Market- Gardening. 
435 
they ought to fetch 9fZ., and it is very satisfactory to the grower 
when they sell at Is. a dozen. 300 dozen bunches of carrots per 
acre, including "chumps" or rough carrots, sold to stable keepers, 
are a very large crop ; 2s. 6c?. per dozen is a satisfactory price. 
This year carrots are considered to sell well at 3s, A bunch 
contains from 50 carrots, early in the season, to 25 when they 
are larger, 20 tons of Belgian carrots, is considered a good crop ; 
40.V. a ton is a common price at the stables in London. A crop 
of parsnips generally weighs considerably more ; the price of the 
finest roots varies from Is. to Is. 6c?. per score of 22. 
A good crop of collards is 200 dozen bunches. It varies 
between 50 and 350 dozen, and the smaller crop may pay best, 
reducing the land but little, and selling perhaps at a high price, 
with comparatively small deductions for the cost of labour and 
marketing. 150 bushels of peas is a large crop, and 15/. on the 
ground is a very great price, which is sometimes paid by dealers 
for a crop that would yield 8 qrs. of threshed peas ; 2s. 6c?, or 3s. 
per bushel are common prices in Covent Garden, up to 8s. for the 
first early peas, or for " blues " when they come first to market, 
" whites " being then worth but little. A crop of onions, I 
believe, weighs about half as much as a crop of swedes in the 
Eastern Counties, where 20 tons of swedes are a great crop, and 
from 10 to 15 tons are common crops ; price from 5s. to 9s. per 
cwt. Prices are affected by a variety of circumstances which 
cannot be foreseen. A blight in the early potatoes would raise 
the price of carrots and other competitive vegetables. Cabbages 
were selling this year at Is. a dozen on June 14th, because there 
were few peas or potatoes at market. Each gardening district 
has its innings, which terminates suddenly ; for example, any 
district which is earlier than another has possession of the 
market so long as the advantage lasts. During a fortnight last 
spring immense quantities of cabbages were sent from Essex to 
the great manufacturing towns in the north, 
Lisbon sends the earliest potatoes to London, the French coast 
and the Scilly Islands follow, then Jersey, Guernsey, Cornwall, 
and Holland ; and by the middle of June, these distant but 
early districts are driven out of the market, by the arrival of 
supplies from Essex, &c. Red cabbages have been sold at 160s. 
per ton early in the season, and at 25s. per ton a fortnight 
afterwards ; or at from Is. to 4s. per dozen. 
Lesser movements in the trade are governed by the supply of 
labour and other circumstances. In a parish where a great many 
* French beans were grown, the erection of a factory absorbed the 
pickers, and beans were given up, as well as brocoli, which had 
previously been planted between the rows of beans on the solid 
ground, which suits them. 
