290 



MARKET- GARDENING. 



[March 1895. 



prices have fallen, and in some seasons the markets are over- 

 supplied. Large quantities of celer}^ are now grown in York- 

 shire and Lincolnshire. In some districts, asparagus was 

 formerly produced with considerable profit to the growers, 

 especially for the first fortnight or so of the season, but the 

 imj)ortation of asparagus from Toulouse, Dijon, Paris, arid parts 

 of Spain, which begins in January and continues until about 

 the time when English asparagus is ready, has in recent j^ears 

 rendered this crop less profitable. 



The high rents of market-garden land near London, in 

 Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey, as well as the dearne-s and 

 scarcity of labour, also handicap the industry. This appbes 

 to all marl Let-gardens near large centres of population where 

 the laboureis can get good wages in gasworks, on railways, 

 and in various other employments. Near London and other 

 cities, women, whose labour is most useful in some of the 

 processes of cultivation and after-management of vegetables, 

 are becoming more and more disinclined to w^ork on the land. 

 In the production of such crops as onions, carrots, celery, -md 

 lettuce a great deal of labour is absolutely essential, not on y 

 for their cultivation, but also for preparing them for market, and 

 in this respect farmers in many localities would have a consider- 

 able advantage. Market-gardeners in the vicinity of London 

 and other populous places are able to cart their vegetables to 

 market in their own conveyances. Farmers who live near 

 railways communicating directly with markets are able to consign 

 large quantities of vegetables at fairly reasonable rates, tliough 

 they and market-gardeners complain of the rates charged f>»r 

 small consignments of their produce. 



Technical knowledge is necessary in the production of 

 vegetables. Some market-gardeners ai-e particularly cle-. er, 

 energetic, and hardworking, always on the look out for some new 

 " idea," and many of them, from their connexion with salesmen 

 and their propinquity to towns, are in close touch with the 

 vegetable markets, and are well and reguL*jrly posted up as to 

 suppl}^ and demand. In these respects, they have a certain 

 advantage over farmers, who do not, as a rule, care aV^out small 

 details, and would not have such opportunities of getting in- 

 formation as to immediate and prospective market wants. But 

 Avhere technical knowledge ws,y be easily obtained, as well as 

 reliable and continuous information concerning the state of 

 markets, and, it will pay to grow vegetables, farmt^rs will no 

 doubt adapt themselves to circumstances rendered necessary by 

 the exigencies of the times. 



There appears to be some opening for the further cultivation 

 of tomatoes under glass. It would seem to be generally iuhni^ red 

 that the climate of this country is too uncertain to permit <'f 

 their suf'cessful cultivation in the open. A large and increasing 

 business is carried on in the Channel Islands in growing tomatoes, 

 in cheaply-built glass houses, for the EngHsh markets. The 



