CABBAGES 123 



But the official figures as to the acreage may be safely 

 regarded as considerably under the actual total for the 

 United Kingdom. There are many thousands of allot- 

 ment-holders growing cabbages who would not be asked 

 to make any return, and there is a very large number of 

 farmers planting an acre or so of cabbages who would 

 not trouble to make a separate return on so small an 

 item, although the aggregate of these numerous small 

 areas would substantially swell the total if only they 

 could be added thereto. 



To tell the complete story even of cabbage-growing 

 in the United Kingdom would be too big a task ; but 

 by way of a concrete illustration of what is going on, I 

 might mention that one Scottish market-gardener, seed- 

 grower, and farmer Mr. John Gillies, of Northfield, 

 Prestonpans has often turned out 2,000,000 cabbage 

 plants a day, while 1,500,000 a day is a common 

 output for him during the season. He has special 

 trains to take plants from Prestonpans to Edinburgh 

 for despatch per passenger train ; but the traffic he pro- 

 vides for goods trains is still heavier. Fifteen or twenty 

 years ago Mr. Gillies had 4 or 5 acres under cabbage 

 plants. He has now 120 acres under that one crop 

 alone. 



As for the quantities grown in particular districts, 

 I may mention that from Swineshead (Lincolnshire) 

 there are sent away some fifty or sixty railway waggon - 

 loads (each about 2 tons 5 cwt.) per day for a period of 

 three weeks or a month in the height of the cabbage 

 season ; that the total per day from Kirton (Lincoln- 

 shire) for six weeks would be thirty waggons ; that in 

 the season of 1905 there were consigned from Penzance 

 Station to different destinations in Great Britain 559 

 tons of cabbages, from Marazion 536 tons, and smaller 

 lots from other stations, increasing the total for West 



