 

 planting, and again the ground was so poor that 

 the cabbages never made a success of them- 

 selves, and instead of being early on the market, 

 they were greatly behind and sold at last for 

 3d. and 4d. a dozen. Under good manage- 

 ment and with this dearly bought experience 

 this particular six acres of land is now doing 

 well, and is a credit to its cultivation, but I 

 have given these facts and details, because it 

 seems to me so much more helpful to give 

 one's own practical experiences of a thing 

 than merely to quote platitudes, and give 

 statistics of work as it ought to be, but 

 seldom is. I know how my own imagination 

 was fired in this way, until it appeared to me 

 that to be a market gardener was a certain 

 step to becoming a rich woman if not a 

 millionairess. Figures are so misleading, 

 and the difference between practice and 

 theory is hardly less so, while women as a 

 rule are most nervous about venturing on 

 undertakings connected with money risks ; 



