BROCCOLI 117 



one. To begin at the beginning, I sought permission to 

 call on one of the pioneers, Mr. William Laity, a vener- 

 able Cornish worthy, who still carries on business at 

 Perranuthnoe, Marazion, under the title of ' Laity and 

 Son.' He replied to my request by himself calling 

 on me at my hotel in Penzance, and this is what he 

 had to say : 



I am eighty-two years of age ; I have lived all my life in one 

 parish, and I have been growing broccoli for over fifty years. I 

 was the first to start it in my part of Cornwall, and the way I began 

 was this : I had heard that some people further west were growing 

 broccoli, and I begged a few plants from them, with no other idea 

 at first than that of getting some broccoli for use in the house. 

 But I grew more than we wanted, so I began sending a few to 

 Covent Garden Market. The first year I only sent about i 

 worth ; the second year I sent more, the third year still more, and 

 the fourth year a fairly good number. Then the neighbours around 

 me begged some plants, and they began to grow as well. At that 

 time the railway had not come so far as Penzance, and we had to 

 cart the broccoli to Hayle, a distance of six or seven miles,, and 

 then put it on a steamer for Bristol. There the railway was joined, 

 and it was in that way the broccoli reached London until the time 

 came when the railway was extended to Penzance. 



So the business increased, and already, forty years ago, there 

 were heavy consignments sent away. Twenty years later the 

 word went round that a certain dealer would give the growers 20 

 an acre for broccoli, and take all risk. That set things going faster 

 than ever. All the farmers took to broccoli, and the great expan- 

 sion has been since that time ; but it still goes on, for every year 

 scores more of acres are being put down. 



Some of the growers have done remarkably well ; others have 

 done badly. Prices are down now, compared with what they used 

 to be. I remember the time when we used to get 1 a crate. To- 

 day, if we get 53. to 75. a crate we are satisfied, though it frequently 

 happens that the prices fall to 33. or 45. There are some men who 

 have received at times only is. a crate. It is a matter of season 

 and market price ; but, in addition to that, some growers get heavily 

 hit when they happen to send to an untrustworthy salesman. I 

 have known instances where they have not only received nothing 

 at all, but the man they have sent to has not even returned the 

 crates. Frost in the Midlands and the North will mean a better 

 time for Cornwall, for then our broccoli will be in greater demand, 

 and bring us a higher return. 



How have I got on myself? Oh, well, my father left me a 

 bit of freehold, and I have added to it since, so that I now farm 



