Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-09-11
Market Gardening about Paris.


The gardens about Paris furnish the
early asparagus, lettuce and carrots, both
from without and even from within the
walls of the metropolis of the world
beautiful Paris. And round about her
walls are the beautiful gardens, nowhere
else equaled or even approached. Our adj
miration increases while we observe the
extent and blessedness of this city garden
ing. Admiration cannot be Justly with
held Ten thousand persons find lucra-
tive employment in these gardens. OF
these the gardeners and their families COM
pose One-quarter. The wives, sons and
daughters are employed. The wife general
ly markets the vegetables. All sorts of
truck conveyances are employed in the
work. Horses and truck wagons, mules
and carts, dOnkeys and carts of huge pro-
portions. Men, women and children buy
of the gardeners and sell at stands or from
house to house. In the early morning
there are thousands of street stands all
over Paris where garden truck is sold up
to an appointed hour. When this hour ar
rives every vestige of litter must be re-
moved, so that the passer-by would not be
aware that thriving business in market
ing has been carried on in the clean streets
of Paris. Should cupidity or temerity at
tempt to prolOng the market hour, the po-
lice would drive the offenders away, or if
tardy or Obstreperous arrest them. Women
who have small lot left, and are too anX-
ious to sell out, frequently get into trouble.
do not think that French marketwomen
or fishwOmen differ much from those of
similar occupations elsewhere, Women
are not more prompt to obey the law than
men, and they are less tolerant of re-
straint.
OF the thousands who toll early and late
in the gardens around Paris, men, women,
boys and girls, the men are the smaller
number, the women next, and the boys
and girls together make up fully one-quar-
ter of the whole number. The rents of
land are high; and as elsewhere, the near
er the centres of traffic and fashionable
quarters, proportionately dear. 1t is est-
mated to be worth 500 to $3.50 per acre.
At these prices Americans could not be
induced to invest in it, even for gardening,
but it pays. These high prices include the
garden plant-a well, pumping machinery
and tanks. Hothouses are not to any
great extent included in the garden rates.
Ordinarily, the size of the gardens sur
rounding Paris is an acre and a half each.
The largest do not exceed two and a half
acres, The plant to carry on the business
of the smaller gardens costs from $1,000 to
$1,000. There must be 80 glasses for strik-
ing cuttings, 500 glazed frames, 800 large
bell-glasses, 700 to 800 straw mats 800
blocks for the frames and glasses, besides
the spades, hoes, rakes, barrOws, baskets
for marketing, a horse and cart well APP
paratus, and a thousand and one other
necessares to run the garden profitably.
The straw mats are made to roll up, as
III
over the frames at night. This constant
handling occasions an enormous wear and
tear. But for the ample supply of long
and strong straw, their expense would be
far greater. Dat straw in France ranges
| from three to four feet long; wheat straw
from four to five feet, and rye straw often
reaches II feet. have nowhere seen such
| long and heavy straw; nor have | seen it
used with such profusion to bed cattle and
| horses. The straw mat manufacture gives
| employment to children. women and to old
and decrepit men. The by-product of
straw is the result of the thorough beet
culture
| have given the most trustworthy esti-
mates | could obtain. This was difficult,
| for though every gardener could tell exact
| ly the number and cost of the articles used
| by himself, he could not give much infor-
nation outside of his own business. The
French gardeners are not statisticians.
One weeks training in our grand agricult-
ural department by j. II. Dodge would
send the whole generation of them to the
lunatic asylum. Statisticians have to be
born with the gift, and then go through a
laborious course of training. The proba-
BILE value of the garden plant in and around
Paris exceeds S2,OO0,00O. The expense of
repair and maintenance averages from $500
to 500, or even more, on an ordinary gar
den plot. Our truck farmers on Long
Island perform creditable work and secure
fair returns for their labor, but our garden
ers around New York get far more per
acre. But the French gardeners use three
times as much perfectly rotted manure and
enormous quantities of fertilizers, and per-
form almost incredible labor upon the little
patches of land, from which two, three
and even four crops are forced from the
fat soil every year. Stable manure from
horses, cattle and sheep, and Peruvian
guano from far-off South America, besides
mari and chemical fertilizers, are used
with profuson. The faith of the garden
er is marvellous. He places implicit faith
in his hands, his garden and his God; yet,
like other Christians his bitter eXecratiOns
against rain and frost are not strongly
tinctured with piety. The total annual
cost of manures for the Paris gardens can
not be far from half a million dollars.
The regular laborers in these gardens
earn about 40 cents per day, with board
and lodging. Expert hands get something
more. The average cost will be 10 to sc
cents per day. Farm or garden labor is
far cheaper than with us; but nearly all
labor is of better quality in France.
Though generally ignorant in art, science,
literature, geography, etc, the French la
borer is educated to his calling infinitely
above those of similar pursuits in America
Cor. ". Y. Tribune.
At no period can seed corn be selected
hotter than now as Won can observe the