• GIANUINI1.14- A4RI ATION CULTURAL O'Pr NOMICt LIBRAR UNIVERSITY OF 1READING Department of Agricultural Economics THE HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRY of MIDDLESEX BY L. G. BENNETT, Ph.D. MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES No. 7 PRICE 10/- Issued December, 1952 UNIVERSITY OF READING Department of Agricultural Economics THE HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRY of MIDDLESEX BY L. G. BENNETT, Ph.D. MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES No. PRICE 10/- Issued December, 1952 CONTENTS Page ••• ••• 5 •• • •• • ••• FOREWORD .. • • • ••• ••• ••• PART I. HISTORICAL SURVEY I Origins ... ••• ••• ••. ••• ...• .•• ... ... 6 II Development up to the end of the 18th century ••• ••• ••• 8 III Development during the 19th`century ... •• • • 10 IV Development in the 20th century- ••• ••• •.• ••• ••• ... 13 V Statistical evidence... .•. •• ••• ••. ••• ••• .•• 15 VI Labour and wages ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 20 VII Land tenure •• •• •• •• ••• • • . • . .. 24 VIII Marketing ... .•• ••• •• ••• •• .. 28 PART II. CONTEMPORARY SURVEY I Size in terms of acreage ... .•• ••• ••• ••• ••. • 35 II Geographical distribution and types of production ••• ••• ••• 37 III Size in terms of capital ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 41 IV Size in terms of labour ••• . •• •• ••• ••• ••• 46 V Specialist market garden businesses .•• ••• •• • ••• 48 VI Specialist glasshouse businesses • •• • ••• •• ••• ••• 50" VII Non-specialist businesses ... • • 52 VIII Present-day tenure ... 54 IX Marketing ... ... • •• • 57 X Management • ••• • • ••• • • 61 XI Summary and conclusions •• .• • ••• • 65 St ATISTICAL APPENDIX ., • • •• . 67 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Changes in the number engaged in horticulture in Middlesex 1841-1931 ... ••• 16 2 Changing acreage of horticulture in 3 groups of parishes in Middlesex 1872-1947 19 3 Weekly wage rates for adult male workers in horticulture in Middlesex 1798-1947 22 4 Summary of the data on rent of horticultural land in Middlesex 1600-1947 ... 27 5 Summary of the data on freehold values of horticultural land in Middlesex 1883- 1939 ... ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 28 6 Distribution of 490 horticultural businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of land per business ... ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 35 7 Distribution of 490 horticultural businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of glasshouses per business ... ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 36 8 Distribution of 490 horticultural businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of frames per business ... ••• •.• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 37 9 Geographical distribution of horticultural land, glasshouses and frames in Middlesex in 1947 ••. ••• ••• •.• .•• ••. ••1 •••, . ••• 38 10 Relative importance of different types of production in Middlesex horticulture in 1947 ... ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••. ••• ••• ••• ••• 41 11 Capital invested in Middlesex horticulture in 1947 ... ••• ••• ••. ••• 45 12 Distribution of tenants' capital in the horticultural industry of Middlesex in 1947 45 13 Number of workers per business in Middlesex horticulture in 1947 ••• ••• 48 14 Distribution of 102 specialist market garden businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of land per business ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 49 15 Distribution of 166 specialist glasshouse businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of glasshouses per business ••• ••• ••. ••• ••• ••• 51 .., ' 16 Distribution of 179 non-specialist horticultural businesses in Middlesex in 1947,by acreage of land per business ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 52 17 Distribution of 179 non-specialist horticultural businesses in Middlesex in 1947 by acreage of glasshouses per business ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 53 18. Tenure of 561 agricultural and horticultural holdings in Middlesex in 1933 ..• 55 19 Distribution of the main forms of horticultural production in Middlesex by types of business organisation in 1947 ... ••• ••• ••• ••• •.• ••• 62 ILLUSTRATIONS Location of hbrticultural holdings in Middlesex in 1754 9 Location of horticultural holdings in Middlesex in 1862-71 14_ Location of horticultural holdings in Middlesex in 1947... 14 1872-1947 ..- . , 19 Changes in the location of horticulture,- Strawberry woman 1805 ..