THE SELECTION OF LAND 



which demands the attention of the market gardener. 

 In the first place, especially at starting, he is seldom 

 prepared with the capital for either buying or working 

 farms of several hundred acres. However tempting the 

 chance may appear, it is folly to take more land than can 

 be satisfactorily cultivated. The outlay upon labour 

 must be heavy, and there is the possibility of hard 

 seasons to be faced. With a large area in hand to keep 

 up to the best conditions, and a small capital available 

 for the purpose, the prospect is not encouraging. 



Apart from other considerations, this has led to more 

 failures, both in farming and gardening, than lack of skill 

 or application. It is responsible for a large proportion 

 of the foul, neglected land which is found on many of 

 the great estates, and which in some cases the owners 

 have turned into game preserves or rabbit warrens as 

 the last resource. There is a confirmed reluctance to 

 break up large farms into smaller ones, yet the applicants 

 for the latter are far more numerous and the rents 

 obtainable much larger in proportion. Numbers of 

 examples could be quoted in proof of this, but two will 

 suffice for our purpose, both of which are on a large 

 agricultural estate within fifty miles of London. In one 

 case 20 acres were obtained at £2, ios. per acre, and in 

 the other 5° acres were rented at £2 per acre. Both 

 were cut out of farms which were rented at ios. to 

 15s. per acre, and the small holders did not share in any 

 reductions for bad seasons. Each of the small men 

 devoted the land to market garden purposes, partly 

 fruits and partly vegetables, maintaining a condition that 

 was a credit to the district. The whole of the fruit trees 

 were planted on a yearly tenancy, so that the land was 

 being improved, while much of the other cheaply rented 

 land was as steadily decreasing in value. 



How far the formation of smaller holdings in agri- 

 cultural districts could be carried out with success depends 



