The estimated selling value of the total production of crops grown in the 2,725 acres of glasshouses in England and Wales in 1925 was about £4,800,000. Tomatoes are by far the most important crop, nearly all the returns including some quantity of this crop. On the basis of the distribution of output as shown in the returns received, the yield of tomatoes in 1925 was estimated at about 47,000 tons, valued at £2,350,000; of cucumbers almost 50 millions, valued at £750,000; and of grapes 1,500,000 lbs., valued at £130,000; other fruit and vegetables being estimated at £250,000. Chrysanthemums, roses and carnations were valued at £200,000, £250,000 and £85,000 respectively, and including other cut flowers, bedding or decorative plants, &c., the estimated total value of flowers, etc., grown under glass was about £1,350,000. These are only approximate estimates and afford merely a rough indication of the importance of various crops grown under glass.

Information was also sought on the special inquiry forms regarding the numbers of workers employed in glasshouses and it seems probable that there is a total of roughly 18,000 workers regularly employed in glasshouses in England and Wales.

The average value of the output per acre as shown by the returns was £1,770, but there were appreciable variations from district to district. Essex and Hertford, which include the greater part of the Lea Valley area, had an average output of £1,890 per acre, and West Sussex, which includes the Worthing area, as much as £2,220. Middlesex returned £1,590 worth of produce per acre under glass, Kent £1,275 and Lancashire £1,625.

The cropping of glasshouses varied considerably in these districts. In Essex and Hertford about 60 per cent. of the total value of the output was in the form of tomatoes, 15 per cent. cucumbers and 15 per cent. flowers, mainly roses, leaving about 10 per cent. for other crops. In West Sussex about 20 per cent. of the value of the output was in the form of grapes, and 30 per cent. cucumbers, with less than 25 per cent. tomatoes. This area also had 15 per cent. of its output as flowers, the great bulk being chrysanthemums. Mushrooms and beans were also grown in appreciable quantities. Middlesex had about 40 per cent. of its output as tomatoes, about 15 per cent. cucumbers, 5 per cent. grapes, 5 per cent. forced vegetables, mint, etc., and 35 per cent. flowers and plants. The cropping in Kent was fairly similar to that of Middlesex, about 65 per cent. of the output being fruit and vegetables (tomatoes accounted for about 45 per cent., cucumbers 10 per cent., and grapes and strawberries about 5 per cent. each), and flowers and plants accounted for 35 per cent. Lancashire had the largest proportion of flowers of these counties, with 40 per cent., and plants accounted for 15 per cent., leaving only 45 per cent. for fruit and vegetables, of which tomatoes accounted for about 35 per cent., cucumbers 5 per cent. and lettuce 5 per cent.

(k) Crops grown for Seed.*

About 4,850 occupiers of holdings stated in their annual returns for 1925 that they were engaged in producing crops of seed for commercial purposes, but only 2,090 or 43 per cent. of these replied to the special inquiry sent out asking for particulars as to the crops so cultivated and the quantity and value of seed produced. The special returns received show an acreage of 23,426 acres of seed crops, 11,618 acres of which were red clover, while the largest acreages of clover and grass seeds otherwise returned were white clover 2,760 acres, cow grass, trefoil and wild white clover, each with between 900 and 1,000 acres, sainfoin with over 800 acres and rye grass with 450 acres. Among other seeds, the largest acreages were devoted to mangold (1,240 acres), turnips (800 acres), swedes (570 acres), mustard (1,020 acres) and kale (300 acres), while numerous other crops were grown for seed to a much smaller extent. The areas of mangold and of turnips and swedes grown for seed are greater than those mentioned in Part II of the Agricultural Statistics 1925, but these latter figures refer only to those returned by occupiers as " mangolds turnips and swedes" in their agricultural returns, and many occupiers return seed crops of this nature as other crops."

or

The total quantity of seed of the various kinds returned as produced amounted to about 81,000 cwt. of an aggregate value of £200,000. Making allowance for the growers of seed who failed to reply to the Ministry's inquiry, the total acreage of crops grown for seed may be put at approximately 50,000 acres and the value of the output at from £400,000 to £450,000. This compares with an estimate of 13,700 acres and a gross value of £132,000 in 1908, but in that year the returns of crops grown for seed appear to have been much less complete than those made in connection with the present inquiry.

(1) Nursery Stock.

From the estimates of crop reporters and special returns from growers of crops other than farm crops, it is estimated that the area of nursery stock is about 10,000 acres. Of this area, the special returns indicated that about 25 per cent. was used for the bringing on of young fruit trees and bushes and about 10 per cent. for growing rose bushes for sale, the remainder being nurseries for other trees, shrubs, etc. The total value of the output of nursery stock has been estimated at about £1,100,000.

(m) Osiers and Willows.

The crop reporters were asked to furnish estimates of the area of osiers and willows in their districts together with the average number of years which intervene between cuttings and

* Further information as to the growing of crops for seed is given in the Ministry's " Report on a Survey of the Principal Seed-growing Counties of England, Wales and Scotland."

the estimated quantity cut per acre at each cutting. The total area returned was 6,000 acres, of which over 50 per cent. was in the eight counties, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucester, Nottingham, Stafford, Lancashire, Berkshire and Suffolk. Very few osiers or willows seem to be grown in the northern division of England or in Wales. About three-fourths of the total area is reported to be cut over almost every year, the produce being used for basket making or for tying bundles of vegetables for market., &c. The average annual production of this nature is estimated at nearly 14,000 tons. The remainder of the area is cut approximately every seven or eight years, the produce being used in the main for fencing, stakes and hurdle making, and sometimes for crate making, the average annual production being about 2,500 tons.

These estimates do not include the willows which grow in many parts of the country alongside streams for which it is practically impossible to obtain information on which an estimate of the production could be based, nor do they include willows which are used for bat making and which will not be cut more often than about once in twenty years.