MARKET GARDEN CULTIVATION DURING QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN. 405 



system under which their business is conducted. Everywhere 

 are visible the forethought and direction of a master mind, capable 

 of grasping alike the most trivial details of the work as well as 

 the highest commercial principles so necessary in organising and 

 successfully conducting a large and important business. 



A circle drawn with a fifteen-mile radius from Covent 

 Garden will embrace the largest proportion of the market glass. 

 Perhaps the Lea Valley contains the largest number of growers 

 under glass. From Tottenham to Rye House there are a series 

 of establishments which are monuments of progress ; if the 

 North of London be visited we find others in the Finchley 

 district ; if we journey up the Thames Valley and its outlets we 

 again meet with many equally deserving, though more often 

 hidden by the surrounding fruit plantations ; the southern 

 section stretches away to the Bexley and Swanley districts, 

 where they bear equal evidence of importance as local industries. 

 Besides this home district there are other neighbourhoods, such 

 as Worthing, East Grinstead, Chelmsford, and many others, 

 where colonies of fruit growers under glass are springing up and 

 extending. In fact, wherever the soil and situation seem favour- 

 able to the successful development of this business some enter- 

 prising person seems ready to open it up. 



I should particularly like to quote Worthing as a remarkable 

 illustration of what a locality distant from large centres of con- 

 sumption can accomplish. It is now about twenty-six years 

 since the first commencement was made to produce glass-grown 

 fruit at Worthing. It has now become a local industry of the 

 highest importance. No fewer than 650 houses of glass are 

 rated as agricultural land with a ratable value of £8,500 a 

 year. They produce great quantities of Grapes, Tomatos, 

 Cucumbers, and flowers ; and the united efforts and association 

 of the growers have literally compelled the railway to grant more 

 favourable terms for the transit of goods. 



I find it impossible to give accurate information respecting 

 the quantities of goods raised under glass, but so far as I can 

 judge there are about 1,000 tons of Grapes, 6,000 tons of Tomatos? 

 and 500,000 dozen of Cucumbers produced in this country at the 

 present time yearly. It is estimated that there are 32,000,000 

 square feet of glass in the United Kingdom used for fruit and 

 flower culture. This would cover 735 acres of land, and if put 



