A FRENCH GARDEN AT EVESHAM 147 



the back, a la Fran^aise, for the distribution of manure. 

 The English helpers have taken quite kindly to this 

 system. With the basket on their shoulders, they get 

 over the soft ground (where there are no paths) much 

 more readily when they have no wheelbarrow to push 

 before them ; they toss the manure out of the basket 

 with a minimum of trouble, and double the amount of 

 work is got through in a given time than would be 

 possible with barrows. The baskets have, therefore, 

 now been definitely adopted, though these will be made 

 locally, on the French model. The mats for covering 

 the frames and bell-glasses, as a protection against frost, 

 are also exactly like those used in Paris. They are 

 made by the hands employed on the French garden, a 

 large shed having been erected thereon in which this 

 work can be done on wet days. The rye straw used for 

 the purpose is grown by a large farmer in the district. 



The amount of land on which growing had been 

 carried on since the beginning of the experiments in 

 March was 3,600 yards a quarter of an acre ; but 

 preparations were in progress for the extension of the 

 French garden over an area of 5 acres. To this end 

 there were already, either in actual use or in the 

 grounds ready for use, 600 frames and 2,500 bell-glasses 

 (cloches). The complete success of the experiments 

 had, in fact, already been abundantly assured, eight 

 months' results having alone sufficed to bear remark- 

 able evidence of the degree of fertility and productive- 

 ness possible under the conditions stated. The actual 

 crops secured during that short period are shown by the 

 appended table (p. 148). 



No attempt has thus far been made by the firm to 

 dispose of this ' French ' produce from Evesham other- 

 wise than through their own depots at Cheltenham, 

 Gloucester, Bristol, Bournemouth, and Blackpool ; but 



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