2 - The Gardener and the Garden

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2. THE GARDENER AND THE GARDEN

This section serves two main purposes. In the first place it indicates the increase in the number of gardens growing fruit and or vegetables since the war began, and in the second place it indicates the degree to which the production of vegetables is concentrated in a small proportion of gardens.

The Gardener

Informants were asked who was mainly responsible for the garden, and their answers were tabulated in seven groups.

	%
Husband of the house wife	62
Housewife	18
Male Children	3
Female Children	2
Other Males	4
Other Females	7
Paid Gardener only	3
Unclassified	1
Sample	1,419

Thus 4/5 of all gardens growing fruit and/or vegetables are cultivated by the housewife and her husband,while 3/4 of all gardeners are man.

The same informants of all growing fruit and/or vegetables are cultivated by the housewife and her husband, while before the war or not.

	%
Fruit and/or Vegetables grown pre-war as well as 1944	67
Fruit and/or Vegetables grown since the war only	30
Unclassified	3
Sample	1,419

8%of the sample had not had a garden before the war. This leaves 22% who had had a garden before the war and not growing fruit and/or vegetables has increased by a quarter since the war began.

There are some differences between gardeners who grow vegetables or fruit before the war as well as now and gardeners who have only grown either since the war began.

	Gardeners growing fruit or veg. before the war	Gardeners growing fruit or veg since the war
	%	%
Vegetables and fruit grown	66	51
Vegetables only grown	29	45
Fruit only grown	4	3
Sample	947	428

44 households were unclassified as pre-war or war-time.

These figures seem to indicate that war-time gardeners have been most concerned with vegetable production, since those with immature fruit trees were counted as fruit growers.

There are also urban and rural differences.

	Urban		Rural
	No.	%	No.	%
Vegetables and fruit grown	609	56	256	78
Vegetables only grown	414	38	66	20
Fruit only grown	66	6	8	2
Sample	1,089	100	330	100

The Garden

Analyses were made of the kind of garden attached to each house where fruit and/or vegetables were. grown or livestock kept,

	%
Front garden only	3
Back garden only	28
Back and front garden	55
Garden all round	13
Sample	1,466
Households with backyards only	54

An attempt was made to measure the area given over to vegetables in each garden. Considerable difficulty was experienced because of the haphazard arrangement of vegetables in many gardens, but out of 1, 345 gardens growing vegetables approximate measurements were obtained for 1,207 + . A distribution by area follows.

[3] Three gardens with more than one acre under vegetables were excluded from these calculations to avoid overlapping with official returns.

Area given over to vegetables		No. of gardens	%	%
1-	9 square yards	203	15	41
10-	19 square yards	104	8
20-	29 square yards	91	7
30-	39 square yards	79	6	15
40-	49 square yards	61	5
50-	59 square yards	43	3
60-	69 square yards	52	4
70-	79 square yards	41	3
80-	89 square yards	44	3
90-	99 square yards	33	2
100-	199 square yards	207	15	15
200 -	299 square yards	89	7	7
300 -	399 square yards	46	3	3
400 -	499 square yards	34	3	3
500-	999 square yards	49	4	4
1,000-	4,840 square yards	31	3	3
Don’t know		99	7	7
Unclassified		36	3	3
Over 1 acre		3
Sample		1,345	100	100

This distribution is J shaped, that is to say, the higher frequencies are in the lower class intervals, and, therefore, the average is not a good measure of central tendency. Only a third of all cases are to to be found in higher class intervals than that in which the average of 161 sq. yds. falls. Although the average is the most convenient measurement to use, this qualification should be taken into account in considering any calculations derived from it.

The total area given over to vegetables, 194, 871 sq. yd. in this sample was found from the addition of the actual figures on each recording schedule. In calculating the standard deviation adjustments were made in the mid-values of each group to reduce the amount of error likely to result from the width of the class intervals and to make the number of square yards cultivated add up to the right total.

The standard deviation on the average of 161 sq. yds. was found to be 310 sq.yds. and the standard error 9 sq. yds. It is probable, therefore,that the average area bearing vegetables is between 143 and 179 sq.yds.

One point of considerable importance is made by the table on area. Areas of over 100 sq. yds. given over to vegetables comprise 87% of the total area,and are cultivated by only 32% of all gardeners. Similarly, areas of over 500 sq. yds. comprise, 45% of the total area but are cultivated by only 7% of all gardeners. It is clear, therefore, that the bulk of vegetables is grown by a relatively small number of gardeners. This raises the question of how far the value of privately grown vegetables as a national asset is depleted by difficulties of distribution of surplus produce. A question on this point could very well be included in any future inquiry into the production of vegetables from private gardens.

Area under Glass Greenhouses +

147 gardens out of 1,416 cultivating less than one acre of vegetables, or 11% had greenhouses in use. Of this 147, 89% had one greenhouse, 9% had two greenhouses, and 2% had three greenhouses. The average area under glass was 120 sq.ft.

[4] Details of the produce of greenhouses and frames are given in Appendix 3.

Frames

121 gardens out of 1,416,or 9%, had frames in use. 80% had one frame only,12% had two, and eight per cent. between three and nine. The average area under glass was 38 sq. feet.

Regional and Economic Analyses

13% of the gardens in the Southern region had greenhouses or frames in use, compared with 27% of the gardens in the Northern regions.

12% of the economic groups with less than £5 weekly had greenhouses or frames in use, compared with 27% of these with more than £5 weekly.

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