COMMERCIAL GARDENING 55 



both of fruits and vegetables, are very deceptive in this 

 respect, and it is the chief reason that has led to the 

 doubt with which experienced growers regard fine- 

 looking exhibition novelties. If the quality of any 

 variety required for eating is really bad, it is not 

 worthy of cultivation, however tempting its appearance 

 may be, and no grower who desires a good reputation 

 and a permanent business should waste his labour over 

 such a crop. The general public do not, however, 

 require the highest excellence such as a connoisseur 

 would expect and insist upon. The majority of buyers 

 are more concerned with securing what they need at a 

 moderate price, and they are content with average 

 quality, provided the other conditions are satisfactory. 

 For good average produce there is an enormous outlet 

 in the large cities, but for that of exceptionally high 

 quality, the market is restricted, though the prices 

 secured may be more remunerative. It practically 

 resolves itself into this : the grower who has an 

 extensive area under cultivation must rely upon the 

 multitude for the sale of the bulk of his produce, and 

 it must therefore be cheap even though the quality 

 be not of the highest. But the market-man who has 

 a small piece of land to depend upon should aim at 

 raising the best quality and securing the top prices. 

 If the small man has to compete with the large grower 

 in the same quality of produce, it is obvious that the 

 former will be placed at a great disadvantage*. In the 

 limited number of cases where appearance, quality, and 

 quantity are combined, the ideal approach to perfection 

 is realised if the best cultivation be also provided. 



The question of the market value attaching to size in 

 garden productions requires a few remarks under this 

 head. Excessive size is so often associated with coarse- 

 ness and inferior quality, that it is not surprising there 

 is considerable prejudice against such varieties in the 



