44'2 Of Gardens. 



sent reduced price of the various articles brought to mar- 

 ket ( 401 ), may be stated at the rate of L.60 per acre, or about 

 L.840,000 per annum. This places the gardener's art in the 

 most favourable point of view, as no other application of land, 

 nor of rural labour, can supply so great a proportion of human 

 food, or yield so much employment to the cultivators, or 

 pay so liberally for the labour bestowed on it ( 402 ). 



In the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh, there are about 

 500 statute (400 Scotch) acres, employed in gardens, besides 

 those at from six to fifteen miles distance, which occasionally 

 send supplies to the market. The total produce is stated at 

 L. 18,000 in all, or L.36 per statute acre per annum ( 4 3 ). 

 This is considerably less than the average produce of the gar- 

 dens near London ; but the latter are situated in a better cli- 

 mate, a large proportion of them is employed in the produc- 

 tion of luxurious articles, and they are close to a superior 

 market, where higher prices are obtained, where greater 

 quantities of suitable manure can be readily procured, and 

 where more labour can be bestowed with advantage. 



In the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, the market gardeners 

 find onions the most profitable article they can raise, procu- 

 ring for them from L.45 to L.58 per acre, according to the 

 price the article sells for ( 4<K ). Carrots yield about half these 

 sums; turnips from L.I 4 to L.18; and potatoes from L.I 5 

 to L.20, according to the crop and season ( 405 ). 



On the whole, there can be no doubt, that from their higher 

 cultivation, and, (unless under very peculiar circumstances), 

 their greater fertility ; from the higher value of the articles 

 produced, in consequence of either their superior quality, or 

 earlier growth ; and from more than one crop being generally 

 raised in the same year on the same ground, the produce of 

 gardens must be more valuable, than that of arable or pasture 

 land. 



From the superior quantity and value of garden produce, 

 it might be supposed, that a larger proportion of the country 

 would be cultivated in that style. But the expenses are so 

 great, that if the price of the articles sold were much reduced, 

 (which would be the necessary consequence of a more extend- 

 ed culture), gardening would be no longer followed as a lu- 

 crative profession. Competition has probably already gone as 

 far as it ought ; and the consumption of fruits and vegetables 

 in London, comparatively speaking, already far exceeds that 

 of any other part of the kingdom. It is at the rate of 16s. 

 9d. per head, while that of Edinburgh does not probably exceed 



