214 THE POSSIBILITIES 



as the editor of the Journal of Horticulture wrote. 

 Grapes in Brussels are certainly not dearer in 

 the beginning of the summer than they are in 

 Switzerland in October. Even in March, Bel- 

 gian grapes were sold in Covent Garden at from 

 4d. and 6d. the pound.* This price alone shows 

 sufficiently how small are the amounts of labour 

 which are required to grow grapes in our latitudes 

 with the aid of glass. It certainly costs less 

 labour to grow grapes in Belgium than to grow 

 them on the coasts of Lake Leman.'l 



I will not conclude this chapter without 

 casting a glance on the progress that has been 

 made in this country since the first edition of this 

 book was published, in 1898, by fruit and flower 

 farming, as also by culture under glass, and on 

 the attempts recently made to introduce in 

 different parts of England " French Gardening," 

 < that is, the culture maraichere of the French 

 gardeners. 



There is not the slightest doubt that fruit- 

 growing has notably increased the area under 

 fruit orchards having grown in Great Britain 

 from 200,000 acres in 1888 to 250,000 acres in 

 1908 ; while the area under small fruit (goose- 



* A quotation which I took at random, In 1895, from a London 

 daily, was : " Oovent Garden, 19th March, 1895- Quotations : 

 Belgian grapes, 4d. to 6d. ; Jersey ditto, 6d. to lOd. ; Muacats, 

 Is. 6d. to 2s. ; and tomatoes, 3d. to 5d. per Ib." 



t See Appendix S. 



