222 THE POSSIBILITIES 



examples just given will do to show what is 

 obtained from the land in England where" no 

 obstacle is laid to the development of horti- 

 culture, and what amount of food can be ob- 

 tained in the climate and from the soil of this 

 country whenever it is properly cultivated. 

 Let me only add that a similar development of 

 fruit culture has taken place within the last 

 thirty years everywhere in the civilised coun- 

 tries ; and that in France, in Belgium, and in 

 Germany the extension taken by horticulture 

 during the last twenty or thirty years has been 

 much greater than in this country.* 



As regards market-gardening, it has un- 

 doubtedly made remarkable progress in the 

 United Kingdom within recent years. How- 

 ever, accurate data are failing, and those who 

 have travelled over this country with the special 

 purpose of studying its agriculture have not 

 yet given sufficient attention to the recent 

 developments of market-gardening; but it is 

 quite certain that within the last five-and- 

 twenty years it has taken a great development, 

 especially in Ireland, but also in several parts 

 of England, Scotland, and Wales. 



Such are, for instance, the neighbourhoods 



* According to the researches made by the French Ministry 

 of Agriculture, the yearly produce of the French horticulturists 

 attains the value of 16,000,000. 



