66 THE EVESHAM DISTRICT 



some years that the average profit per acre of 

 asparagus on his land had been 75 ; the son, how- 

 ever, thought 50 would be nearer the mark now. 

 During the time of my visit (May, 1905) it was 

 selling in Evesham auction at from 9d. to Is. 3d. a 

 bunch of 120 heads. One bunch of specially picked 

 heads weighed 17 lbs., and was priced 7s. 6d. 



Radishes were selling at Is. 4d. a pot, which = 

 260 bunches of five radishes to the bunch ; 5s. a 

 pot would be considered a good price. It cost 6d. 

 a score to tie the bunches, for which women were 

 employed. (A score = 20 dozen bunches of thirteen 

 to the dozen.) At this low price there was not 

 much profit, and many men whose crops were late 

 were digging their crop in. In a good year plums 

 of choice sorts may fetch 150 to the acre. If the 

 fruit is a failure, the men rely on the other crops 

 they are cultivating at the same time and often on 

 the same ground. If it is a success, they are set up 

 for some time. An average return, according to 

 some of the men who had two rows of plums only 

 to the acre, would be from 10 to 15. The plums 

 are also sold by the * pot,' which = 72 lbs. net. As 

 an example of the large sums received for ' ingoing,' I 

 was told of a recent case where a man received 200 

 for 2f acres ' ingoing ' for asparagus, which had cost 

 him merely rent, labour, and manure for two years. 



I was given the following list of prices which 

 should be realized per acre in a good season by a 

 gardener who had worked his way up from small 

 beginnings to a fairly large holding. 



