ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief study of the development of land use around the city of London up to the advent of the railways, go on to discuss the horticultural and dairying industries during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines the structure of imports of horticultural and dairy goods. An important attraction was the possibility of engaging in commercial agriculture for sale. London represented a sizable market for agricultural produce; communications were not good, with the consequence that carrying foodstuffs more than a few kilometres took much time; and certain kinds of produce were highly perishable. Transport services may be obtained from private or public companies for a cash payment, or they may be provided by the firm itself. Domestic supplies could have been enlarged, at least for a limited period, by exploiting forests even further removed from water transport, but the costs became too great.
