60 THE EVESHAM DISTRICT 



fork, which turns the soil up in big clods, to be 

 acted on by the weather; by constant hand cultiva- 

 tion it seems to be got, in course of time, into a 

 workable condition, when it amply repays for 

 cultivation. I was informed that the asparagus 

 beds last ten or twelve years on this class of land if 

 kept clean, whereas they will often only last seven or 

 eight on the lighter lands. It appears to be possible 

 to work it in wet weather by applying soot, which 

 dries it up and crumbles it. 



Size of Holding. 



The land is, for the most part, cut up into 1 and 

 2 acre lots, although one man generally holds 

 several of these lots, perhaps at some distance from 

 one another. 



This is the outcome of the system which has 

 been gradually and naturally evolved in breaking 

 up original farm lands for market-gardening pur- 

 poses ; that is to say, the system by which the 

 small man must start by getting his first acre or 

 two clear and well established under permanent 

 crops i.e., fruit-trees, strawberries, and asparagus 

 before he attempts the cultivation of a greater area. 

 The usual practice is, therefore, for the beginner 

 without capital to start with that amount of land 

 which he can be getting ready in this way while he 

 is still working for wages. It will be a few years 

 before these permanent crops bring him any return 

 above his outlay ; once they have reached this point, 

 he can then take another acre or two and get it under 



