THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Mat 25, 1858. 
| Low the public would be served, if they were dependent 
I upon one producer, who cropped upon the market- 
I garden principle, and had not an almost unlimited com- 
! man d of ground. The market is kept somewhat regu¬ 
larly supplied, because there are many hundreds of 
I producers, and these are placed in a vast variety of 
circumstances, as respects position, soil, climate, &c. A 
gentleman walks through Co vent Garden in April and 
! May, and grumbles that he does not have abundance 
of such things in his garden, in Yorkshire. Did it 
never strike him, that if such things were not forced, 
that they came from France, from Belgium, Holland, 
! Algiers, the Isle of Wight, or the comparative hotbeds 
of Devonshire and Cornwall ? Would not even “ Fair 
Play ” be induced to give more just consideration to 
the efforts of his gardener, and his mode of cropping 
too, when, without clearing large breadths of ground at 
a time, he yet, by successional cropping, kept his table 
almost as well supplied from a small piece of ground, 
I as it could be from Covent Garden, that obtains its 
j supplies, not from parishes, nor even counties, but from 
kingdoms ? A sufficiently continuous supply, but not 
j enough to go to waste, must be the aim of the gentle- 
j man’s gardener; and this he can only obtain by a 
| numberless succession of crops, and that, too, by fre- 
| quently cropping more closely than even market- 
I gardeners. 
3. Covent Garden as a standard of value. —It is 
rather a singular circumstance, that though I have 
met with many gentlemen, whom it pleased to speak 
of their garden as an expensive hobby or plaything, 
and who could expatiate on the cheapness and economy 
with which an establishment could be supplied in the 
London season, from Covent Garden—so cheap that 
it was not worth while to have things sent from the 
country—yet I have never known of an instance, in 
which a season’s trial did not lead to different practical 
conclusions, and the honouring of the country garden, 
if at all within reasonable distance, as the medium for 
metropolitan supply. Covent Garden, with its prices, 
is no enemy to the gentleman’s gardener. I have 
known gentlemen eat their new Potatoes in April, and 
their dishes of Strawberries in March and April, 
purely as a matter of course, just as they would do in 
June; that looked upon their gardener rather dif¬ 
ferently, after giving a London party in the beginning 
of April, and paying 3.s*. per pound for Potatoes, 
2s. 6d. per ounce for a pound of Strawberries, 3 a*. for a 
hundred of Beans, 3s. for a Cucumber, other things in 
proportion, and next to their weight in gold for some 
choice bouquets, that he had previously thought would 
be worth so much copper, or a little silver at farthest. 
Much mutual annoyance to employer and employed 
would be removed, were it thoroughly comprehended, 
that mere high keeping, neatness, trimness, well rolled, 
comfortable walks, and smooth, carpet lawns, cannot 
be estimated by money value, except by a strict ac¬ 
count of the latter, &e., employed. All who are so 
unhappily constituted, as to receive no real value for 
their outlay, from the pleasure of beholding and en¬ 
joying such things, should just come to the conclusion 
entirely to dispense with them ; if they wish to draw a 
comparison between the money value of the products 
of their garden, as tested by the London market. It 
is evident, that neither “ Economicus,” nor “ Look 
Sharp,” nor, probably, “Fair Play,” have been 
gifted with a love of flowers; and, therefore, why 
should they have them, unless they can turn them into 
money. Perhaps that consideration might create an 
interest. I recollect a case, where a gentleman in 
the country merely tolerated flowers because he saw 
his gardener was fond of them. He never imagined 
they could be worth anything to anybody. He, how¬ 
ever, got cured of that idea. He took a house in 
119 | 
London for three months. A little closet, nearly all 
fronted with glass, abutted on the principal sitting- | 
room ; and, to be in the fashion, that little place was 
supplied with flowering plants for about nine weeks, 
by a neighbouring nurseryman ; and the bill, which, 
after due examination, was found to be reasonable and 
proper, was over fifty pounds. His “loves for the 
flowers ” might remain as before, but he was forced to 
admit that they possessed even a money value. 
Taking Covent Garden prices as a standard of 
value, even in connection with the principle, that “ the j 
value of a thing is just the money it will bring,” will 
not prevent gardeners and their employers debating as 
to the value to be agreed upon. It is well known that 
selling and buying are very different transactions. The 
gentleman who buys a rarity at Covent Garden, need 
not expect that his gardener will receive anything like 
that amount when he sells. Hence he is apt to contend, 
that the estimated value of a certain thing in his own 
garden, ought just to be what his gardener can get for 
it from another person, or from the public market 
salesman. The gardener, on the other hand, argues 
that his employer ought to allow what he would have 
to pay if he went to purchase. Considering that the 
employer must have some payment or return, in the 
way of pleasure, in looking at his things, I incline to 
agree with the gardener; but, perhaps, strict justice 
would require a medium regulation in the way of 
compromise. 
I regret I cannot give such definite answers to 
“ Pro Bono Publico,” as I would wish, and ex¬ 
pected to do; as I have had little opportunity of no¬ 
ticing such matters for a number of years. With full 
opportunity, however, I could give no more than a 
general approximation; as even the prices in London 
depend on the weather, the prevalence of parties, &c., or 
in other words, the demand and the supply. With one 
general exception, however, to which I will presently 
allude, it may be laid down as a rule, that the value 
of ice, of which he speaks, and the value of flowers, 
and other garden produce, will be in an inverse ratio 
to each other; the ice being dearest in the finest 
weather in summer, and the produce of the garden 
then the cheapest. For instance, in winter, and the 
early spring months, 5s. per cwt. would be an average 
price for rough, common ice, and Is., or 1*’. 6d., more for 
block ice, such as that now brought in such quantities 
from the American Lakes. We should expect to pay 
much more in July and August—in very hot weather. 
On the other hand, the earlier vegetables, fruits, and j 
flowers are obtained, the more valuable they are. We 
do not know the size of the small basket referred to. 
A friend of ours sends a box frequently to Covent 
Garden—say, 2 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 8 or 10 
inches deep—firmly packed with such flowers as those 
alluded to, and perhaps a few Pinks, and some trusses 
of Stephanotis ; and after defraying carriage, &c., the 
dealers generally allow from 25s. to 30s. Of course, 
a gentleman purchasing would have to pay more than 
the double of that money; as florists must live, and 
pay rates and taxes, and find skill and taste for the 
making the most of flowers after they obtain them. 
When I used to be about London, flower dealers used 
to give to nurserymen and growers about 12s. per dozen 
for Camellia blooms, for rather more than three 
months of the year. Good Roses would bring as 
much, and so would a truss of Stephanotis bloom, and 
Heaths and Azaleas in proportion. As the days 
lengthened, the value of the flowers decreased. Our 
friend, who sent fine Rose buds, and Cloves, and Pinks, 
and Carnations, and some extras from the stove, in 
the shape of Passion Flowers, &c., in June and July, 
could not obtain more than half of that allowed in 
March and April. j 
