132 SPECIAL VEGETABLE CROPS 



quantity of stable manure required being obtained 

 at a comparatively low rate ; and (c) that very cheap 

 fuel, in the form of coke refuse, could be secured from 

 the local gasworks, which, indeed, at first regarded 

 the said refuse as of so little value that it was willingly 

 given away, though subsequently a small charge 

 was made. The rhubarb-growing area is within a 

 radius of eight or nine miles of Leeds, and is chiefly on 

 the south and south-east sides of the city, a good deal, 

 however, being also grown on the west. The holdings 

 devoted to rhubarb production within this area range 

 in dimensions from 3 to 100 acres. 



Some of the growers make a fair living out of 15 

 acres indeed, it was suggested to me by one influential 

 trader at Leeds that it was quite possible the small 

 growers might do better than large ones, who were 

 tempted to launch out too much, thus incurring un- 

 duly heavy expenses. It seems, also, that the public 

 demand for rhubarb varies according as the supply of 

 apples is large or small, while the forced variety is not 

 wanted much after Easter, whether that festival be 

 early or late. Many of the smaller growers, again, 

 supplement their production of early rhubarb by grow- 

 ing cabbages, supplies of which are sometimes sent 

 from Leeds to the London market. 



Whether ' a pot of money ' can be made out of 

 rhubarb-growing to-day is somewhat doubtful, con- 

 sidering the greatly-increased production, and other 

 disadvantages of the situation ; but it is significant 

 that of late years the growth of forced rhubarb has 

 been resorted to more and more around London, which 

 is thus becoming less dependent on Leeds, to the dis- 

 advantage of the growers in and around that city. 



