Book I. 



COMMERCIAL GARDENS. 



1053 



crops ; as that of^ Biggs, at Mortlake, to asparagus ; some at Battersea, to cabbage and 

 cauliflower ; at the Neats-houses, to celery j at Deptford, to asparagus and onions ; 

 Charlton and Plumstead, to peas, &c. In some gardens attention is chiefly paid to 

 forcing early, and growing late crops ; in others, as at Lambeth, by Andrews, exotic 

 fruits, as pines and grapes, are chiefly grown. At a greater distance from town, articles 

 of easy carriage, as gooseberries, strawberries, asparagus, tart-rhubarb, sea-kale, &c. are 

 leading articles ; and in small gardens in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis, 

 nothing is sent to market ; but salads, as water-cress, radishes, lettuce, parsley, herbs, 

 and flowers are the chief articles grown, and they are sold in small quantities on the 

 spot. The market-gardeners near seaports direct their attention chiefly to the produce 

 of cabbage, onions, turnips, and such vegetables as are in demand as ships' stores. In 

 most parts of the country it happens, that from bankruptcies, absence of families, and 

 such like causes, the produce of a number of private gardens is sent to market. This is 

 a good deal the case near London ; but so much so round Liverpool and Manchester, 

 that scarcely a market-gardener is to be found near these towns. Indeed, many of the 

 citizens there who possess villas and gardens, cultivate them as much for the sake of the 

 disposal of the produce as for their own enjoyment. 



7458. Market-gardeners on a small scale have generally been master or head gardeners, 

 who have acquired a capital from a number of years' servitude ; those occupying more 

 extensive concerns are generally the sons or successors of other market-gardeners, and 

 possess considerable capital. An important point in the culture of these gardens is to 

 supply abundance of manure and water in dry weather ; these always produce luxuriant 

 and succulent crops of leaves, though obviously injurious in respect to flavor. A proper 

 rotation and change of surface are also important j and in smaller crops it is a material 

 point to have the rudiments of one crop always ready to succeed another. Thus radishes, 

 lettuces, and onions are sown on asparagus-beds ; the radishes are soon drawn, and suc- 

 ceeded by the lettuces and onions, which are left only in places where they will not injure 

 the asparagus ; the lettuces come into use soon after the asparagus is cut, part of the 

 onions are drawn young, and the rest left to bulb. In the alleys between the beds, 

 cauliflowers are planted early in the season, and between these, at a later period, cucum- 

 bers, which, with their runners, cover the vacant parts both of the alleys and beds. Thus 

 six crops are obtained in succession, and the ground is clear by October for landing up 

 the beds. Early cauliflowers are generally a profitable crop. The seeds are sown in 

 August, pricked out, and planted under hand-glasses, six under each, in October. The 

 glasses are placed in rows, ten feet apart, and at four feet distance from centre to centre 

 in the row : thus an acre contains 1092 glasses. After the cauliflowers are planted, the 

 ground is sown with lettuces and spinage ; if the lettuce stands the winter, it is valuable, 

 and grows fast when the soil is stirred round it in March. About this time, four of the 

 six plants under each glass are removed, and planted in a warm situation, or in the shel- 

 tered alleys of the asparagus-beds. About the beginning of May the cauliflowers are too 

 large for the glasses, and are just coming into flower. As they are gathered and their 

 roots removed, they are replaced by cucumber-plants, previously raised in hot-beds, and 

 now containing two or more proper leaves. In July the middle of the intervals between 

 the rows of glasses is planted with endive, and between each glass two cauliflower-plants 

 are planted to come in late. Thus five crops are raised, all valuable ones, if the ground 

 was previously in good heart, and was kept frequently well stirred, and quite free from 

 weeds. The following are common rotation : 1 . Radishes, carrots, savoys or cabbages, xsr 

 coleworts ; 2. Early turnips, autumn cabbage ; 3. Spring turnips, French beans, savoys, 

 or peas and spinage, and leeks or broccoli. 



7459. In sowing broad-cast crops it is found of advantage to sow several sorts of seeds together, because 

 some of them may fail or be destroyed by insects after they come up : if all come up and thrive, then such 

 sorts as are least valuable may be treated as weeds. Thus onions, radishes, lettuce, and carrots, are often 

 sown together ; sometimes the carrots are wed out, and the best crop is the onions ; at other times the 

 onions partially fail, and are drawn for salading or transplanting, and the lettuce is the main crop,j 

 Radishes are often sown with turnips, as a sacrifice to the fly, while the turnips escape. 



7460. In general all transplanted crops, and as many sown ones as possible, are drilled ; and for bulky 

 crops, as cabbages, peas, beans, &c. it is an approved practice to sow or plant two rows near to each other, 

 and then leave a wide interval, in which a dwarf early crop, or crops of short duration, as spinage, let- 

 tuce, &c. is sown. By the time the main crop is at its full size, the inter-crop is removed ; the ground is 

 then dry, and another crop, as cabbages or turnips, introduced, which is ready in its turn to succeed as 

 the main crop. In this way, no part of a market-garden is ever left naked or cropless, at least during 

 summer, and though these intervening crops are often injured when young by the shade of the main 

 crops, yet, if the ground be in high order, they soon recover when freely exposed to the air, and the 

 ground is stirred. If the land, however, is not in good heart, it is a better system to adopt a rotation, and 

 stir the whole ground well between each crop, because here, the soil being poorer, a greater volume is 

 required to supply the same nourishment : quantity is substituted for quality. 



7461. With respect to the comparative market value of crops, they must, on the general average, be nearly 

 on a par; if one crop is at any time dearer than another, it is in consequence of being more precarious or 

 expensive to raise ; if one article is very dear at one time, it is immediately overgrown, and becomes pro- 

 portionally cheap. To grow something of every thing is safe for those who have extensive concerns ; 

 select things for those who devote their whole attention to small spots ; and things long of coming to per- 

 fection, as tart-rhubarb, sea-kale, asparagus, &c. to those who have capital. It is never advisable to 

 propagate a dear article very extensively, as every body is likely to be doing the same thing; it is better 

 even to adopt a contrary practice. 



