JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
September  28,  1899. 
268 
circumstances,  have  acted  otherwise  ?  also,  does  he  still  hold  the 
opinion  “nor  were  they  admissible  according  to  the  schedule?” — 
AV.  Crump,  Madreijidd  Court. 
[Though  the  majoritv  of  exhibitors  interpreted  the  conditions  in 
the  same  way  that  Mr.  Molyneux  did,  we  suspect  Mr.  Crump  is  right 
in  his  surmise  that  “  something ”  was  “ left  out.”  Had  the  familiar 
name  “  Muscat  of  Alexandria  ”  been  placed  before  “ Bowood  Muscat” 
in  the  second  line  of  the  third  paragraph  of  the  above  communication 
there  would  have  been  less  occasion,  or  no  occasion,  for  obtaining  a 
“solicitor’s  opinion,”  and  so  for  as  we  know  the  awards  of  the  Judges 
and  their  legal  adviser  gave  complete  satisfaction.] 
EXPANSION  OF  THE  HOTHOUSE  INDUSTRY. 
In  the  last  of  the  series  of  remarkable  and  exhaustive  articles  by 
Mr.  W.  E.  Bear  on  “Flower  and  Fruit  Farming  in  England,”  the 
above  subject  is  discussed  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society  of  England  (page  667,  part  ii.,  vol.  x.).  Mr.  Bear  has  been 
from  place  to  place,  seeing  for  himself  what  was  to  be  seen,  also 
gathering  facts  as  he  went  along.  As  it  would  be  useless  attempting 
a  digest  of  the  result  of  his  investigations,  and  as  the  subject  is  of 
considerable  interest  and  importance,  we  take  a  few  paragraphs  from 
his  report.  He  says: — 
“No  other  industry  connected  with  land  has  shown  such  great 
expansion  in  this  country  during  the  last  thirty  years,  and  especially 
during  the  last  twenty,  as  the  cultivation  of  fruit  and  flowers  under 
glass  for  market.  Thirty  years  ago  only  one  nurseryman  inCheshunt, 
Herts,  had  a  hothouse,  and  now  there  are  at  least  125  acres  covered 
with  glass  in  that  parish,  not  including  outside  borders  or  roadways  ; 
while  in  neighbouring  parishes  also  there  has  been  a  similar  increase. 
Four  brothers  in  the  district  have  at  least  90  acres  covered  with  glass, 
and  it  is  only  seventeen  years  since  they  started.  A  little  over  thirty 
years  ago  there  was  only  one  glass  house  in  Ponder’s  End,  near  Ches- 
hunt,  and  the  increase  is  said  by  one  nurseryman  to  be  a  thousandfold 
in  and  near  that  parish.  Similarly  at  Enfield,  Tottenham,  and  other 
places  in  the  neighbourhood  there  are  numerous  glass  house  nurseries, 
nearly  all  of  which  have  been  established  within  thirty  years,  and  the 
great  majority  within  twenty.  Even  in  Edmonton,  where  the  industry 
appears  to  have  started  as  soon  as  it  was  considerably  developed  any¬ 
where,  it  is  said  to  have  increased  tenfold  within  the  period  under 
notice.  In  Finchley,  where  one  nurseryman  has  191  acres  covered, 
he  started  only  twenty-one  years  ago,  and  there  was  no  glass  worth 
menti  ming  in  his  neighbourhood  then,  whereas  there  is  a  great 
expanse  besides  his  own  now.  Similarly  in  Whetstone  (where  the 
only  nursery  has  grown  from  a  small  to  a  large  one),  the  Thames 
valley,  Mitcham,  and  other  districts  around  London,  the  hothouse 
industry  Ins  expanded  from  an  insignificant  undertaking  to  a  vast 
business. 
“  Turning  to  Worthing,  in  Sussex,  it  appears  that  less  than  one 
acre  was  covered  with  glass  twenty-four  years  ago,  and  now  in  that 
district  there  are  at  least  50  acres  covered.  In  Swanley,  Erith, 
Belvedere,  Bexley  Heath,  and  other  parts  of  Kent,  again,  the  expansion 
has  been  remarkable  ;  and  the  great  majority  of  the  more  scattered 
glass  house  nurseries  of  the  provinces  generally  have  been  either 
started  or  greatly  expanded  within  twenty  years.  From  the  evidence 
collected  it  seems  safe  to  assert  that  there  were  not  100  acres  in  all 
England  covered  with  commercial  hothouses  thirty  years  ago  ;  whereas 
now  I  estimate  the  total  at  fully  1100  acres. 
“There  are  no  data  for  an  estimate  of  the  proportions  of  hot¬ 
house  space  devoted  to  fruit,  flowers,  and  vegetables  respectively. 
