Vol. LVIII. No. 2559. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1], 1899. 
$1 PER YEAR. 
HORTICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN EUROPE. 
OLD WORLD COMPARED WITH THE NEW. 
[Synopsis of a paper read by Prof. L. H. BaUey, of Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, before the Western New York Horticultural Society.] 
Some Old-World Standards. —In comparing 
American and European horticulture, the constant 
error is to judge European horticulture by the Amer¬ 
ican standards. We are one nation, speaking practi¬ 
cally one language, and bound by the ties of mutual 
interest. The European environment, however, is 
radically different. The sharp political and race 
divisions, the pervading influence of caste, the marked 
geographical variations, all contribute towards a 
local and restricted horticultural practice, which is 
not at all comparable to the cosmopolitan breadth of 
our own. The European farmers do not live in the 
country, but in hamle-ts and villages. The agricul¬ 
tural land lies 
outside the vil¬ 
lages, and from 
the latter the 
peasants jour¬ 
ney out to their 
work in the 
morning, and 
to them they 
return at night. 
The roads are 
narrow, hence 
the roadbed is 
much better 
than our own. 
A large propor- 
tion of the 
roads in the 
rural districts 
of Europe are 
macadamized. 
Fences are not 
common. 
The School 
Gardens.— 
Much has been 
said about the 
school gardens 
of Europe by 
those who ad¬ 
vocate their in¬ 
troduction into 
the public 
school system 
of America. We 
must consider 
the difference 
i n conditions. 
There,the rural 
school house i s 
always in the 
village, near the homes of all the children ; here it is 
more often at the cross roads, several miles from many 
homes. The Summer vacation in Europe rarely ex¬ 
ceeds one month, and during that time, the school¬ 
master, who usually lives in the school building with 
his family, can conveniently care for the garden. In 
America, this could rarely be arranged. 
One is impressed with the evider ce of great frugality 
among the peasants, yet they are generally happy and 
contented. Bavaria is one of the poorest farming dis¬ 
tricts in the world, yet the peasants are happier than 
the majority of American farmers. The ambition for 
riches and a high seat in the temple does not come in 
to cause unrest. The caste system restricts, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, the opportunity to rise. They have a 
different philosophy of life from the eager, pushing, 
ambitious Yankee. 
The Land System.— The tenure of the land has 
an important bearing on the agriculture of any coun¬ 
try. In Europe, tenant farming is the rule. Tueoret- 
ically, the landlord system is superior to many in¬ 
dividual holdings, but the trouble is that its privileges 
are abused. To illustrate how far the parceling of 
land has been carried in the Old Country, let me cite 
a few statistics. In Belgium, a country about one- 
quarter the size of New York, there are 315,000 peasant 
holdings, with an average of but five acres. The farms 
of Austria average 16 acres, of Bavaria 32, of Holland 
34. One difficulty in this parceling of land is that a 
man often has several farms, one here, one there, per¬ 
haps several miles apart, which gives rise to much in¬ 
convenience and confusion. In Germany, a movement 
is now on foot to amalgamate these small holdings as 
far as possible, and a sum of money has become avail¬ 
able from which is defrayed any loss to individuals 
through such union. From our point of view, Amer¬ 
icans naturally think that the peasant women of 
Europe must suffer hardship in being obliged to labor 
in the fields The real objection is not because they 
are physically disqualified, for these peasant women 
are as strong as men, and can easily do as much work. 
It is a sociological, not a physical, objection which 
has greatest force. Under such circumstances, these 
women cannot take the place as wives and mothers 
which is their birthright. The home life has less of 
inspiration. 
European Fruit Growing. —Fruit growing is 
generally on small farms, though some English or¬ 
chards are equal to our largest. One is impressed 
with the fact that the commercial-orchard idea, which 
we Americans have developed so prodigiously, is rarely 
present in European horticulture. Land set apart for 
an orchard is usually retained for such purpose from 
generation to generation. When trees die, others are 
set in the same places, so that, ultimately, a very 
irregular and dense growth results, and a very un¬ 
desirable condition. 
Markets and varieties are mostly local. This is the 
main reason why American fruit has been able to gain 
the strong foothold in European markets which it 
now has. We grow large quantities of the same 
variety, and pack practically the same. This uni¬ 
formity of product, which European conditions will 
not allow, has enabled us to control the wholesale 
trade. We shall never be able to compete with Euro¬ 
pean fruit growers on fancy dessert fruit for a special 
market. But there is an opportunity for American 
enterprise to develop the European market for the 
staple varieties. They want Kieffer pear and Ben 
Davis apples. Let us send them a goodly portion. 
Blackberries, cranberries, field pumpkins and sweet 
potatoes are practically unknown in Europe. An effort 
is being made 
t o introduce 
our cranberries 
t o European 
tables. 
Spraying 
anti Packing. 
—A 11 h o u g h 
spraying took 
its rise in the 
Old World, we 
are far ahead of 
them in spray¬ 
ing fruit, with 
the possible ex¬ 
ception of the 
vine. Nearly 
all spraying in 
Europe is done 
with a knap- 
8 ack pump. 
Labor is so 
cheap that this 
is entirely prac¬ 
ticable. 
They have 
some curious 
fruit packages 
i n European 
markets. Rasp- 
berries are 
shipped in half 
barrels. Most 
of the raspber¬ 
ries are made 
into jam, how¬ 
ever, so this 
method is legit¬ 
imate after 
all. Strawber¬ 
ries are mar¬ 
keted in peck or half-peck baskets ; plums, currants, 
and gooseberries in half-bushel baskets. All fruit 
packages in Europe are returnable ; there are no gift 
crates, It costs English strawberry growers eight 
cents to pick 12 pounds of fruit. Raspberry pickers 
get one cent a pound. Fruit is shipped over 18 miles of 
English railway for $4 per ton, or 25 cents per barrel. 
Money for Education.— We have always felt that 
the man who tills the soil in America is superior in 
intelligence to the agricultural workers of any other 
country. We, also, are likely to think that our country 
is doing more to foster agriculture than any other. 
Let us see. In Italy, the cost per capita for govern¬ 
ment aid in agricultural education is 6 cents, Belgium 
6 cents, Prussia 16 cents, United States 6 cents, Den¬ 
mark 24 cents, France 24 cents. Outside of England, 
which has dona less for agricultural education than 
most other countries in the world, the European idea 
is that agriculture must be helped by two movements, 
A FLOCK OF NEW YORK STATE LAMBS THAT PAID A PROFIT. Fig. 33. See Page 101. 
