London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 1

by Henry Mayhew

It is very difficult to form a calculation as to the extent of this trade. The best informed give me reason to believe that the sale of all these branches (apart from Christmas) ranges, according to circumstances, from 30l. to 50l., the cost being the labour of gathering, and the subsistence of the labourer while at the work. This is independent of what the costers buy in the markets.

---

I now show the quantity of branches forming the street trade:—

Holly	59,040	bunches
Mistletoe	56,160	„
Ivy and Laurel	26,640	„
Lilac	5,400	„
Palm	1,008	„
May	2,520	„
Total number of bunches sold in the streets from market-sale	150,768
Add to quantity from other sources	75,000
	225,768

The quantity of branches “from other sources” is that gathered by the costers in the way I have described; but it is impossible to obtain a return of it with proper precision: to state it as half of that purchased in the markets is a low average.

I now give the amount paid by street-buyers who indulge in the healthful and innocent tastes of which I have been treating—the fondness for the beautiful and the natural.

CUT FLOWERS.
Bunches of		per bunch
65,280	Violets	at ½d.		£136
115,200	Wallflowers	„ ½d.		240
86,400	Mignonette	„ 1d.		360
1,632	Lilies of the Valley	„ ½d.		3
20,448	Stocks	„ ½d.		42
316,800	Pinks and Carnations	„ ½d.	each	660
864,000	Moss Roses	„ ½d.	„	1,800
864,000	China ditto	„ ½d.	„	1,800
296,640	Lavender	„ 1d.		1,236
	Total annually			£6,277

FLOWER ROOTS.
		per root
24,000	Primroses	at	½d.	£60
34,560	Polyanthuses	„	1d.	144
28,800	Cowslips	„	½d.	50
33,600	Daisies	„	1d.	140
46,080	Wallflowers	„	1d.	192
28,800	Candy-tufts	„	1d.	120
28,800	Daffodils	„	½d.	60
38,400	Violets	„	½d.	80
30,380	Mignonette	„	½d.	63
23,040	Stocks	„	1d.	96
19,200	Pinks and Carnations	„	2d.	160
3,456	Lilies of the Valley	„	1d.	14
12,960	Pansies	„	1d.	54
660	Lilies	„	2d.	5
850	Tulips	„	2d.	7
7,704	Balsams	„	2d.	64
3,180	Calceolarias	„	2d.	26
253,440	Musk Plants	„	1d.	1,056
11,520	London Pride	„	1d.	48
25,595	Lupins	„	1d.	106
9,156	China-asters	„	1d.	38
63,360	Marigolds	„	½d.	132
852	Dahlias	„	6d.	21
13,356	Heliotropes	„	2d.	111
1,920	Poppies	„	2d.	16
6,912	Michaelmas Daisies	„	½d.	14
	Total annually			£2,877

BRANCHES.
Bunches of		per bunch
59,040	Holly	at 3d.	£738
56,160	Mistletoe	„ 3d.	702
26,640	Ivy and Laurel	„ 3d.	333
5,400	Lilac	„ 3d.	67
1,008	Palm	„ 3d.	12
2,520	May	„ 3d.	31
Total annually from Markets			£1,883
Add one-half as shown			591
			£2,474