REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE FRUIT INDUSTRY. 549 



Market, an account of which was given to the Committee by Sir William 

 Thiselton Dyer, shows that the formation of a fresh market at a new 

 centre may supply a decided local want and create a fresh demand. The 

 Kew or Brentford Market originated six or seven years ago. The carters 

 on their journey from the country to Covent Garden used to stop at Kew 

 Bridge to bait their horses. The practice arose of selling some of the 

 goods while waiting. An informal market grew out of this, which the 

 proprietors of the district converted into a formal one, and which now 

 has become a market of considerable importance. It can scarcely be 

 doubted that if a similar opportunity for starting a market occurred in 

 other suburbs of London a similar demand for fruit would be found to 

 exist there, or would be created by the opportunity afforded. 



82. Whether or not such subsidiary markets in London would ever 

 tap Covent Garden of any of the highest class produce is a question, but 

 they would probably not do so without a persistent effort on the part of 

 the producers, maintained for a considerable time at a loss to themselves. 

 Even those witnesses who considered that one great central market, 

 dealing with the bulk of such produce, is wrong in principle were agreed 

 that, as a matter of fact, Covent Garden is at present the only market to 

 which a grower can send such produce in bulk so as to secure proper 

 prices. Any want of efficiency of Covent Garden as a central market 

 appears to lie in its being too small to fulfil its functions adequately. 

 Every effort, the Committee believe, is made to extend it whenever 

 opportunity arises, but extension — and also the improvement of the 

 approaches to it — is rendered very difficult by the property around it 

 belonging to different owners. 



83. Just as other markets in London would not interfere with Covent 

 Garden, so would it be with subsidiary markets in provincial towns ; 

 indeed, the extension and multiplication of these would probably increase 

 the work of the larger distributing centres. That there is room for 

 extension of provincial markets appears to be certain. The market at 

 Bristol, for instance, is said to be quite inadequate for a town of that 

 size, and there are towns of 100,000 inhabitants which have no markets 

 deserving the name. 



84. The multiplication of large provincial markets would, no doubt, 

 be of much importance in relieving gluts, to the great advantage of 

 growers. Two instances which may be quoted in illustration of the 

 development of provincial markets are those of Birmingham and 

 Hereford. Thirty years ago the former was quite small, but it has been 

 repeatedly enlarged, and has now become an important distributing centre. 

 That at Hereford has proved of immense importance to the growers, who 

 there find customers for their produce in bulk, and who, according to 

 Mr. Meats, the salesman for the Corporation, make double the prices which 

 they used to do before the market was started. This market was but 

 little appreciated at first, but is now recognised to be of much importance 

 to the county. It is managed for the Corporation by a committee, and 

 the committee supply the growers with boxes for their produce at a low 

 charge. 



85. In regard to the small retail markets in country towns, there 

 appears to be room for much improvement. These markets are in many 