• 32 Market van 1860 ... ., facing p. 34 Tractor-drawn van 1900 . facing p. 35 Improved tractor-drawn van 1910 ... ... facing p. 35 The Parishes of Middlesex . •• .1 39 FOREWORD The development of the London region has been a subject for much study and enquiry by social scientists but almost always their approach has been from the point of view of urban and industrial interests. From Stow to Abercrombie the majority of the works dealing with the London region have been the result of some social or town planning enquiry.' Two exceptions to this line of approach must, however, be noted. The agricultural aspect of Middlesex was dealt with by John Middleton in 1798 in his View of the Agriculture of Middlesex. In this report Middleton stresses the importance of hay-making and horticulture in the farming systems of the county and for over 100 years the report has been a monument to an industry coming ever more under the domination of urban interests. Then in 1936 the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain published E. C. Willatts' report Middlesex and the London Region. This work was carried out largely from a geographer's point of view but it is a notable contribution to the knowledge of the relationship between the physical features of the country- side and the form of land utilisation. The present report is again concerned with the rural aspect of Middlesex and the London region. It is limited, however, to a consideration of the horticultural industry of the area, how the industry was established, the forces which have moulded its development and its present importance. In making this study I received much help and encouragement from Pro- fessor Edgar Thomas and I wish to acknowledge that help with my grateful thanks. I also wish to thank Mr. J. Hardy, Assistant Agricultural Officer to the Middlesex Agricultural Executive Committee, for drawing my attention to certain official records and for allowing me to make use of his intimate knowledge of contemporary horticulture in Middlesex. Mr. E. W. Lobjoit gave freely of his long experience as a grower in the London region and provided much useful material for study and for this help I am most grateful. Lastly, I wish to thank Dr. E. C. Willatts and the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain for permission to reproduce the maps showing the location of horti- cultural holdings in Middlesex in 1754 and in 1862-71 given in Part 79 of the Land of Britain series. L.G.B. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Reading. 1952. 1. The most notable works from the urban viewpoint have been the following:— John Stow. A Survey ofLondon, 1598. Henry Mayhew. London Labour and the London Poor, 1861. Charles Booth. Life and Labour of the People ofLondon, 1902. Thomas Adams and Longstreth Thompson. West Middlesex Regional Planning Scheme, 1924. Adams, Thompson & Fry. North Middlesex Regional Planning Scheme, 1928. H. Llewellyn Smith. New Survey ofLondon Life and Labour, 1931. Douglas H. Smith. Industries of Greater London, 1933. J. H. Forshaw & Leslie Patrick Abercrombie. County of London Plan, 1943. Leslie Patrick Abercrombie. Greater London Plan, 1944. PART HISTORICAL SURVEY I. ORIGINS Horticulture•in the London region has had its commercial side from very early times. The Domesday Survey records that eight cottars in the manor of Fulham grew vegetables and Johnson, one of the historians of English gardening, states that they were grown "to supply the public demand-1. We also have no less an authority than Clapham for the statement that forty cottagers at Westminster paid 40s. for their gardens at the time of the Survey in 10862. Indeed, for close on 350 years after the Norman Conquest vegetables had an important place in the diet. Langland and Chaucer, for instance, referred to vegetables and herbs as if they formed the staple diet of the poor3. It would probably be safe to say that up to the closing years of the 14th century there was a close connection between the acreage of land devoted to horticultural crops (whether for sale or not) and the size of the population of London. There followed, however, a period extending from about the end of the 14th century to the closing decades of the 16th century during which the consumption of vegetables reached a low. ebb. Various reasons have been put forward to account for this decline in vegetable consumption4 but the fact that it did take place at once throws into prominence the re-establishment of vegetable growing which occurred towards the end of the 16th century. The re-establishment of vegetable growing in the 16th century took place initially outside the London region. This was due partly to an accident of geography and partly to expediency. The situation which existed at that time can readily be seen by examining the works of contemporary or near contemporary writers and the main features only are given here. During the reign of Henry VIII only very small quantities of vegetables were grown in England and the greater part of the supplies which were con- sumed came from the Continent. Even though. for most of the population vegetables of all kinds were -great wonders we having few or none in England but what came from Holland or Flanders"5 vegetables had come to take a place once more in the diet. The closing decades of the 16th century saw a rise in the religious persecu- tion of protestants on the Continent and Huguenot and Fleming refugees, many of them skilled gardeners, settled around Sandwich in Kent. One of the