364 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



years among cultivators of market vegetables, each possibly an effect of 

 the operation of the same economic causes. The one is the cheapening 

 of the methods of cultivation : digging-ploughs have taken the place of 

 sp;u le trenching. Twenty-five years ago immy acres of land in Fulham 

 were bastard-trenched at Gd. a rod every winter. Planting by the line, 

 where considerable breadths are cultivated, has given place to marking 

 with a horse-racer. Eadishes used universally to be sown by hand in 

 beds previously carefully raked level, and afterwards "casted" with the 

 spade ; now they are mostly sown broadcast with a " fiddle," and " harrowed 

 in," or even drilled with a horse drill. Asparagus used to be grown in 

 beds 5 or 6 feet apart, " spitted " and " landed " with the spade every spring, 

 after being forked down in the autumn ; now it is planted in rows 

 8 feet 0 inches apart and moulded with the plough. When I left school 

 a cart was not allowed upon the Rhubarb; manure was wheeled on, the 

 crop was curried off ; now the manure is carted on and the crop carted 

 off. Twenty years ago, acres of Peas and Beans in market-gardens were 

 grown on sticks, now such a thing is scarcely seen ; the Peas are moulded 

 to lie all one way, and the Beans are planted in rows half the distance 

 apart, and stopped by picking out the tops of the shoots. There is 

 possibly much room for ingenuity yet in cheapening production by saving 

 unnecessary labour. 



The other tendency is the increase in the variety of the crops grown : 

 Celeriac, Tomatos, Aubergines, Corn-cobs, Whitloof, New Zealand 

 Spinach, have all been added, so to speak, to the market-gardener's 

 repertoire. At the same time the forcing of some crops has been almost 

 entirely discontinued, and that of others increased, in some cases 

 enormously. Among the former are Potatos, Radishes, Beans, Turnips ; 

 among the latter, Seakale, Rhubarb, Mint, Marrows, and to a limited 

 extent Asparagus, the demand for this vegetable when forced seeming to 

 be strictly limited. 



A change, too, is coming over the methods of packing vegetables and 

 sending them to market. The autumn Colewort and the early spring 

 Cabbages used to be tied in bunches with the rod. Bunch greens used 

 to Ik- a staple article in the spring and autumn markets ; now such are 

 rarely seen ; instead, when the plants have not hearted sufficiently to make 

 Colewort heads or Cabbage, they are cut and sent to market in bushel 

 sieves. The roots and stumps are thus left on the land instead of being 

 carried to market, only to add to the refuse dealt with by the dust 

 collector. Some old-fashioned baskets, such as barges, loads, half-loads, 

 and round-, are last falling out of use. They were large, cumbersome, 

 and very expensive. Cabbage packed high above the rims and laid with 

 precision and neatness in loads and half-loads used to be the regular 

 thiii'-r, and the art of packing them properly was a matter of pride; now 

 cheap boxes are mostly used. The plan of leading vegetables like 

 Cabbage Loose upon vans may also be expected to be discontinued; for 

 Barely no more certain plan could be devised to secure the maximum of 

 damage to the vegetable than the old process, which may be still 

 seen followed in some places. The vegetable is cut, thrown into 

 heapu, ilen thrown into a cart, carted off to the van, thrown to the 

 louder, win. Macks them upon tin; van like bricks in a wall; when at 



