FRENCH 

 MARKET-GARDENING 



PART I 

 GENERAL 



THE MEANING OF "INTENSIVE" 

 CULTIVATION 



THE term " intensive " cultivation is now used to 

 indicate the particular methods employed by market- 

 gardeners or " maraichers " in the neighbourhood 

 of Paris to produce early crops of salads and vege- 

 tables at a season of the year when they are most 

 likely to realise high prices in the market. These 

 early crops are known as " primeurs " amongst 

 French gardeners ; and to secure them at just the 

 right moment necessitates intimate knowledge as 

 to the soil, temperature, and general treatment re- 

 quired by each particular crop to bring it to perfection. 

 Intensive cultivation differs from the ordinary methods 

 of culture, inasmuch as it means, in addition to know- 

 ledge, incessant care and attention. Comparatively 

 small areas of ground are used by growers, and it 

 may be said that at no time during the year is the 

 land free from crops of one kind or another. Indeed, 

 several crops are grown on the same patch of land 



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