LETTUCE-GROWING AROUND PARIS 145 



the success of the French growers is due less to any climatic ad- 

 vantage than to a very practical system of cultivation under glass 

 on what are, in effect, forcing-beds, to which, however, no artificial 

 heat is applied. At first sight a Paris market-garden presents the 

 appearance of from i to 2 or more acres of land almost covered 

 by ranges of glass-frames standing about I foot above the soil, 

 while over each is a straw mat, which can readily be rolled up during 

 the day, when the temperature allows. These frames are supple- 

 mented by hundreds of bell-shaped glasses, known as cloches. 

 Under these the lettuces are grown, various transplantings taking 

 place, according to growth. Frames and cloches alike stand on 

 beds made up of rotten horse manure, with a certain proportion of 

 fresh manure, especially as a foundation, fresh manure being at the 

 same time piled up alongside the frames and around the cloches to 

 protect them from frost. Some of the gardens seem to consist 

 almost entirely of this rotten manure. In the case of lettuces there 

 are three successive sowings, beginning in August, the lettuces 

 being ready for the market in six weeks. The supplies continue 

 until April. The varieties grown are the ' cabbage ' and ' cos,' one 

 of the latter and three or four of the former being planted under 

 each cloche, with larger quantities in the frames. The early carrots 

 and turnips are grown under like conditions, and there is every 

 reason to believe that the business is a most lucrative one. 



The opinion formed by the visitors was that, while not every 

 part of England would allow of the growing of early vegetables 

 according to the French method, yet there were no climatic con- 

 ditions which would prevent the adoption of that method in the 

 favoured district of Evesham, and especially on the warm banks on 

 Longden Hill and those facing the south. Evesham, with its 

 warm, moist climate and encircling hills, was, in fact, regarded as 

 still better adapted to such an enterprise than the exposed environs 

 of Paris ; and some of the growers asserted that the cabbages 

 which they had growing in the open were much more advanced 

 than those they saw in the open around Paris. The only difficulty 

 lay in the procurement of enough manure, at a sufficiently low 

 price, at Evesham. Assuming, however, that this difficulty could 

 be surmounted, the general conclusion was that early salad lettuce 

 for the English markets could very well be grown with equal success 

 and economy in the Vale of Evesham. It was admitted that Eve- 

 sham could not produce all the supplies likely to be required, and 

 that, whereas the French lettuces came to London, any that were 

 provided by Evesham would be more likely to go direct to the 

 markets of the Midlands, the North, and South Wales. There 

 should, however, be room for both French and British supplies ; 

 and it is hoped that salads in January, February, and March may 

 become an item of popular diet in England, instead of being, as at 

 present, mainly a luxury for the well-to-do. 



Experiments will at once be started at Evesham on the French 

 lines. 



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