THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



499 



and every Eiaii of common sense must feel, tliat it is 

 as important to the farmer to have his regular men at 

 work, at all times, as it is to the manufacturer or trades- 

 man, and that the business of the farm could not be 

 carried on without such regularity. I rcgjrd it, then, 

 as a fatal error for the labourer to follow any pursuit 

 that would at all interfere with the claim of his employer 

 upon him ; for, be it remembered, that it is upon hired 

 labour that the working man must chiefly depend for 

 his subsistence ; and any scheme that has a tendency to 

 interfere with this, his chief capital, must very shortly 

 end in disappointment and distress; but any plan that 

 can be devised which will improve his condition, with- 

 out interfering with his free labour, must be hailed as 

 a gnat boon. Such, I believe, the allotment system 

 properly managed to be. That there always have been, 

 and that there always will be, men to raise themselves 

 by their own industry above their original position, no 

 one can deny ; nor would any man of common justice 

 and generous feeling attempt to prevent such an occur- 

 rence ; but such men have always risen gradualbj, and 

 not at once jumped from the one state to the other. 

 Wherever a man shows himself superior to his fellows 

 in intelligence, skill, or application, he will be sure to 

 push himself, and by obtaining higher wages, the natural 

 result of his superiority, gradually improve his position. 

 And it often happens that such men, after saving a 

 little money, are assisted by their former employers, 

 or by others who have watched their career, in accom- 

 plishing the object of their desire, whether a small 

 occupation or otherwise. By the sweat of his brow 

 man must ever live, and so long as society exists 

 there must be rich and poor. A marked distinction 

 should, however, be made between cottage allottees and 

 market gardeners. In some counties, especially in those 

 near London, and other large towns there are a class of 

 men who earn their livelihood by the occupation of a com- 

 paratively small portion of land devoted to the production 

 of fruit and vegetables. In some instances they are men 

 of great capital, and carry on their business upon an ex- 

 tensive scale ; but the men I more particularly allude 

 to are those occupying only a few acres, and who sub- 

 sist upon them. I say a marked distinction must be 

 made between those men and farm labourers, and to the 

 former my observations as to the size of allotments are 

 not intended to apply. I will now say a few words upon 

 rents and managements. As regards the first, I can only 

 state that it must be an open question, as in the cases of 

 farms and other occupations. There is no reason, that I 

 am aware of, why the labourer should have land at a 

 lower price than others would give for it ; nor do I see 

 upon what principle he should be asked to pay more. 

 After all, it is not a question of rent, so much as to have 

 the allotment ground on a convenient spot. If situated 

 near a village, as it should be, the land may assume the 

 value of accommodation land, and should of course be 

 paid for accordingly. On the estate of the Right Hon. 

 the Earl de Grey, in Bedfordshire, with which I am con- 

 nected as agent, the rents vary from 32s. to 72s. per 

 acre (or from 8s. to 18s. per rood), including all rates 

 and taxes, and the gates, fences, ditches, and water- 



courses are kept and maintained for them, so that they 

 have nothing to pay but the rent. Of course, many of 

 those rents are higher than are paid by the farmers ; but, 

 as I before observed, they are many of them accommo- 

 dation lands, and would readily let at the same prices 

 to others. It is to me a matter of peculiar gratification 

 to be able to testify to the jiunctuality with which those 

 rents are paid. Including a few market-gardenerp, 

 there are on his lordship's rent-roll, in Bedfordshire, 

 some 750 tenants. The collection occupies five days, 

 and it rarely happens that there are any arrears. Now 

 and then a little time is asked for, but very seldom, and 

 then not given unless some sufficient reason, such as ill- 

 ness, or some other visitation, is pleaded. Below is a 

 tabular statement, showing the acreage and the number 

 of allotment tenants in a few of the parishes where the 

 principal portion of the Wrest estates are situate. 



ri * rt> ® O 



5 — 2. P 



h- ' 05 



Many of those, especially in the parishes of Clophill, 

 Pulloshill, and Flitton, which are what are termed 

 " open parishes," (. e., parishes where the cottages be- 

 long to several proprietors, have no ground whatever 

 belonging to their dwellings. Hence it may be easily 

 conceived what an advantage an allotment must be to 