But,  as  an  immense  space  is  ma'nly  used  for  Grapes,  and  vegetables 
are  not  at  all  largely  grown  under  glass  in  this  country,  if  Cucum¬ 
bers  as  well  as  Tomatoes  be  classed  as  fruit,  as  both  are  botanicall.v, 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  greatly  preponderating  proportion  is 
devoted  to  fruit  as  their  chief  object,  though  flowers  are  forced  in 
a  large  number  of  fruit  houses  during  the  winter  and  early  spring, 
as  well  as  in  many  devoted  entirely  to  them. 
“It,  from  the  1100  acres  of  land  covered  with  glass,  350  acres 
be  deducted  for  flowers,  750  acres  remain  for  fruit  and  Cucumbers. 
Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  very  forge,  quantities  of  flowers  are 
raised  during  the  winter  and  early  spring  in  fruit  houses,  I  think 
that  350  acres  are  amply  sufficient  to  allow  for  flowers  alone.  Of 
the  750  acres  left,  350  acres  may  be  a'lotted  to  Grapes,  250  acres 
to  Tomatoes,  110  acres  to  Cucumbers,  and  50  acres  to  stone  fruit, 
Strawberries,  and  other  produce.  It  must  bo  borne  in  mind,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  areas  allowed  to  these  products  overlap  each  other,  as 
Tomatoes  are  grown  in  both  Grape  and  Cucumber  houses  to  a  large 
e  ctent ;  also  after  Strawberries. 
“  Supposing  that  Grapes  are  grown  on  350  acres,  let  us  see  what 
a  reasonable  estimate  of  yield  per  acre  wall  make  the  total  amount 
to.  One  grower  states  that  he  has  actually  produced  2  tons  of 
Graphs  in  a  home  160  leer  by  28  feet,  or  at  the  rate  of  19  tons 
8  cwt.  104  lb?,  per  acre.  This  wras  the  greatest  crop  he  ever  grew, 
and  his  usual  production  in  the  same  house  is  from  II  to  14  tons, 
equivalent  to  from  12  tons  3  cwt.  to  nearly  14  tons  Ilf  cwt.  per 
acre.  As  this  vinery  in  commonly  crowded  with  flowers,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  Vines,  these  ordinary  quantities  are  qrrobably  ex¬ 
ceeded  by  many  growers,  and  14  tons  per  acre  would  appear  to  be  no 
more  than  an  average  crop  for  a  vinery  in  full  bearing.  Another 
growrnr  last  year  produced  on  Yin  s  which  reached  only  about  halt¬ 
way  up  the  roof  23  cwt.  of  Grapes  in  a  house  160  feet  by  -21  feet, 
equivalent  to  14  tons  18  cwt.  per  acre,  a  great  crop  for  young  A  ines. 
A  very  extensive  grower  obtained  of  Gros  Colmans  7800  lbs.  from 
houses  measuring  526  feet  by  21  feet,  equivalent  to  13  tons  14  cwt. 
71  lbs.  per  acre.  A  good  crop  of  A1  cantos,  in  a  house  168  feet  bv 
22  feet,  weighed  2900  lbs.,  or  at  the  rate  of  15f  tons  per  acre.  A 
small  grower  produced  last  season  670  lbs.  of  Gros  Colmans  in  a  houre 
50  feet  by  164  feet,  or  at  the  rate  of  15  tons  15  cwt.  86  lbs. 
per  acre.  Lastly  may  be  mentioned  the  production  of  7  tons  in  a 
house  covering  a  little  less  than  one-third  of  an  acre  on  one  occasion, 
a  phenomenal  crop  equivalent  to  over  21  tons  per  acre.  Last  season, 
in  the  same  house,  5  t  ns,  or  15|  tons  per  acre,  wrere  expected. 
All  these  weights  are  those  of  either  the  Gros  Colman  or  the  Alicante 
variety. 
“judging  from  such  statements  of  actual  production  as  are  given 
above,  corroborated  by  less  precise  evidence  from  growers,  I  put 
14  tons  per  acre  as  an  average  yield  for  Vines  in  full  bearing.  Then, 
making  a  liberal  allowance  for  the  proportion  of  young  and  failing 
Vines,  I  take  12  tons  per  acre  as  the  average  production  of  the 
estimated  area  of  350  acres  under  AJnes,  making  a  total  of  4200  tons. 
