128 THE POSSIBILITIES 



maraichere. His orchard covered only two and 

 seven-tenths acres. The outlay for the estab- 

 lishment, including a steam engine for watering 

 purposes, reached 1,136. Eight persons, M. 

 Ponce included, cultivated the orchard and 

 carried the vegetables to the market, for which 

 purpose one horse was kept ; when returning 

 from Paris they brought in manure, for which 

 100 was spent every year. Another 100 was 

 spent in rent and taxes. But how to enumerate 

 all that was gathered every year on this plot of 

 less than three acres, without filling two pages 

 or more with the most wonderful figures ? One 

 must read them in M. Ponce's work, but here 

 are the chief items : More than 20,000 Ib. of 

 carrots ; more than 20,000 Ib. of onions, radishes 

 and other vegetables- sold by weight ; 6,000 

 heads of cabbage ; 3,000 of cauliflower ; 5,000 

 baskets of tomatoes ; 5,000 dozen of choice 

 fruit ; and 154,000 heads of salad ; in short, 

 a total of 250,000 Ib. of vegetables. The soil 

 was made to such an amount out of forcing 

 beds that every year 250 cubic yards of loam 

 had to be sold. Similar examples could be 

 given by the dozen, and the best evidence 

 against any possible exaggeration of the results 

 is the very high rent paid by the gardeners, 

 which reaches in the suburbs of London from 

 10 to 15 per acre, and in the suburbs of Paris 



