400 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FRUITS- Open Grown. 

 These are either orchard fruits or market garden fruits. 

 The system of planting a mixed garden of top and bottom* fruits 

 is generally followed. The bushes below can be removed later on, 

 when the top fruits have grown sufficiently to cover the ground, 

 and thus the garden be turned into an orchard ; or the mixed 

 garden can still be retained by thinning out some of the tall 

 trees. 



The bush system of culture does not admit of this dual 

 arrangement after a few years. 



There has been a great extension of fruit cultivation for 

 market during the Victorian era, and particularly during the last 

 half of it. During the last decade the acreage of fruit land has 

 increased from 36,724 acres to 76,245 acres, of which 32,090 

 acres are orchards and 30,699 acres are market gardens. 

 Besides this fruit land there are 96,696 acres of market gardens 

 in Great Britain. I find that Kent is par excellence the greatest 

 fruit and market garden county, and well deserves its title " the 

 Garden of England." The leading market gardening counties 

 are : — 





Acres of 



Acres of 





Fruit. 



Market Gardens. 



Kent 



. 22,632 



12,972 



Middlesex 



3,870 



9,460 



Worcester 



3,194 



6,139 



Norfolk 



2,943 



2,834 



Yorkshire ..... 



. 3,691 



5,124 



Hampshire .... 



. 2,149 



3,145 





1,929 



4,642 



Cambridge 



2,721 



2,125 





1,459 



3.700 



Sussex 



. 1,480 



2,443 





1,698 



1,582 



Bedford 



264 



7,997 



Gloucester .... 



. 1,743 



2,277 





. 1,533 



l!(U3 





. 1,948 



2,101 



Lanark (Scotland) . 



. 2,107 



1,754 



(" Bd. Ag. Bet." 



1896.) 





Respecting particular varieties of fruit grown for market 

 there has been no doubt a greater improvement than in vege- 

 tables. The market gardeners are very largely the producers of 

 their own seed in vegetables. In fruit they are more open to 

 the introduction of new varieties from professional nurserymen, 



* Top and bottom, i.e. standard trees with bushes planted between 

 them. 



