University of Virginia Library

GROSS VALUE OF THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
SOLD ANNUALLY IN THE LONDON
STREETS.

To complete the present account of the coster-
monger's trade, we must now estimate the money
value of the fruit and vegetables disposed of by
them throughout the year. The money annually
spent in fish by the humbler portion of the me-
tropolitan population comes to, as we have seen,
very nearly one million five hundred thousand
pounds sterling — the sum laid out in fruit and
vegetables we shall find is but little more than a
third of this amount.

Green Fruit.

                                                   

377,500 bushels of apples, at six a penny or 4s. per bush. (288 to the bushel)	\cp\75,500
193,700 bushels of pears, at 5s. per bushel	48,400
1,215,360 lbs. of cherries, at 2d. per lb.	10,000
11,700 bushels of plums, at 1d. per half pint	6,270
100 bushels of greengages, at 1½d. per half pint	80
548 bushels of damsons, at 1½d. per half pint	430
2,450 bushels of bullace, at 1½d. per half pint	1,960
207,500 bushels of gooseberries, at 3d. per quart	83,000
85,500 sieves of red currants, at 1d. per pint (three half- sieves to the bushel)	15,300
13,500 sieves of black currants, at 1d. per pint (three half- sieves to the bushel)	2,400
3,000 sieves of white currants, at 1d. per pint (three half- sieves to the bushel)	530
763,750 pottles of strawberries, at 2d. per pottle	6,360
1,760 pottles of raspberries, at 6d. per pottle	40
30,485 pottles of mulberries, at 6d. per pottle	760
6,000 bushels of hazel nuts, at ¾d. per half pint	2,400
17,280 lbs. of filberts, at 3d. per lb.	200
26,563 lbs. of grapes, at 4d. per lb.	440
20,000 pine apples, at 6d. each	500
col	15,400,000 oranges, at two for 1d. #32,000
154,000 lemons, at two for 1d.	320
24,000 bushels of Spanish and Barcelona nuts, at 6d. per quart	19,200
3,000 bushels of Brazil nuts (1500 to the bushel), at fifteen for 1d.	\cp\1,250
6,500 bushels of chestnuts (1500 to the bushel), at fifteen for 1d.	2,700
24,000 bushels of walnuts (1750 to the bushel), at ten for 1d.	17,500
400,000 coker-nuts, at 3d. each	5,000
Total expended yearly in green fruit	\cp\333,420

Dry Fruit.

         

7,000 lbs. of shell almonds, at 20 a penny (320 to the lb.)	\cp\460
37,800 lbs. of raisins, at 2d. per lb.	300
24,300 lbs. of figs, at 2d. per lb.	200
4,800 lbs. of prunes, at 2d. per lb.	40
Total expended yearly on dry fruit	\cp\1,000

Vegetables.

                                     

60,500,000 lbs. of potatoes, at 5lbs. for 2d.	\cp\100,800
23,760,000 cabbages, at ½d. each	49,500
3,264,800 turnips, at 1½d. per doz.	1,700
601,000 carrots, at 2½d. per doz.	520
567,300 brocoli and cauliflowers, at 1d. per head	2,360
616,666 junks of turnip tops, at 4d. per junk	10,270
219,000 bushels of peas, at 1s. 6d. per bushel	16,420
8,890 bushels of beans, at 1s. 6d. per bushel	660
22,110 bushels of French beans, at 6d. per peck, or 2s. per bushel	2,210
25,608 vegetable marrows, at ½d. each	50
489 dozen bundles of aspara- gus, at 2s. 6d. per bundle (4d. or 6d. a doz. heads)	730
9,120 dozen bundles of rhubarb, at 2s. 6d. per doz	1,140
4,350 dozen bundles of celery, at 3d. per bundle	650
561,602 lettuces, at 3 a penny	780
13,291 dozen hands of radishes, at 3 bunches for 1d., and 6 bunches to the hand	1,330
499,530 bushels of onions, at 4s. per bushel	99,900
10,920 bushels of cucumbers, at 1d. each (60 to the bush.)	2,730
3,290 dozen bundles of herbs, at 3d. a bundle	490
Total expended yearly in vegetables	\cp\292,240

Putting the above sums together we have the
following aggregate result: —

       

Expended yearly in green fruit	\cp\333,420
Expended yearly in dry fruit	1,000
Expended yearly in vegetables	292,000
Gross sum taken annually by the Lodon costermongers for fruit and vegetables	\cp\626,420

Then adding the above to the gross amount
received by the street-sellers of fish, which
we have before seen comes to as much as
£1,460,850, we have for the annual income of
the London costermongers no less a sum than
£2,087,270.