In Cornwall, in 1908, the number of agricultural holders above one acre
but not exceeding five was 2859; of those above five and not exceeding
50, there were 6810. Of those above 50 and not exceeding 300 acres there
were 3682, but of those holding more than 300 acres there were but 118,
whereas in Essex there were 564, in Suffolk 540, in Hampshire 595, in
Wiltshire 660 and in Northumberland 731.
Of late years, especially in the Scilly Isles, flower gardening, the
growth of narcissus, jonquils, daffodils, and various sorts of lilies,
also of violets, anemones, and marguerites, has been carried on with
great success, and the produce is carried by steamer and train to London
and other large towns.
During six months in the year, when and where the flower culture
prevails, it forms the staple of conversation in parsonage, manor house,
farm, and cottage. From January until May men, women, and children are
directly or indirectly engrossed in this one labour. The bulbs are moved
at least once in three or four years. Left longer, they decrease in
size, and become weakly; the flowers also degenerate. A suitable manure
is at hand, the kelp washed up by the sea costing nothing but the labour
of gathering and transporting.
[Illustration: Flower Farming, Scilly]
Anyone standing in a field which is in full bloom and waiting to be
picked over, would think that the men have a hopeless task to face, if
they purpose gathering all their flowers. But they move down the beds
swiftly, snapping the stems, and throwing the flowers into big baskets,
which are carried off to the homestead as they fill, and in an
incredibly short time the beds are thinned. When the baskets are brought
into the farmhouse they are emptied, and if the weather has been wet and
stormy the flowers are packed roughly into pots and pans of every
description, and set on shelves to dry off and assume their proper
colour. If the weather has been fine this preliminary toilet is
dispensed with, and the girls and women bunch and tie at once. Twelve
stems go to a bunch always, and the aim is to arrange the flowers so
that they shall present a compact lozenge shape, crisp and tight.
Varieties are never mixed when tied, the bunches are passed on to
another department, where the uneven stems are sliced off, and the
flowers set in water to await packing.
Packing the flowers is a serious business. The boxes are lined with
paper, little pillows are made for the flowers to rest upon, and then
the bunches are deftly laid, so many this way, so many that, and a few
in the centre, and behold, stems are altogether hidden, and only a mass
of bloom fills the box. The end papers are turned in, a ticket placed on
the top, declaring the variety of flower and the number of bunches; the
cover is nailed down, and the operation is complete.
=15. Industries and Manufactures.=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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