206 



Commercial Gardening 



Cauliflowers, and Carrots, &c., are usually left to the untender mercies 

 of a fickle climate. 



Amongst the many arguments used against the adoption of the French 

 system is the one that our climate is so much worse and so much colder 

 than that of Paris. There is not much in this, as a reference to meteor- 

 ological tables will show. Paris has an average of about 21 in. of rain per 

 annum against 24 in. at Kew and 28 in. at Rothamsted. There is very 

 little difference in the mean temperature between Paris, Kew, and Rotham- 

 sted. Taken on the whole, Paris has the advantage of a little over 1 F. 

 The average mean temperature of Paris for thirty-six years is recorded 

 at 51'55 F., while London is quoted at 50*50 F. But there are many 

 places in the United Kingdom with a higher average mean temperature 

 than Paris. 



As to sunshine, the annual average for twenty-five years at Kew is 

 145 7 '8 hr., for Rothamsted the annual average for thirty-one years is 1605 

 hr., and for Paris (ten years' average) 1796 hr. 



The following figures show the average number of hours' sunshine 

 at each place for every month in the year: 



It may be noted that July, 1911, beat all records for sunshine in 

 England, 323 hr. being recorded in London against a twenty-five years' 

 average at Kew of 207 -9 hr. and a thirty-one years' average at Rothamsted 

 of 223 hr. The month of July in some previous years also shows some 

 high records, thus 1881, 251 hr.; 1887, 281 hr.; 1897, 262 hr.; 1899, 

 265 hr.; 1904, 265 hr.; and 1906, 249 hr. These figures show that after 

 all the British market gardener is on the whole practically as well off in 

 the neighbourhood of London as his brother near Paris so far as climatic 

 conditions are concerned. There is simply a difference in the methods of 

 cultivation, and it cannot be gainsaid that the Frenchman can produce as 

 much greenstuff with his hotbeds, frames, and cloches on 2 ac. of land as 

 the British commercial grower can on 10 or 12 ac. 



As to rent there is really no comparison. Land for vegetable growing 



