ere, that at Jersey, thirty-four men,
with one trained gardener only, cultivate thirteen acres under glass,
from which they obtain 143 tons of fruit and early vegetables, using for
this extraordinary culture less than 1,000 tons of coal.

And this is done now in Guernsey and Jersey on a very large scale, quite
a number of steamers constantly plying between Guernsey and London, only
to export the crops of the greenhouses.

Nowadays, in order to obtain that same crop of 500 bushels of potatoes,
we must plough every year a surface of four acres, plant it, cultivate
it, weed, it, and so on; whereas with the glass, even if we shall have
to give perhaps, to start with, half a day's work per square yard in
order to build the greenhouse--we shall save afterwards at least
one-half, and probably three-quarters of the yearly labour required
formerly.

These are _facts_, results which every one can verify himself. And these
facts are already a hint as to what man could obtain from the earth if
he treated it with intelligence.

V

In all the above we have reasoned upon what already withstood the test
of experience. Intensive culture of the fields, irrigated meadows, the
hot-house, and finally the kitchen garden under glass are realities.
Moreover, the tendency is to extend and to generalize these methods of
culture, because they allow of obtaining more produce with less work and
with more certainty.

In fact, after having studied the most simple glass shelters of
Guernsey, we affirm that, taking all in all, far less work is expended
for obtaining potatoes under glass in April, than in growing them in the
open air, which requires digging a space four times as large, watering
it, weeding it, etc. Work is likewise economized in employing a
perfected tool or machine, even when an initial expense had to be
incurred to buy the tool.

Complete figures concerning the culture of common vegetables under glass
are still wanting. This culture is of recent origin, and is only carried
out on small areas. But we have already figures concerning the fifty
years old culture of early season grapes, and these figures are
conclusive.

In the north of England, on the Scotch frontier, where coal only costs
3s. a ton at the pit's mouth, they have long since taken to growing
hot-house grapes. Thirty years ago these grapes, ripe in January, were
sold by the grower at 20s. per pound and resold at 40s. per pound for
Napoleon III.'s table. To-day t