INDUSTRIES 



Other important areas of cultivation occur at 

 Berkhampstead, Hoddesdon, Hemel Hempstead, 

 and Boxmoor, Wheathampstead and St. Albans. 

 Three distinct varieties of the plant are culti- 

 vated — namely, the green-leaved, the small 

 brown-leaved, and the large brown-leaved ; the 

 first two apparently more extensively than 

 the latter, which grows best in deep water. 



The trenches vary in extent in different parts 

 of the county, but as a rule they are not less 

 than 10 ft. broad by 90 ft. in length. The 

 bottom is made sUghtly sloping, and in such a 

 way that a regular depth of about 4 in. of water 

 can be maintained. 



In the planting of a bed a small quantity of 

 water is first allowed to enter in order to soften 

 the ground. Slips or cuttings, each bearing 

 roots, are then planted at a distance of about 

 3 or 4 in. apart in rows parallel to the direction 

 of the current. A slight dressing of manure is 

 applied at the end of four or five days, and this 

 is pressed down by means of a heavy wooden 

 board, to which a long handle is obUquely 

 attached. Water is then allowed to enter the 

 trench in full volume to the depth already 

 mentioned. 



Each bed furnishes about twelve crops 



annually, the cresses being cut during the sum- 

 mer about every twenty days, and less fre- 

 quently in winter. Two-thirds of a bed are 

 usually cut at once, manuring being performed 

 after each gathering. Owing to this treatment 

 the level of the bottom of the trench is gradually 

 heightened, and at the end of twelve months 

 the bed is cleared and the refuse removed, a 

 fresh planting being effected. In many places 

 the soil removed and thrown on to the margins 

 separating adjacent beds is utilized for the 

 growing of vegetables. 



The cresses are packed for market in 

 specially constructed baskets, in double rows, 

 with the leaves toward the interior. The 

 greater proportion of the produce is sent to 

 Covent Garden, but, although there are no pub- 

 lished returns showing the extent of acreage 

 under cultivation for water-cress in the county,* 

 it is generally considered by those engaged in 

 the industry that more than one-third of the 

 total amount marketed in London is derived 

 from Hertfordshire. 



^ No records in this respect arc kept by the Board 

 of Agriculture, and the weekly market reports of 

 trade journals are insufficiently particular to be of 

 accurate service. 



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