ioo MARKET-GARDENING 



uncommon, while there are some larger still in dimen- 

 sions, though not necessarily more productive in out- 

 put. The total acreage of cultivated land has probably 

 not increased, for, though it may have extended west- 

 ward, it has been curtailed on the east, owing to the 

 spreading out of the London suburbs. The combina- 

 tion, again, of increasing land-values in the neighbour- 

 hood of great cities, and of the facilities offered for rail 

 transport, leads to the expansion of market-gardening 

 in country rather than in suburban districts. But 

 what is happening in West Middlesex, as elsewhere, is 

 that considerable stretches of land formerly devoted to 

 the growing of corn have been transformed in recent 

 years into market-gardens ; while the remarks already 

 made as to increased production per acre, resulting 

 from intensive culture, apply with especial force to 

 West Middlesex, where this principle has been widely 

 acted upon, with striking results. With the greater 

 resort to glass the tendency, too, is still increasing. 



The produce grown comprises ' top ' fruit apples, 

 pears, plums, damsons ; ' soft ' fruit strawberries, rasp- 

 berries, gooseberries, currants; root crops potatoes, 

 beet, parsnips, carrots ; and every possible kind of 

 vegetables. Strawberries, for which urgent delivery 

 is naturally desired, may go by rail, but otherwise 

 practically all that is grown in West Middlesex within 

 twenty miles of Covent Garden is sent to London by 

 road, either by horse and van or by motor, four or five 

 growers having lately resorted to the latter mode of 

 conveyance. It is claimed for road transport that, 

 whether it costs the same as rail transport or not, 

 there is less handling involved than in the transfer to 

 and from the railway-waggons ; and this advantage in- 

 evitably turns the scale in favour of road transport 

 where other things being equal the growing area is 



