38 THE BOOK OF MARKET GARDENING 



only object is to indicate its importance as a part of 

 market gardening generally. 



How materially the possession of glass-houses aids the 

 resources of a cultivator is proved by the small size of 

 the holdings from which a living can be made when the 

 efforts of the land-worker are supplemented by a few 

 suitable structures. Where the proximity to a market 

 or town affords the opportunity, many men with from 

 half an acre to an acre of land and a few hundred feet 

 run of glass-houses have created a business and secured 

 a respectable living, which their means would have 

 otherwise rendered impossible. Not only is work pro- 

 vided at times when the weather and season would 

 cause enforced idleness on the open land, but a con- 

 tinual supply of produce available for sale is also 

 afforded. Further, whether on large or small hold- 

 ings, the addition of glass-houses helps to ensure the 

 grower against the disasters which at times overtake 

 out-of-doors crops. Though the occupants of such 

 structures are not exempt from attacks and failures, 

 it is rare that heavy losses in both directions would 

 occur at the same time. 



The market man does not require, and cannot afford 

 either to buy or erect, the elaborate structures which 

 are seen in the private gardens of wealthy persons. The 

 simplest and plainest of houses consistent with reason- 

 able durability and adaptation to the purpose in view are 

 needed, such indeed as many an intelligent man with an 

 elementary knowledge of carpentry and building can put 

 up for himself, with the assistance of a handy helper. 

 All the materials are cheap — bricks, wood, and glass 

 are obtainable at low rates, and the most serious outlay 

 of all, the artificial heating with hot-water apparatus, can 

 for many purposes be dispensed with, at all events 

 when starting on a small scale. 



The assistance rendered to plants in our climate early 