“  In  houses  devoted  entirely  to  Tomatoes,  two  crops,  and  occasion¬ 
ally  three,  are  grown  in  a  year;  and,  as  already  stated,  they  are  also 
produced  extensively  in  vineries  and  Cucumber  houses.  It  appears  a 
modera'e  allowance,  therefore,  to  assume  that  one  crop  in  a  year  is 
grown  on  at  least  500  acres.  Estimates  of  the  yield  of  Tomatoes  vary 
greatly.  One  grower  has  obtained,  in  a  house  160  feet  by  28  feet, 
3  tons  as  a  fair  crop  and  4  tons  as  a  great  crop,  equivalent  to  from 
29  to  nearly  39  tons  per  acre.  These  quantities  may  appear  large; 
but  an  easy  calculation  will  show  that  they  are  not  impossible. 
There  are  43,560  square  feet  in  an  acre,  and  deducting  one-seventh 
for  pathways,  the  area  to  be  devoted  to  plants  would  be  37,337  square 
feet.  Now,  3  lbs.  per  plant  would  be  a  poor  crop,  and  6  lbs.  a  great 
one,  as  the  plants  are  usually  grown  in  large  houses — that  is,  to 
produce  only  four  trusses  of  fruit  each.  It  must  bo  explained  that 
when  Tomatoes  are  grown  iu  pots,  or  otherwise  when  a  second  crop  is 
to  be  produced  in  the  same  season  in  the  borders  of  a  house,  it  is 
usual  to  stop  the  plants  when  they  have  s?t  four  trusses  of  fruit.  In 
such  cases  3  lbs.  per  plant  would  be  a  p~or  first  crop,  and  5  lbs.  a 
good  one.  But  when  only  one  crop  in  a  season  is  grown,  the  plants 
being  allowed  to  run  up  to  the  roof  cf  the  hou-e,  6  lbs.  per  plant,  or 
even  more  as  a  great  crop,  may  be  produced.  Plants  are  often  set  in 
hothouses  14  foot  apart  each  way,  and  at  this  distance  there  would  be 
16,593  plants  to  the  acre.  In  most  ca^es  in  wide  house?,  however, 
there  are  short  paths  at  intervals  at  right  angles  to  the  main  path,  to 
enable  workmen  to  get  about  among  the  plants,  and  to  allow  air  to 
circulate  freely  among  them.  Frequently  the  plants  are  set  2  feet  by 
14  foot  apart,  in  which  case  there  are  12,446  plants  to  the  acre.  I 
propose,  then,  to  take  the  latter  number  in  estimating  the  average 
\  it  Id.  At  3  lbs.  per  plant  the  produce  per  acre  would  be  a  little  over 
I64  tons ;  at  4  lbs.  per  plant,  about  22{  tons ;  at  5  lbs.  per  plant, 
27f  tons;  and  at  6  lbs.  per  plant  over  33  tons. 
“Mr.  AV.  Neild,  who  has  charge  of  the  hothouses  at  the  Agricultural 
and  Horticultural  School,  Holmes  Cl  apel,  has  favoured  me  with 
details  of  the  produce  of  two  small  homes,  each  40  feet  by  12  leet. 
Only  two  rows  of  plants  were  grown  in  each  border,  or  four  rows  in 
each  house,  the  plants  being  1  foot  apart  in  the  rows.  The  plants, 
however,  were  trained  up  wires  in  single  stems  to  the  apex  of  each 
roof,  about  8  feet.  The  number  of  plants  in  the  two  houses  was  only 
232,  and  yet  they  yielded  1700  lbs.  of  fruit,  or  7  lbs.  5^  ozs.  per  plant, 
or  at  the  rate  of  nearly  344  t  ns  per  acre.  In  this  care  the  apparent 
loss  of  space  was  fully  made  good  by  the  height  to  which  each  plant 
could  be  trained,  owing  to  there  being  only  two  rows  in  each 
border.  Details  of  a  yield  much  greater  than  this,  on  land  fresh  to 
Tomatoes,  were  given  to  me  by  a  large  grower;  but  it  was  quite 
phenomenal. 
“  AVith  such  examples  as  are  given  above  in  view,  an  estimate  of 
20  tons  per  acre  as  an  average  crop  of  Tomatoes  must  be  considered 
moderate,  and  yet  this  yield  on  500  acres  would  make  a  total  of 
10,000  tons  as  the  annual  crop  grown  under  glass  in  England  and 
AVales,  no  account  being  taken  of  open  air  produce. 
“  Reduced  to  pounds,  which  are  more  suitable  denominations  than 
tons  for  such  products  as  Grapes  and  Tomabes,  my  estimates,  which 
I  believe  <0  be  well  within  the  mark,  are  9,408,000  lbs.  of  Grapes, 
and  22,400,000  lbs.  of  Tomatr  es.  The  quantities  of  Tomatoes  is  a 
subject  for  astonishment  when  the  shortness  of  the  period  during 
which  they  have  been  grown  commercially  in  this  country  is 
