76 
Hints on Vegetable and Fruit Farming. 
might be turned to profitable account. Upon the home gardens of 
market-garden farms it will be found that every spare product 
of vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs is sold, and spaces are 
reserved for seed-beds to supply the farm with plants. The 
cautious farmer may feel his way by means of his home-garden 
to gardening upon a large scale on his farm. 
Another objection that is raised against extending vegetable 
culture is, that it would require a larger supply of labour than 
ordinary villages could furnish. This undoubtedly would neces- 
sitate additional labour, and create a demand which, however, it is 
believed, would soon be met. The better prices which farmers 
would be enabled to pay would attract labourers to the country, 
and tend to keep in their native places the young men who now 
leave them to better themselves. Immigrants would come at busy 
times, as they come to the Essex and Bedfordshire market-garden 
farms, as they go turnip-hoeing and harvesting in various 
counties, as they come into Kent for fruit-picking, potato-digging, 
and hop-picking. The additional culture of vegetables, within 
certain limits, would not much clash with ordinary farm work, 
and would, if well managed, ensure constant employment for 
labourers all the year round. Now it happens frequently 
that unremunerative work has to be found at some periods 
of the year for the regular staff. Upon ordinary farms a staff 
has to be maintained principally for the important operations 
of turnip-hoeing, hay-making, and corn-harvesting. Vegetable 
culture could be arranged to work well in with these seasons. 
Much of the lighter work, as picking peas, pulling and bunching 
onions and carrots, could be done by women, who could also 
wash those vegetables that required washing, in sheds or barns, 
and bunch them and pack them for market. There would be 
plenty of work for the staff of labourers in winter in sending off 
stored carrots, or stored potatoes, or onions, or parsnips, or 
celery, or protecting radishes or lettuces, in gathering Brussels 
sprouts, and in various other ways. 
Vegetable culture is supposed to require almost fabulous 
quantities of manure. Without any doubt the system of grow- 
ing vegetables practised by market-gardeners near London, who 
are not satisfied unless they get two exhausting crops in a year 
from each part of their holdings, entails immense manurial 
applications. As much as 30 tons of farmyard-manure are put 
on per acre for some crops, and even 50 tons per acre for celery. 
Upon two market-gardens visited in Essex, the average annual 
cost of manure was in one case 10/. and in the other 11/. per acre. 
On the other hand, upon a profitable market-garden farm visited 
in Essex the average annual cost of manure was only 2/. 10s. 
per acre ; yet all the crops on the 200 acres, including cabbages, 
